After you post a Reel, what's the first metric you look at?

Views, watch time, shares, saves, comments, or something else?

I usually pay attention to shares first because they seem to be a good sign that the content is reaching beyond my followers.

i would focus on watch time first of audience. if retention is strong, the algorithm tends to keep pushing the reel for you.

The first metric I look at is whether the reels are reaching anyone. If those people aren't my followers, that's a plus, because it shows the reels are reaching a good audience. Finally, I'll look at the viewing time and make my own assessment

I usually look at watch time first. If people aren't sticking around, the other metrics usually don't matter much.

watch time is obviously the baseline because if they swipe away instantly you are dead anyway. but honestly saves are the secret sauce that nobody talks about enough. if someone saves a reel the algorithm treats it like gold because it means they want to come back to the app. @CashPhantom shares are great for external reach but keep an eye on your save-to-reach ratio... if that is high the algo will do the heavy lifting for you.

What do you think?



It tells you, lol.

I usually pay attention to views and engagement metrics, but I also think the number of shares is a very important indicator.

Watchtime matters more than anything else, How long the video was being watched will decide how good every other metric will be.

I always make sure to check retention and watch time first since these metrics will tell me whether the content is truly engaging. The number of shares and saves is important , but even if they do not reach that level, retention will be my primary metric to consider.

You want to observe the country your targeting since that will show you the reach you have based on the area/city

I usually look at watch time and retention first. Views tell you how far it reached, but retention shows if people actually found the content interesting. After that, I check shares and saves because those are strong signals that the Reel has value beyond just getting views.

I usually pay attention to views and engagment metrices,Watchingtime matters more than anything else, How long the video was being watched will decide how good every other metric will be.

These metrics include the first few seconds retention, completion rate, and saves. The views metric only inidicates the reach but not if the content has been able to impact the viewers in any way. When viewers watch the entire video and then save it, I know that the format was a success.

The percentage of viewers who watch until the very end is a key indicator of a high-quality video. Videos that are watched multiple times are the strongest signal for evaluating video quality.

I would normally analyze the initial retention rates first. When people start watching past the hook, then it is time to see whether they are savving or sharing the video to know whether it has been received well. Views miay not really tell the whole truth about the quality traffic you receive.

CashPhantom said:

Views, watch time, shares, saves, comments, or something else?

I usually pay attention to shares first because they seem to be a good sign that the content is reaching beyond my followers.

Click to expand...

I pay more attention to how long people stick around a post that holds attention usually performs well in other areas too.

The amount of time users spend watching a video, especially the first few seconds, is crucial. If a video is long but viewers only skim through it for 1-2 seconds, the platform will interpret the content as unengaging.

For us retention time is the most important metric, followed by saves, we can determine which videos drive the best results based solely on these two initial metrics.

usually check repeat engagement when people come back and interact with more content, it shows the post connected with the right audience.

The first metric I look at after posting a reel is the retention graph, which is how people behave in the first few seconds of the video, I don't pay attention to likes or initial comments because those are vanity metrics that don't tell you anything useful at the beginning, what really matters is whether people stay to watch the video or leave before it ends, instagram shows you a retention graph in the statistics, and what I look for is that the curve doesn't drop sharply in the first two or three seconds.

If I see that retention is good, that people stay until the end, then I start paying attention to other metrics like direct message shares, which are currently the strongest signal for the algorithm, if people share your reel with a friend, it's because they were genuinely interested, and the algorithm interprets that as valuable content, I also look at the average watch time because a reel that people watch completely has a much better chance of reaching new audiences.

Likes and comments are a gauge of your audience's engagement, but retention is the engine that drives the algorithm to show your content to more people, a reel can have few likes and still perform well if retention is high, that's why the first metric I always check is the retention curve, because it tells you if you're truly engaging people from the very first second, if the curve drops sharply, something went wrong in the first few seconds, and you need to learn from that for the next reel.