Mastering Instagram’s New Insights & Features: How to Refine Your Strategy in 2025

Instagram is continuing its mission “to capture and share the world's moments” by arming creators, brands and marketers with more advanced tools to understand and grow their audiences. From deeper analytics in the Insights tab to creative updates in grids, carousels, and link management, the platform is helping businesses better align content with audience behaviour.

Here’s a breakdown of the major updates, what they mean, and how you can use them strategically to increase your presence and engagement.

1. New Performance Metrics in the Insights Tab

Instagram’s latest analytics rollout delivers more granular, actionable data to help you craft content that resonates and converts.

• Reel Engagement Insights – You can now see exactly when viewers like your Reel during playback, allowing you to pinpoint the moments in your video that trigger engagement. Think of this like YouTube’s audience retention graphs, which is gold for creative refinement.
• Carousel Post Insights – Discover which image in your carousel earned the “Like.” This helps you identify what visual styles or messaging work best within multi-image posts.
• Post-Level Demographic Data – Access detailed age, gender, location, and interest information for individual posts and Reels. This lets you tailor content and posting times to your most responsive audience segments.
• Top Follower Drivers – See which posts or Reels brought in the most new followers so you can double down on what’s winning people over.
• Views Metric Becomes Central – Instagram has replaced “Accounts Reached” with “Views” as the main metric for all content types. This unifies measurement and focuses on content watched, not just shown.

Why it matters: These insights empower evidence-based content planning so you can optimise what you post, when, and for whom. This helps to boost engagement, visibility, and meaningful follower growth. Learn more here.

2. Content Strategy Recommendations Based On New Insights

Leverage Visual Storytelling

• Invest in quality over quantity, with a focus on creative photography, compelling design, and unexpected visuals.
• Use Reels for storytelling, product showcases, and company narratives.

Focus on Value-Driven Content

• Share industry insights, thought leadership, and quick, useful tips.
• Create content addressing specific audience questions or challenges.

Showcase Company Culture

• Give behind-the-scenes glimpses into your team, processes and milestones to humanise your brand.
• Use Stories and Highlights to make culture-driven content accessible anytime.
  
  

3. Major Platform Feature Updates in 2025

• Updated Grid Layout – Instagram has shifted from a 1:1 square to a 4:5 vertical format for posts, and a vertical grid layout is now available on desktop. Plus, you can now reorder your grids for a more curated look.
• Multiple Links in Bio – You can add up to five external links in your bio, and reorder them with drag-and-drop. Keep your evergreen links consistent, and use tools like Linktree for short-term campaigns.
• Carousel Enhancements – Carousels can now contain up to 20 images, with a preview indicator showing there’s more to see. (Note: the preview feature isn’t fully rolled out in Australia yet.)
  
  

4. Turning Insights into Action

The biggest opportunity here is combining Instagram’s new analytics with its expanded creative features. For example:

• Use post-level demographic data to segment your audience and create carousels tailored to each group.
• Identify top follower drivers and test new vertical grid arrangements to spotlight those successful posts.
• Track Reel engagement spikes and build new video series around those high-performing moments. Learn the best ways to track your Instagram engagement here.  

With Instagram now putting views front and centre, success will rely on crafting content people not only notice but watch, and keep watching.

✅ Pro Tip: Set up a monthly review of your Insights to identify audience shifts, trends in high-performing visuals, and posts that drive the most followers. Then adapt your grid, carousel strategy, and bio links to amplify your best content. Learn more about optimising your Instagram bio here.  

Conclusion:
Instagram’s 2025 updates aren’t just cosmetic; they’re designed to make your content strategy more precise, personalised and powerful. By combining data-led decisions with creative storytelling, you’ll be well on your way to deeper engagement and sustainable audience growth.