Meta Updates

Meta’s New Instagram Updates: What They Mean for Creators and Businesses

Meta (the company that owns Instagram) just announced some big changes to the Instagram Marketing API.

If that sounds technical, don’t worry! In simple terms, the “API” is the bridge that lets third-party apps (like scheduling tools or analytics dashboards) talk to Instagram. When Meta updates this bridge, it means those tools get smarter and can show you more detailed information about how your content is performing.

Here is a breakdown of the new features and examples of how they can help you.

1. New Ways to Measure Your Content (Metrics)

Meta is introducing four new “metrics” (measurements) to help you understand if your audience actually likes what you are posting.

A. Reels Skip Rate

This measures what percentage of viewers skipped your Reel within the first 3 seconds.

  • What it tells you: It tells you if your video’s “hook” is working.
  • Example: Imagine you post a cooking Reel. If 50% of people skip it in the first 3 seconds, it means your intro was too slow. Next time, you might start showing the delicious finished dish immediately to grab attention.

B. Repost Counts for Media

This tracks how many times a specific photo or video has been reposted by others.

  • What it tells you: It helps you identify which specific post is going viral or resonating enough for people to share it on their own feeds.
  • Example: You post a motivational quote. If you see it has a high “Repost Count,” you know your audience loves shareable quotes, and you should probably make more of them.

C. Repost Counts at Account Level

This is similar to the one above, but it counts reposts for your entire account, not just one post.

  • What it tells you: It gives you a big-picture view of how “shareable” your brand is overall.
  • Example: A clothing brand might notice that their total repost count doubled this month. This signals that their overall brand awareness is growing.

D. Instagram Profile Visits (from Ads)

This tracks how many people visited your profile specifically after seeing or clicking on one of your ads.

  • What it tells you: It helps you see if your ads are making people curious about your brand, not just buying a single product.
  • Example: You run an ad for a new sneaker. Users might see the ad, click it, and then go to your main profile to see what other shoes you sell. This metric counts those visitors.

2. Better Views for “Crossposting”

Many people post their Reels to both Instagram and Facebook at the same time (crossposting). Until now, tracking the views separately could be confusing.

  • The Update: Meta added two new clear categories:
    1. Crossposted Views: The total number of views from both Instagram and Facebook combined.
    2. Facebook Views: The number of views that came specifically from users on Facebook.
  • Example: You post a funny cat video to Instagram and share it to Facebook. Your analytics tool can now tell you: “You got 10,000 views total. 8,000 were from Instagram, but 2,000 people watched it on Facebook.”

3. More Control Over Your Content

Meta is also giving third-party apps more power to manage what is on your page.

  • Trial Reels: You can now use tools to manage “Trial Reels” (testing different versions of a Reel to see which performs best).
  • Deleting Media: You can now delete posts directly through your third-party management apps, rather than having to log into the Instagram app to do it.
  • Partnerships: There are new tools to help manage collaborations and co-created content between brands and influencers.

Why Does This Matter?

If you just use the Instagram app on your phone, you might not notice these changes immediately. However, if you use social media management tools (like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social) or if you hire a marketing agency, this is great news.

It means those tools will soon be able to give you:

  1. Better Data: You will know exactly why a Reel failed (did they skip the intro?) or succeeded.
  2. Less App-Switching: You can do more tasks (like deleting posts or checking Facebook views) inside your management dashboard without opening Instagram.

These updates are designed to take the guesswork out of growing on Instagram!

Source

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/meta-announces-updates-for-the-instagram-marketing-api/807083

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