You’re wondering what Instagram impressions are and why they’re important. Then you’ve come to the right place. We’ll talk about what Instagram impressions actually are, what they mean and why you should care about them.
What Are Instagram Impressions?
If you have a business profile on Instagram, then you’ve probably seen the word “impressions” in your stats.
For example, in this screenshot, the photo has over 22,000 impressions.
Instagram defines impressions as “the total number of times that your post has been seen”. So 22,000 impressions over 16,000 accounts mean that each person viewed your post 1.37 times. In more understandable terms, some people viewed it once and some people viewed it twice.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean people even looked at your post. A lot of people might have scrolled past it. On the other hand, it might have been on there explore screen, so technically they could have seen it, but maybe it didn’t catch their attention. Instagram will still consider that an impression for you.
On the other hand, if you have a significantly higher amount of impressions than reach, that could also be a really good thing! It means that your audience is coming back to see your posts more than once, maybe even three times.
If you look at the weekly impressions for this account, the numbers reveal that each person that views the content on this account comes back 3.75 times. So the accounts they are reaching are definitely engaging well with the content.
While impressions are important, it doesn’t really make sense to measure them on your own, but it’s still vital to take them into consideration when trying to grow your Instagram account whether that’s for business, personal or influencer purposes.
Why Track Impressions?
You’ll want to track Instagram impressions to see how people feel about your content. For example, if you post a picture with a personal caption, do people return back to it to reread it for motivation or comfort?
If Instagram puts it on the Explore page, and your impressions are higher, are you likes also higher? If so, that means your content is catching people’s attention even in a very busy and competitive place like the Explore page.
However, if you normally get 20,000 impressions but only 500 likes, then that means people are seeing your content but not engaging with it.
However, there’s no lost hope because at least people are seeing your content. All you’d have to do in this sitaution is to make your content more engaging. We’ll give you some tips for that later!
It’s good to track Instagram Impressions for a post by post basis. If you do something experimental or post an ad, you can track the impressions to see how well that new type of content performs. When you see that it doesn’t get a lot of impressions, then that’s a reliable indicator that your audience isn’t as interested in that type of content.
If you want to focus on increasing awareness and engagement with your target audience, then focus on impressions. For example, if you’ve hit your target reach of maybe 10,000 people, but your impressions are only 12,000, then it’s a good idea to focus on extending those impressions. Ultimately, you want your target audience to engage better with your content so you can revise your content a bit. You might still reach 10,000 people, but your impressions could possibly double meaning those same people like your content a lot better!
Track Your Reach With Impressions
As mentioned, it’s usually not enough to track impressions on their own. You should track your reach as well. Tracking both will give you more information on the effectiveness of a post.
Research shows that users have to see a brand multiple times to connect with it. If you reach 10,000 people and only have 11,000 impressions, that means those people are only viewing your content about once. So you need to make sure the content is super engaging to up your impressions!
Here’s a secret: once your impressions go up, your reach will then increase again. Instagram will see that people are connecting with your content, therefore pushing it to an even bigger audience.
Maybe your goal is for each user to see your post 3 times. You can track this on a weekly basis through your business insights or a post by post basis by checking the insights on the individual post. However, your goal might look something like this: 30,000 reach per week and 90,000 impressions. Therefore, people are returning to your content roughly 3 times. That’s a great result!
How To Extend Reach And Instagram Impressions?
The golden question: how do you get more Instagram impressions?
Quality content. Engaging content. Exciting, new, fresh, original content.
Of course, if you want to reach more accounts and get better impressions per post, you need to change things up a bit. If your old tricks and habits are failing, it’s time to revamp the brand of your Instagram!
Have something that people can engage with and return to on a daily or weekly basis so they don’t get bored. Plus, this means a better connection with you!
We’ll share some unique tips with you to try on your account that aren’t the same as you’ve heard before. So no “ask questions”, “have a good theme”, “engage with your audience”. We trust you’re already doing that! Here are some unique tips to extend your reach and Instagram impressions.
Share Before And After Pics
A great way to up your impressions is to share before and after pics. These work especially well in Instagram stories.
You might share before and after editing photos. So for example, have one slide of your unedited photo and write “tap to edit”. Your next story slide will be the edited version. People will flick back and forward between these two photos, therefore upping your impressions. Once Instagram sees your post is getting a lot of impressions, the algorithm will push it out to even more accounts, therefore increasing your reach, too.
You can, of course, share before and after editing photos in your main feed as well. This works really well for increasing impressions and engagement! People love to see their favorite account’s editing process and how much an image can transform from the original.
They will swipe back and forward, increasing impressions. In fact, they might even return to the photo quite a few times for inspiration!
You can also do before and after photos for your haircut, outfit of the day, changes in nature, your exercise routine, or whatever else you can think of!
Start An Instagram Series
Think outside the box to increase your Instagram impressions. A good plan is to start a series on your Instagram! That might be something like a weekly series, where every day you share a place you’ve visited. In every caption, encourage people to come back to your account tomorrow to see where the next place will be!
It could be a weekly series on editing tips. Every day you will share a valuable editing tip for your followers to try!
You could even do weekly advice series if that fits your account well. Every day, people can comment something they need advice about and in the next caption, you answer somebody’s question. This is a great way to get to know your followers better!
@frombeewithlove does a series on her Instagram every month. Each month, she embodies a different character. Each character has a unique style and personality. This encourages her to get more creative every month and try new aesthetics on her account. More than that, her followers will come back to her account every week to see new installments in the character’s story!
If a daily series is too much for you, start your own weekly thing where every Sunday, you recap something exciting that happened this week and get others to share similar stories! You can even start your own hashtag for such a series.
Get Personal
In real life, away from the internet, your friendships strengthen and deepen when you get personal. Vulnerability and accountability are super important in growing friendships. Online, it isn’t much different. The more personal you get on Instagram, the more people will engage with your posts.
If you’re constantly posting captions about tea, coffee, shoes, and food, then what makes you stand out from the crowd?
“What does your favorite blanket look like?” is a good question for chilled casual discussions, but it doesn’t get followers to know @the.cozy.bee very well.
On the other hand, accounts like @kristinjohns, where every caption is personal and unique to her day, get a lot of comments and engagement, as well as more impressions.
It doesn’t have to be a sad sob story. It can be as lovely as celebrating your own birthday and sharing your feelings with your followers! It’s definitely a great way to increase Instagram impressions because your followers suddenly feel like friends, an important part of your life.
So, try all these tips to extend your reach and impressions on Instagram. In the end, your account will definitely grow much quicker!
