How To Use Instagram To Gauge Customer Sentiment

If you want to engage with your audience, start by listening. There’s no better place for this than Instagram. But in order to gauge customer sentiment on the platform, you need a plan for what and how to track, which tools to use, and how to use them.

That’s where we come in: This handy guide will help you learn everything from using Facebook Ads Manager to figuring out how many hashtags are too many hashtags.

We’ll take you through each step of the process so that once you’re at the end, all that’s left is engaging with customers who say nice things about your product or brand!

How to measure sentiment in social media? 🙂😐🙁

Key Takeaways
1. Instagram serves as a valuable platform for gauging customer sentiment.
2. Analyzing user-generated content on Instagram provides insights into customer emotions.
3. Sentiment analysis involves using natural language processing to understand emotional tone.
4. Understanding customer sentiment can guide marketing strategies effectively.
5. Automated tools and techniques are available for accurate sentiment analysis.

Table of Contents

Find Out What Your Customers Want

To get started, we’ll use some free tools to see what your target audience is interested in. If you’re not sure who your target audience is, that’s okay! We’ll walk through two different ways of finding them later on.

Use Instagram Insights: Go to the Instagram app and open up the profile page for one of your competitors or companies similar to yours (but with more active followers than you). Tap into the “Insights” feature by swiping left on their profile photo and selecting “Insights.”

Here, you can see how many people have viewed each post as well as how many likes it received. You can also view details like the most popular day of publishing for posts and which hashtags were used most often by this company’s audience.

Use hashtags: Search for relevant terms in Instagram Stories’ search bar (in between Stories Highlighted Posts and Discover), click on a hashtag listing when it appears, then scroll down until all results are displayed at once.

Clicking on any post will reveal information about how many viewers have seen it so far as well as any comments left by other users who saw that same post too!

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Decide What You Want To Track

When it comes to setting up an Instagram analytics dashboard, the first question you’ll have to answer is: What do you want to track?

The options are pretty limitless. You can track followers, follower growth rate, follower growth rate by country, follower growth rate by city, and so on. You can also track your account (the one that you’re using for your business) or individual posts.

If you’re working with a client, this is where things get interesting.

By setting up an Instagram analytics dashboard for them and tracking their account’s performance over time and across posts, you can help determine what content performs best for them and then use it as a guide when creating new content for them in the future.

Track The Right Things

To track the right things, start by tracking your most important metrics. These are engagement, impressions, reach, clicks, and cost per click/impression. You should also track conversion rate (the percentage of people who click through to a landing page) and return on investment (ROI).

If you’re not sure what your most important metrics are yet, it’s okay to start small and build from there. Just keep in mind that whatever you choose will be part of your long-term plan for Instagram marketing so don’t rush into anything without considering its implications first!

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Facebook Ads Manager

Facebook Ads Manager is a free tool that allows you to track impressions and clicks on your ads, as well as run ads.

It’s also where you can see what posts are getting the most shares, likes, comments, and reactions. You can use these insights to create more engaging content for your business page and target people who may be interested in what you have to offer.

Follower Count

The follower count is one of the leading indicators of success on Instagram and it’s worth paying attention to. But it’s not a perfect measure and has its flaws.

First, as with any social platform, your followers can be bought and sold. So if you see someone with an impressive follower count but whose account looks like a ghost town (followers who never comment or engage).

That could be a sign that they bought some followers to inflate their numbers. Likewise, people may follow your brand because they want something from you whether it’s free products or discounts, and are not interested in engaging with the content you share.

Finally, keep in mind that just because someone follows you doesn’t mean they care about what you post or even see it at all!

If someone unfollows or blocks your account for no apparent reason (or if their behavior indicates that they’re spamming other users), then there might not be much point in continuing to follow them back.

Instagram Insights

Instagram Insights is a free tool that allows you to track the engagement of your posts, follower growth, and location-based performance.

