To measure social media ROI as a small business, log every customer Instagram brings in on one sheet (date, person, which post, what they wanted, what happened), add up what those customers spent, and set it against what the month cost you. Then read five numbers, from each Reel's insights and from your sheet, to see which posts start those conversations. Your own median is the benchmark for every one of them.
How do I connect posts to sales?
Most of what Instagram does for a local business happens off the app: a walk-in, a call, a booking, a mention at the register. No insights screen sees those. So keep one sheet, in a spreadsheet or in a notebook by the register:
| Date | Person | Which post | What they wanted | What happened |
|---|
Add a row every time someone messages you after a post, comments with a real question, or says they found you on Instagram. Ask "which post did you see?" and write the answer down. Train whoever runs the counter to ask too.
"I found you on Instagram" counts. It is the most direct evidence a local business gets, even though no tool recorded it. When you report results, label which numbers came from Instagram and which you counted yourself.
How do I work out the ROI?
Once a month, from the sheet:
- Revenue: add up what the customers in the "What happened" column spent.
- Cost: what you paid a manager or agency, plus your own hours times what an hour of your time is worth. You set that number.
- ROI: revenue minus cost, divided by cost.
The first month will undercount, because someone who watches today can walk in three weeks from now. Read three months before you decide anything. Why the first month looks thin is in how long organic social media takes.
Which numbers matter, and where do I find them?
For Reels, Instagram's insights cover views, reach, average watch time, skip rate, saves and shares. The follows and DMs a Reel starts go on your sheet. The names below are the ones in Meta's Instagram metric documentation (read October 2026); the labels in the app may differ slightly. Read them in order. Each depends on the one before it, so fix the first weak one first.
| Number | What Meta measures | What it tells you | If it is low, look at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Skip rate (your hold rate is the rest) | The share of views that skipped in the first 3 seconds of a Reel. Meta marks it as estimated. | Did the opening stop people? | Your hook: how to write reel hooks |
| 2. Average watch time | The average time spent playing the Reel | Once they stayed, did they keep watching? | A slow middle or a long ending. Cut the fat, end hard. |
| 3. Saves and shares | How many people saved the post or sent it on | Was it worth keeping or passing to a friend? | Whether it was useful or specific to your customers |
| 4. Follows per view | Follows divided by views | Did watching give them a reason to see more? | Whether the post was clearly about your business |
| 5. Profile visits to DMs | Messages compared with profile visits | Did checking you out lead to a conversation? | Your bio and pinned posts |
Two notes. Views counts every play and reach counts unique accounts, so one person watching three times is three views and one reach. And Meta's documentation lists follows and profile visits for posts and stories but not for Reels, which is why a Reel's follows and DMs live on the sheet.
What is a good number?
Your own median. Take a number, say views, for your last 20 posts, sort them, and find the middle value. Anything well above it did something you want to repeat, so find out what. Danny calls a post with roughly five times the account's median views an outlier, and those are the posts to study and remake.
Another account's numbers tell you little, because their audience, niche and size are not yours. Your own last month tells you whether you are getting better.
What should I compare at day 90?
- Your day 1 numbers next to your day 90 numbers.
- Your top five posts by views, and what they share.
- The conversations and sales on the sheet, matched to the posts that started them.
If visits are high and messages are low, rework your bio: who you help, proof, what followers get, one call to action, one link. If messages come in but few turn into bookings, the reply is the problem, covered in how to turn Instagram followers into customers.
When we run an account, the report covers the same ground: views, saves, follows, and what walked through the door, so you can do this math on our work too.
Questions people ask
What Instagram metrics matter most for a local business?
Profile visits to DMs matters most for a local business, because a message is a conversation with a likely customer. Read it alongside skip rate, average watch time, saves and shares, and follows per view.
Is there a benchmark for a good Instagram engagement rate?
Launch Social does not publish an engagement benchmark, because a number from another account says little about yours. Compare each post with your own median instead.
Related
- Social media management in San Diego
- Why your Instagram is not getting customers
- How to turn Instagram followers into customers
- Signs your social media manager is not working
Want this done for you? Book a free 15-minute call with Danny. We look at your account and the businesses you compete with, and you leave with a written plan for your next 90 days, whether you hire us or not.