Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms at present. With billions of monthly users, this platform has taken precedence with its interactive video content. From stories to lives and images to reels, the list of entertainment sources is quite diverse.
Now, if you are an active user on Instagram, you most likely know that people can track who viewed their Instagram stories. But, is that the case with Instagram reels too? Can you view who watched your reels if they don’t like or comment on the post?
We’ll give you a quick answer here – It’s a No. You can’t know who viewed your Instagram reels. Even if you thought that was possible, it’s not. Unless someone interacts with the reel, there’s no way of knowing who viewed it and who didn’t.
This article will further break down the actual truth behind the views on Instagram reels and what you probably didn’t know of.
What are Instagram Reels?
Before we further look into the focus of the article, let us clarify our foundational concepts first. What are Instagram reels?
Well, back when Tiktok was banned in certain countries due to privacy concerns, Instagram jumped on the gun and launched a new feature on its social media platform – Reels.
Featuring a similar layout to Tiktok, it enabled the users to create short-form videos spanning between 15 to 90 seconds. We can’t deny the fact that Reels was introduced as a direct response to TikTok bans across certain countries.
With Instagram Reels, users can record and edit videos up to 90 seconds in length, add various creative effects, filters, and audio tracks, and share them with their followers and the wider Instagram community. Reels offers a range of editing tools, including video speed adjustments, text overlays, stickers, and the ability to align multiple clips seamlessly.
Overall, if you have used Tiktok at one point in your life, you should be able to familiarize yourself with Reels pretty easily as well.
Is it Possible to Know who Watched my Instagram Reel?
People are driven by data and insights, which is why it isn’t surprising that most people are often curious to know who has watched their reel and who hasn’t.
Well, unlike Instagram stories, which enable you to keep track of the viewers, you can’t do the same with an Instagram reel. You can know “how” many people watched your reel but you can’t pinpoint “who” watched the reel.
But the good news is that you can keep track of the total number of views, likes, comments, and even the number of shares the reel has. The insights about the number of shares are a pretty recent addition.
How does one make use of Instagram Reel Insights?
We discussed how important Instagram reel insights have become in recent days. Not only do they help you keep track of the level of interaction you are getting with each reel, but it also helps you keep track of the kind of content people are interacting more with.
Here’s how you can view the Instagram Reel Insights:
- Navigate to your profile tab on the Instagram app.
- Keep in mind that you’d need to switch your Instagram account either to “business” or “creator” to be able to keep track of the insights. It isn’t available for personal accounts.
- Next, tap on the Reel tab that’s present on your Instagram profile.
- Navigate to the particular Instagram reel whose insights you wish to track.
- Tap on the “three stacked dots” at the bottom to open the menu.
- Scroll and click on “View insights”. This will show you all the data and analytics, highlighting the number of accounts the reel has reached, the likes, comments, shares, stats, etc.
Following is a list of the stats that you can track using Instagram’s reel insights:
- Accounts reached – This highlights the number of accounts the reel has reached. It typically highlights the public and private accounts that have watched the reel and interacted with it.
- Plays – The next highlight or insight is the number of plays. This showcases the number of times the reel has been played in total.
- Likes and comments – These give you a rundown of the total number of likes and comments that you have received on the reel.
- Saves – Although there’s no way of knowing who saved your reel, you can know the number of people that saved it.
- Shares – This is the metric that enables you to keep track of all the shares that the reel has received.
These are all the important metrics that you can keep track of for all your Instagram reels. However, the insights are only available for public Instagram profiles and the ones which have the professional account enabled.
Where will People Get Access to Instagram Reels?
If you are new to using Instagram, not knowing where you can access Instagram reels is a very common misconception.
For the users that have a public Instagram account, your reels will show up both on the Instagram feed and the dedicated reels section, unless you choose to hide the reels from the feed. Many people do this to maintain the aesthetic of their account.
Now, that’s where the reels are generally displayed when someone clicks and opens your profile on their application.
When it comes to the Explore page, the reels are shown haphazardly. If your Instagram reel is gaining traction, the Instagram algorithm will pick it up and display it in front of your target audience, further adding to the viewership and the interaction the content is getting.
If you have a private Instagram account, only people that you follow and have accepted the following request will be able to view your reels on your account. They are placed pretty much in the same position.
How to Improve Views on Instagram Reels?
Now that we have clarified the basics and know that someone can’t check who viewed their Instagram reels, let us shift our focus to something else.
How can you improve your viewership on Instagram? How do you bring in thousands and millions of views on the reels you are sharing?
Well, there are certain ways of achieving that. We will highlight a few pointers for you to look through:
1. Understand your target audience
One of the biggest mistakes that the majority of Instagram users do is posting random reels without narrowing and finalizing their niche. When you are posting videos at random, you are most likely doing nothing to help grow your Instagram.
Instead, you need to narrow down your target audience first. Identify the group of people that would resonate the most with your content. Sometimes, it’s better to delay posting content and prioritize research. Understand what your target audience is looking for before you get to post.
2. Use hashtags
Many Instagram users fail to understand the true benefit of a relevant hashtag. A very common misconception is thinking that posting “trending” hashtags is the key. Well, you are wrong. You want your hashtags to resonate with the content of the reel you are posting.
For example, if you are posting about Instagram reels and ways to grow, you can’t use “Twitter” as a hashtag. It doesn’t make sense and confuses the algorithm as well.
3. Prioritize the content
Another important tip to grow your viewership of Instagram reels is to prioritize the quality of the content. You want to ensure that your content is relevant but also provides value to the audience. The last thing you want to do is post irrelevant content that people don’t resonate with.
Also, always plan and batch-make your content ahead of time. You don’t want things to become confusing at the last moment. Instead, you want to keep things sorted and schedule the reels and the captions ahead of time.
4. Don’t forego the trends
Participating in the internet trends isn’t cringe. It’s a tool that allows you to grow your account and even gain more viewership on the reels you are posting. But, there’s a catch.
When it comes to Instagram trends, you can be assured that the audience will pick up on one trend and then go haywire with the content. Nobody wants to watch the same kind of content they have scrolled past in the last 10 reels. Hence, creativity is what makes you stand out.
You want to ensure that your content is not just relatable but extremely interactive as well. The last thing that you want to do is post the same thing everyone else is posting. Think out of the box.
Conclusion
Instagram reels are a great way to grow your Instagram account. Irrespective of whether you use Instagram professionally or just for casual scrolling, these are some tips we’d recommend you follow to make an imprint in the mind of your audience. Things might sound a little confusing but at this point, there is no way of knowing who “viewed” your reels. We hope this article answers all your queries.