Brands You Follow on Instagram Are Watching You Verrrry Closely

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Image: Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

By Kurt Wagner2014-04-16 15:13:18 UTC

The brands you follow on Instagram may be paying close attention to you — very close attention, in fact.

Union Metrics, the social analytics company behind the Twitter analytics service TweetReach, added an Instagram analytics tool on Wednesday. A major benefit to Union Metrics' customers is the ability to get detailed information about the followers who interact with its posts.

See also: 10 Must-Follow Instagram Accounts for Stylish Women

The new analytics offering includes what Union Metrics calls "detailed participant reporting," a tool that allows brands to identify their biggest fans within Instagram. Brands will be able to create timelines depicting the comments and likes from each fan, a heat map of when each fan comments and likes, and breakdowns of how often those fans engage with the brand.

In essence, brands will be able to pinpoint their biggest fans, helping them plan and execute their Instagram strategy.

"A deeper understanding of your fans and the people that are participating in your conversation really helps you to target your content," Hayes Davis, CEO of Union Metrics, told Mashable. "There is no such thing as too much understanding of your audience."

This is an approach shared by another Instagram analytics firm, Curalate, which also works to identify the most active participants for its clients. Curalate even helps its clients identify popular photos its fans are sharing, so those brands can share those photos on the brand website. It's yet another way brands are hoping to make a personal connection with their followers.

Union Metrics only looks at users' public data in relation to brands, Davis said, not their private information. "It's important for us to treat people's public data with respect," he added.

A look at how Union Metrics will surface individual user content to its brand customers.

These general Instagram analytics tools are not entirely new. Union Metrics joins a handful of other providers who already offer similar products, including Curalate, Simply Measured and Nitrogram. Another analytics offering, Statigram, even offers a free service to users.

This wealth of interest in Instagram is yet another example of the importance of social data With Facebook and Twitter, that value seems obvious. The social platforms offer brands millions of users in exchange for millions in big-time ad spending. Advertising can be costly on social media — Facebook's new video ads fetched more than $600,000 per day, for example — so finding the right audience is key.

On Instagram, advertising is still very new, and few companies have had the opportunity to test Instagram ads. Using analytics tools to monitor organic reach or posts that brands don't pay for extra exposure is a good stepping stone before committing big money on what is still a relatively unfamiliar platform, Davis said.

"A brand will be most successful advertising on a social platform it already understands, so it's a great idea for brands to learn more about what organic content performs well on a particular platform before committing to a larger ad spend there," he explained.

It may still be early for Instagram ads, but you can bet that when the company opens the door, brands will be ready.

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Topics: Advertising, Business, curalate, instagram, Marketing, social analytics, social media marketing, union metrics