Likes are Cool, But These are the Instagram Numbers That Matter!
Mar 19, 2020
I remember seeing the first wave of stories announcing that Instagram was slowly removing the “likes” feature from its platform and I could’ve sworn I heard influencers’ cries from 10,000 miles away.
You may know that for a long time, brands and content creators themselves used the number of likes a post gets to (loosely) help determine influence, engagement and how many people were paying attention.
As a creative myself, I’d admit that the number of likes I get on a post does help me to shape the way in which I deliver my content.
READ ALSO: STOP BEING AFRAID OF “PEOPLE GETTING IN MY BUSINESS” AND START THAT BLOG!
While likes are cool, Instagram is now equipped with much more information and analytics to help you gauge how much influence you really have; because honestly the likes don’t tell the whole story.
If you have an Instagram business account, under every photo you post you’ll see a link to the left that says “view insights.” This is there you get all the tea on how that particular post is doing. From profile visits, to how many new followers a post brings in, how many people found your post via the hashtags you used and even how many overall actions were taken from the post.
For me, three of the most important sections I pay attention to are the number of times the post was shared, how many times it was saved and how many website clicks that post garnered.
I love it when I see my followers and people who visit my page share my posts because it means it’s having an impact and someone wants to share the gems I drop with a friend. Having a gang of people share your post, speaks volumes to how truly important, well done and influential it is. Think of it; when you find a shoe store with the goodies, a new restaurant with bomb food or a new nail tech who slays a polish; what do you do? You share it with your friends, same rules apply here! Post shares are important numbers to keep an eye out on especially if you’re pitching to brands. Check out the post shares on these posts from my Instagram.
I have several collections carefully curated in my Instagram. Sometimes I come across a bomb a$$ photo, or a meme I can’t resist; some shoes I make myself dream about or the prettiest nail polish color and I have to save it! When a post is that good, people will “save to faves.” The number of times your post is saved also speaks volumes to your IG success, even if the “likes” don’t rack up. This feature is IG’s “bookmark” feature and in some ways, getting a ton of saves is feels like my third grade teacher, putting that shiny gold star at the top of my social studies paper. 🙂
As a blogger, this is perhaps my absolute fave number to watch; how many times did a post actually get people to visit my website. My social media platforms are for connecting with my audience, but they’re also the main vehicles for sharing my blog posts. If I don’t share, no one reads them. If no one reads them, what’s the point? Getting people to “hit the link in bio” is always the mission. IG and FB and Twitter are great tools for influencers and bloggers and unlike these social media sites, our websites are our own, we own them, the content there and we work hard to keep them going. The more we can drive traffic to our websites, the better. So while someone may not have “liked” a post on my Instagram, they may have liked it enough to visit my website and that is the ultimate goal!
It was so ironic as I was working on this post, I took a short Twitter break and saw my blogger friend ToriKayla sharing similar sentiments.
If you’ve been bummed out by not racking up hundreds or thousands of likes on a post, maybe it’s time to switch your focus for a bit and start watching the numbers that matter. Use these stats as a way to gauge your engagement. Trust me, so many people who scroll through these social sites and see stuff they like but would never actually “like” it and that’s perfectly fine! After reading this blog, you should have some new numbers to pay attention to! 🙂
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