To access Instagram Insights, go to Profile > [your username] > Posts > Insights. You’ll be able to see details like likes and comments per post, in addition to how many people have seen each post based on how long it’s been posted.

Additionally, Instagram Insights allows you to filter by location so that you can see exactly how well your posts are performing in different areas around the world.

Engagement Rate

Engagement rate is the percentage of your followers who have interacted with your account. The higher the engagement rate, the better.

To calculate the engagement rate, divide the number of likes by your total number of followers. Then multiply that by 100 to get your percentage.

Increase engagement by posting content that interests and inspires your audience; this will help them connect with you and show their support for what you’re doing!

Try creating a call-to-action in each post, asking people to comment or like if they enjoyed reading or watching whatever it was that you posted (make sure these requests don’t sound like demands).

If all goes well, there should be plenty more comments on Instagram than on other social media platforms because there aren’t any ways to hide them!

Data analysis plays a crucial role in understanding customer sentiment. Explore innovative methods for market research using Google Trends. Our article on using Google Trends for market research will help you harness the power of data to gauge consumer interest.

Analyze Your Posts, But Don’t Change Them Too Often

After you’ve posted a few times and have established a baseline for your content, you can start to analyze its performance. This is a great way to learn what works and what doesn’t work without having to make major changes right away.

For example, if you notice that one of the images in your series gets more likes than the others (or fewer), use this information when deciding which image to use next time around.

Or maybe there’s nothing wrong with how you’re posting at all; maybe it’s just that one particular image that was better received than the others was and now it will be easier for you and other people who want to get consistent results from their Instagram accounts!

Don’t change anything just because someone else does it first: You’re unique! Your customers are unique! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! But remember if someone else is doing something right on social media learn from them!

Take note of what they do well so as not only emulate but improve upon those ideas moving forward into future marketing efforts such as creating content specifically tailored towards those audiences who seemed most interested in seeing what we had available.

Use Hashtags To Track Conversations, But Don’t Overdo It

Once you’ve identified the hashtags you’d like to use, it’s time to jump into the deep end: using them on posts. But before you do, let’s talk about best practices for hashtag usage.

While hashtags can be extremely helpful in tracking conversations around your business and industry, there are a few things to keep in mind when using them.

First of all, make sure that any hashtags that you add have relevance to your post and the brand you want people who come across that post in their feed.

Or search results (because they’re looking up information related to one of those terms) to find it interesting and worth engaging with.

This means making sure your content aligns with what people would expect based on these tags (e.g., if someone sees #fashion on one of your images or videos).

Second: Don’t overdo it! If a user has 500 posts on Instagram with 20 different hashtags each day, other users might not want their feeds clogged up by so many unnecessary keywords every single day they’ll just see them as spamming efforts and unfollowing right away!

Create And Watch Your Hashtag Trends

Creating a hashtag is simple, but you’ll want to make sure that it’s unique and relevant. If you’re running a coffee shop, for example, you might use something like #coffeeshopbrews or #mystamplestays.

Think about what your customers are likely to say as they post photos of their experience with your brand this will help you create an engaging hashtag that’s also easy to track.

Once you’ve created your hashtag and started using it on social media, monitor whether or not others are using it as well.

If people are posting with the same tagline in their posts (or if many posts are using your particular tagline).

Then consider turning this into an opportunity for marketing by re-posting some of these photos on your page or tagging the original poster in yours so they know someone else loves their work too!

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See What’s Being Said About You On Other Hashtags

If you’re looking to see what people are saying about your brand or product, there are two main ways to do it.

The first is through the hashtag search feature on Instagram. Searching for a hashtag will show all posts that include that hashtag and can help give you an idea of what people think about your brand or product and if they have any issues with it.

The second way is by searching other hashtags related to your industry and competitors. For example, if we were selling shoes, we could search for #shoes and see what customers were saying about our competitors’ shoes.

