Analyzing your Instagram stories
Within Buffer's analytics tools, the Stories tab allows you to see your reach and completion rate of each Instagram story, as well as your total number of impressions and exits, and your average reach and completion rate.
⭐️ This feature is on our paid plans. Looking for basic analytics?
- This feature is not available for Instagram Personal Accounts.
🎥 Learn more about your analytics in this video.
In this article:
Finding your report
📝 Only likes and comments are available for Reels due to limitations with Instagram's API.
- Start by clicking Analyze at the top of your Buffer dashboard (not available on mobile).
- Select Instagram on the left-hand side of your dashboard.
- Choose an Instagram business account from the drop-down.
- Click Stories.
- Choose the date range you'd like to view.
Diving into your report
📝 Please note:
- Only stories created by your Instagram account will be available here. Due to API limitations, it's not possible to pull in stories that you have shared after being @mentioned in. Additionally, we are not able to backfill stories. We are only able to start collecting them from when your Instagram account is connected to Buffer and it may take up to 24 hours to show in your Buffer dashboard.
- If your Instagram account becomes disconnected from Buffer, any stories you post during the time that your Instagram account is disconnected will unfortunately not be pulled into Buffer.
- If you are a customer in the EEA (European Economic Area) any Instagram stories you create will now see zero replies, even if those replies are from users outside of the EEA. If you are outside of the EEA, your stories will see a number of replies but it will exclude any replies from users in the EEA. This is due to new privacy rules in Europe that directly affect what Facebook and Instagram can show. Learn more from Facebook here.
Stories summary table
The summary table shows aggregate metrics for all stories sent during the selected date range. We'll show you impressions, reach, replies, exits and your engagement rate (replies received relative to unique Instagram accounts that viewed the story).
Stories metrics insights
This chart shows you the changes in your Instagram stories metrics, such as impressions, reach, and replies. Besides comparing the data with the previous period, you can also compare two metrics to see how they correlated. For example, do posting more stories correlate with higher reach?
Stories insights
This chart shows your reach and completion rate for each Instagram story. By default, all stories shared within the date range chosen at the top of the report will be shown. If preferred, you can use the Show drop down to only show stories shared on a specific day. You can also use the Sort option to sort stories by date, reach, or completion rate. Towards the bottom, you'll see a table showing your total impressions, average reach, average completion rate, and total exits.
Adding tables and charts to a custom report
Finally, you can add any of the tables and charts from this area to custom report. Simply click the plus button at the top right of any chart you'd like to include. Learn more about creating custom reports here.
You can also export all data as both CSV and image files using the Export as... button.
