Instagram gives creators more insight into their reels’ performance

Meta continues to target creators in the days following the U.S. TikTok ban. In addition to paying TikTok creators big bonuses to publish reels, Instagram announced on Wednesday that it’s introducing new ways for creators to better understand how their short videos are performing. The platform is introducing additional metrics that allow creators to see what content resonates better with their audiences.

The social network is rolling out a new metric called “View Rate” that lets creators see what percentage of their followers and non-followers continue to watch their video after the first three seconds. Instagram notes that the first few seconds of reels are the most important because if you capture the viewer’s attention right away, they will keep watching the video.

Instagram is also adding a “Views Over Time” metric that shows creators how many views their reel has received so far compared to the average views they normally get over the same time period. Creators can break down these views between followers and non-followers.

In addition, Instagram will start giving creators more actionable tips to understand if their reels are performing better or worse than usual. The company believes this will allow creators to see which types of content get the most views.

For instance, Instagram may encourage you to create more reels that are similar to one that got significantly more views than your typical content. A notice like this may read: “This reel is doing great! It got 20% more views than the average of your recent reels. Create more reels like this.”

In addition to the bonuses, Instagram has been trying to lure TikTok creators over to its platform with promises of content deals and support to grow their communities. While TikTok is online in the U.S. after going dark for 12 hours last week, the ByteDance-owned video app network is still missing from app stores, giving rivals like Instagram the opportunity to benefit from its woes.