Search And Watch For Mentions Of Your Product And Brand Name

Once you’ve found a few relevant hashtags, you can use them to search for mentions of your product and brand name.

If someone mentions your company or product on Instagram and doesn’t include a hashtag, it will show up in their comment stream but won’t be searchable by anyone who doesn’t follow that user.

To find out what people are saying about your brand or products without searching for specific keywords, tap on the magnifying glass icon at the top of any post to bring up an advanced search menu where you can enter any combination of keywords.

A great way to get started with this is by using one of these popular hashtags:

#instagood
#igers (another variation of Instagram)
#photooftheday

Use Google Alerts To Search For Your Brand Name Or Specific Products’ Names

This is a great way to monitor what’s happening in the world of your brand. On a larger scale, you can get a sense of how customers feel about your brand and its competitors by monitoring what’s being said about them.

It also helps you figure out if any issues need to be addressed (for example, poor customer service or something similar).

Once you know what people are saying about your business, keep an eye on it over time – this will tell you whether or not their sentiments have changed.

You can use Google Alerts’ advanced settings (which I’ll cover later) to focus on certain types of content like news articles or blog posts instead of just social media posts.

Respond Quickly To Any Complaints, But Leave The Rest Alone

Don’t respond to compliments unless it’s genuine and you can do something about it, like thanking the customer for their loyalty or helping them fix an issue (e.g., “Hey John, thanks for your comment! We’re so happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying our service so far.”).

Don’t respond to complaints you can’t fix (e.g., “Thanks for sharing your feedback! I’m sorry we couldn’t get this resolved faster.”) because this shows customers that nothing is being done about their problems even if it’s not true.

It also gives them ammunition for future negative reviews (“They didn’t even try!”). If someone says they’re going elsewhere because of a problem with your brand.

Then there may be something worth salvaging here; otherwise, ignore this comment too (unless they have a legitimate gripe).

Effective audience understanding often starts with proper market segmentation. Discover how segmenting your customer base can provide valuable insights into sentiment and preferences. Delve into the significance of market segmentation to tailor your strategies for maximum impact.

Reply To Praises By Thanking Users For Their Compliments

Responding to praises is good for your brand reputation, user experience, and user loyalty. Where people can see how you are responding to your customers’ comments, it will help with their perception of your company’s customer service.

The more that people see you responding in a positive way to praise, the more likely they are going to respond positively when they have an issue or complaint about something you sell.

It also improves engagement since followers will want to share and comment on what they see as a positive interaction with your brand.

And this again helps in building up trust with new potential customers or clients who might be looking at reviews before deciding whether they want to buy from you or not.

Conclusion

If this all seems overwhelming, remember that it’s a process. If you’re just getting started, you may want to build up your brand presence before tracking metrics.

Once you have a good foundation of followers and some engagement statistics under your belt, the rest will come naturally. Just be sure to start small and not try to make changes too quickly; that can be frustrating for everyone involved!

FAQs

How does sentiment analysis on Instagram work?

Sentiment analysis on Instagram involves using natural language processing to analyze user-generated content and determine the emotional tone of their posts and comments.

What insights can I gain from Instagram sentiment analysis?

By analyzing sentiments on Instagram, you can understand how customers perceive your brand, products, or services, enabling you to make informed decisions to enhance your marketing strategies.

What are some common challenges in Instagram sentiment analysis?

Challenges include accurately interpreting sarcasm, dealing with context-dependent sentiments, and managing multilingual content, which can affect the precision of sentiment analysis results.

How can sentiment analysis benefit my social media marketing strategy?

Sentiment analysis provides insights into customer opinions, helping you tailor your marketing content to better resonate with your audience and address their concerns effectively.

Are there automated tools for social media sentiment analysis?

Yes, there are various automated tools and platforms available that utilize machine learning and natural language processing to conduct sentiment analysis on social media platforms like Instagram. These tools can help streamline the analysis process and provide actionable insights.

Costantine Edward

Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.