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:

• Instagram can show paid Instagram channel data (7 metrics)
• Instagram can show paid Instagram content data (26 metrics)
• Facebook cannot show paid Instagram channel data
• Facebook can show paid Instagram content data (87 metrics), but only if:
  • The Facebook channel’s ad account has been connected to Social Media Management
  • The Instagram ad also has at least one Facebook placement

In short, although you must use the Instagram channel to track paid Instagram channel data, for paid Instagram content data, the Facebook channel will offer a much wider range of metrics.

Tracking paid Instagram data through the Instagram channel

You must add your Instagram channel to your Measure dashboard if you want to view its channel data, paid or otherwise. However, you can also use the Instagram channel to view paid Instagram content data, which you can isolate by filtering for promoted posts.

Tracking paid Instagram channel data through the Instagram channel

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

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

Next, add one or more of the following paid Instagram channel metrics to your widget(s):

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

Now your dashboard only includes paid Instagram channel data:

Tracking paid Instagram content data through the Instagram channel

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, simply add the Instagram channel to a new or existing Measure dashboard, create a Content performance widget with one or more Instagram metrics, and apply the Promotion filter to filter for promoted posts.

Now your widget only includes paid Instagram content data:

Tracking paid Instagram content data through the Facebook channel

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 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).