Social media marketers have long relied on familiar metrics — reach, likes, views — yet these numbers have often fallen short of explaining why something worked or how to improve it next time. They are useful for summarising performance, but less effective for guiding day-to-day creative decisions.

Instagram’s latest Insights update offers a step towards bridging that gap. The new features aim to give brands and creators a more detailed understanding of how audiences interact with content, which in turn could lead to more informed creative and strategic choices.

Spotting Resonance in Reels

The most eye-catching change is for Reels. Creators can now see the exact moment in playback when a viewer liked the video. It is a simple addition, but one that adds a new layer of understanding.

Rather than just knowing how many people liked a Reel, marketers can identify the moment that drove the action. This is especially useful for spotting patterns across multiple videos, for example, if engagement often spikes at a particular type of visual reveal, a certain phrase, or a change in pacing.

YouTube has long provided detailed audience retention graphs, showing where people pause, skip, or rewatch. Instagram’s new timestamp insight is not as comprehensive, but it moves in a similar direction and offers valuable creative feedback.

Carousel Insights Get More Specific

Instagram is also introducing carousel-level insights, revealing which image in a carousel was being viewed when a user tapped Like. While it does not necessarily mean that image alone drove the engagement, it gives an additional clue as to what caught the viewer’s attention.

For teams producing carousel content, whether educational step-by-steps, product showcases, or storytelling sequences, this insight can help refine image order and creative emphasis. Testing different sequences over time could highlight which placements lead to stronger interaction.

Post-Level Demographics and Follower Growth Signals

Two more updates add further depth to campaign analysis.

First, post-level demographic data will now be available. Instead of only seeing audience breakdowns for the account overall, brands can review the specific age, gender, and location data for each post. This can help identify which topics or formats resonate most strongly with different audience segments.

Second, Instagram will now highlight which posts are generating the most new followers. This is particularly useful for understanding which content appeals beyond the existing audience and may therefore be worth amplifying through paid promotion or replicating in future campaigns.

Moving from Reach to Views

Instagram is also continuing its transition from “Accounts Reached” to “Views” as the main performance metric. The “Accounts Reached” graph within Insights is being replaced by views counts for posts, videos, and Stories.

This reflects a broader industry trend of focusing on total content consumption rather than unique reach. While reach still matters for awareness goals, views offer a clearer picture of how much a piece of content is being consumed, including repeat viewing, which can be a sign of strong audience interest.

Turning Insights into Action

These changes do not just expand the data available, they also open up opportunities to refine creative strategy. The new like-timestamp data for Reels can be used to pinpoint the most engaging moments in a video, which can then inform how future content is structured. Carousel insights provide a way to test and optimise visual sequencing.

Post-level demographics can help tailor creative to audience segments more precisely, while the follower growth data highlights the types of content that are most effective for acquisition. Shifting focus to views encourages a broader look at content stickiness, not just top-line reach.

Practical Steps for Marketers

To make the most of the update:

1. Review Reels Like-Timestamps
   Track common points where likes occur across multiple videos, and look for creative elements that could be carried into future content.

2. Experiment with Carousel Order
   Use per-image engagement data to test the impact of changing visual sequences and identify optimal placements.

3. Use Post-Level Demographics for Targeting
   Analyse which content resonates most with specific audience segments and tailor creative accordingly.

4. Identify Acquisition Content
   Pinpoint posts that drive new followers and prioritise similar themes or formats in the content calendar.

5. Integrate Views into Reporting
   Adjust dashboards and internal KPIs to reflect views as a key measure of content performance.

A Step Towards More Informed Creativity

While none of these changes revolutionises Instagram analytics on their own, together they represent a move towards more actionable insight. By providing data that links engagement to specific moments, images, and audience segments, Instagram is giving marketers more opportunities to connect creative choices with audience response.

For teams willing to test, analyse, and adapt, the new Insights can become a valuable tool for producing content that not only performs well in the metrics, but also connects more meaningfully with the people who see it.