How to actually use Instagram Insights to Grow your Salon’s Social Media - By Kayla Zigic

Let’s be honest if you’ve ever tapped that little “Insights” button on Instagram and instantly closed it again… you’re not alone.

Looking at analytics can feel like reading a foreign language for most businesses and salon owners. Between reach, engagement, profile visits, and all those little arrows pointing up and down, it’s enough to make you want to throw your phone into your hot towel cabby and forget social media ever existed.

But here’s the thing: Instagram Insights aren’t just a bunch of confusing numbers. They’re key insights into your online business and little gold nuggets of information that can tell you everything you need to know about what’s working on your social media (and what’s not).

Spoiler alert: the more you do “what’s working,” the better your online presence will be. And if you’re not using them, you’re posting in the dark. Preying something lands.

So let me break it all down - in a salon-friendly way - so you can finally make your content work for you (instead of just crossing your fingers and hoping the algorithm’s in a good mood).

What Are Instagram Insights (And Why Should You Care)?

Instagram Insights is a free tool built right into your business. It shows you how your content is performing, not just how many people liked your post but also how many saw it, saved it, clicked your profile, or tapped the link in your bio after seeing it.

Why does that matter?

Understanding your analytics is how you start making strategic content decisions. It is how you get smarter about your content and start speaking to and attracting the right audience.

The 4 Most Important Metrics for Salons

You don’t need to check everything. But these are the ones I recommend keeping an eye on weekly or monthly:

1. Reach

This tells you how many accounts saw your post. If your reach is consistently dropping, it might be time to freshen up your content pillars. Consider reels and carousels, and select trending audio that resonates with your salon vibe.

2. Engagement

Engagement includes likes, comments, saves, and shares. If people save or share your post, that’s a huge sign that it is valuable. “Shares” tell you that it resonated with your audience enough to share it. “Saves” tell you that your content is important enough to save for later (think educational, tutorial style or how-to content such as “how to layer your skincare”)

3. Profile Activity

This tells you how many people visited your profile after seeing your post and whether they clicked your website or booking link. If a post gets great reach but no profile clicks, your caption may not prompt action or you are not using the correct call to action to achieve your desired goal.

4. Stories Insights

Stories give you real-time insights into your engaged followers. Look at:

Forward Taps: They’re moving through but still watching - that’s good. Back Taps: They wanted to rewatch - even better!

Exits or Skips: They weren’t interested - time to mix it up. Polls, question boxes, and emoji stickers are great ways to keep your audience engaged. Also, don’t be afraid to discuss personal topics and ask your audience for advice. They want to feel like they are a part of a community.

What About Meta Business Suite?

If you manage your salon’s Facebook and Instagram together, Meta Business Suite gives you deeper analytics in one place - perfect for tracking trends over time.

Inside Meta, you can see: Your best-performing posts over 7, 28 or 90 days When your followers are most active (so you know when to post)

Your audience breakdown (age, location, gender — yes, even if you think you know it)

Use this to make sure you’re speaking your dream client’s language. If 80% of your audience is women aged 25–44, your content tone and visuals should reflect that.

This information can be found in your Meta Business Account under “Insights” Please reach out to me @socialsforsalons if you have any problems locating your insights.

So… What next?

It’s one thing to read your insights - but what really matters is how you respond to them.

Here’s how to turn insights into action: Double down on what’s working.

If your before-and-after videos are reaching a large audience, make more. If your “skincare tip of the week” is always saved, keep that going. Experiment with underperforming posts. Don’t just delete them - tweak the hook, caption, or timing and try again.

Use insights to guide your content plan.

Look back at your monthly data and use it to decide what to post more of next month.

You don’t need to be a data nerd or spend hours in spreadsheets to grow on Instagram, but you do need to understand your numbers enough to make informed, intentional choices.

Because every time you post, you’re either strengthening or weakening your connection with your audience. And your insights? They’re your cheat sheet to doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

So next time you feel stuck or start comparing your engagement to another salon- stop, breathe, and open up your Insights. Your answers are already there.

You’ve got this beauty

Kayla x @socialsforsalons