Because all advertising on Meta Platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.) runs through Facebook, sometimes your Instagram channel’s paid data is also reported under the linked Facebook channel. This means that, depending on the circumstances, you can use either the Instagram channel or the Facebook channel to view your paid Instagram performance in Measure.

In this article, we will review each of these circumstances, as well as some best practices for building your own dashboard optimized for Instagram ads.

Tracking paid Instagram data through Instagram vs. through Facebook

Although you can use either Facebook or Instagram to track paid Instagram data in Measure, the two networks’ capabilities are not the same:

*Facebook will only show paid Instagram content data if the following conditions are met:

• The Facebook channel’s ad account has been connected to Social Media Management
• The ad has at least one Facebook placement

The benefit of tracking your paid Instagram data via the Facebook channel is that Facebook offers a wide selection of advanced Ads Manager metrics. For example, you can use Facebook to view your promoted Instagram posts' Cost per click (CPC) or Add to cart data.

However, if you are unable or unwilling to connect your Facebook ad account, you can still view a more limited selection of paid Instagram data via the Instagram channel itself. You also must use the Instagram channel to view paid Instagram channel data. 

Tracking paid Instagram data through Instagram

Instagram channel data, paid or otherwise, is only available through the Instagram channel itself. You can also use the Instagram channel to view paid and organic Instagram content data.

Tracking paid Instagram channel data through Instagram

To view your paid Instagram channel data in Measure, add the Instagram channel to a new or existing dashboard, then add one or more of the following channel widgets:

• Key metrics
• Network comparison
• Channel comparison
• Time series

Then, when creating your widget(s), add one or more of the following paid Instagram channel metrics:

• Paid comments
• Paid engagement rate (reach)
• Paid engagements
• Paid likes
• Paid reach (daily)
• Paid saves
• Paid shares

When you're done, your widget(s) will show your paid Instagram channel data:

Tracking paid Instagram content data through Instagram

Unlike other networks, Instagram does not categorize its content metrics as “paid” or “organic.” Instead, an Instagram content metric will always show paid data for promoted posts and organic data for non-promoted posts. For example, in the widget below, the 3 impressions for the first post are all organic, while the 600 impressions for the second post are all paid:

To isolate your paid Instagram content data, add the Instagram channel to a new or existing Measure dashboard, then create one or more Content performance or Label performance widgets. You can select any of Instagram's content metrics when creating your widgets—the data will be paid because the posts are.

Then, apply the Promotion filter to filter for promoted posts.

When you're done, your widget(s) will show paid Instagram content data:

Tracking paid Instagram data through Facebook

Because it’s not possible to view paid Instagram channel data using Facebook, the Facebook channel should only be used to report on paid Instagram content data. To do so, first, add the Facebook channel to a new or existing Measure dashboard, then create a Content performance or Label performance widget with one or more paid Facebook metrics:

Next, to isolate your paid Instagram content data, apply the Ad Meta Platform and Promotion filters and select Instagram and Promoted posts, respectively. If desired, you can also use the Visibility filter to filter for timeline posts or dark posts:

Now your widget only includes paid Instagram content data, and you can click on any post’s insights to view more detailed information about its promotion:

FAQs

Why is most of my paid Instagram content data only available on the Facebook channel?

This is just a consequence of Instagram’s one-way relationship with Facebook. The Facebook Page creates the ads and collects their data, and only some of that data is then passed back to Instagram.

Why does the same promoted post have different results depending on which network I’m using?

You may notice that Instagram’s results for a promoted post trend higher than Facebook’s results. This is because Facebook’s results only include activity on the ad placements themselves, while Instagram’s results may also include any viral activity (for example, when one person shares the promoted post to another).