How to compare reels and download insights as a PDF in Edits

To download your insights as a PDF, open Edits, tap the Insights tab, select the Audience section and tap the export icon. In the same tab, Compare puts up to 3 of your reels side by side on views, watch time, follows and interactions.

Below, we walk through both, along with the Audience section and the new search in the Inspiration tab. Then we get to how we'd put them to work, including what we'd send a brand with that PDF.

What can I see in Edits insights?

Edits insights show how your reels perform with your audience on Instagram, and the trends across your followers. Edits is Instagram's video editing app for iOS and Android, and you log in with your Instagram account. Tap Insights in the bottom right of the app to open them.

Insights cover the last 60 days, and you can change the date range from the top right. The numbers include:

• Views: the total number of times your reels start to play or replay.
• Reach: the number of unique views a reel has received.
• Follows: how many accounts started following you after viewing a reel.
• Likes, comments, shares and saves across your reels.
• Total play time.

Tap any reel in the list to see insights for that reel alone.

How do I compare two or three reels in Edits?

Compare answers the question every creator asks at some point: why did one video take off and another didn't? It shows views, watch time, follows and interactions for up to 3 reels in one view, so you can spot what worked and carry it into the next one.

1. Open the Insights tab in Edits.
2. Tap Compare.
3. Select up to 3 reels.
4. Read their numbers side by side.

What does the Audience section in Edits show?

The Audience section shows where your followers are, what they're interested in and when they're most active. It's the part of Edits we'd check before choosing a posting time or pitching a brand.

1. Open Edits and tap the Insights tab.
2. Select the Audience section.
3. Look at where your followers are, when they're most active, and the rest of the breakdown.

How do I download Edits insights as a PDF?

Edits can export your video insights as a PDF, made for sharing directly with brands and partners.

1. Open Edits and tap the Insights tab.
2. Select the Audience section.
3. Tap the export icon.
4. Your insights download as a PDF.

We'd open the PDF before sending it, so you know exactly which numbers and which dates it covers.

How do I search for reel ideas in Edits?

The Inspiration tab now has search. Type a topic such as birthday or travel, and you get audio, ideas and templates for it, with less scrolling.

1. Open Edits and tap the Inspiration tab.
2. Type a topic in the search bar at the top.
3. Browse the audio, ideas and templates that come up.

How would we use the comparison and the PDF?

Compare reels that differ in one thing

A comparison tells you the most when the reels are alike except for one thing. We'd pick three reels about the same product or topic that differ only in the opening line, the length or the posting time. If all three differ in everything, the numbers can't tell you why one did better.

Say you make handmade soaps. We'd post three reels of the same bar with three openings: a lather close-up, the price on screen, and a spoken question such as ‘sensitive skin hai?’. Then we'd compare them and reuse the opening that held people longest. There's more on openings in our post on reel hooks.

To try an opening on people who don't follow you yet, use trial reels, which are shown to non-followers first. We'd test there, then bring the best version to your followers; our trial reels guide covers the setup.

We'd also check when your followers are most active before posting the next set, so the posting time doesn't skew the result.

What we'd send a brand

The PDF gives a brand your numbers straight from Edits, which we think beats a folder of screenshots. We still wouldn't send it alone, because a PDF doesn't explain why those numbers matter to that brand.

• Which reels to look at, and why they fit the brand.
• The cities or regions from the Audience section that match where the brand works.
• When your followers are most active, if the brand is planning a launch.
• Two or three reel links, so they can watch the work, not just read about it.

The PDF shows the numbers. Your note says why they matter.

We wouldn't edit or crop the PDF. If a number looks weak, we'd say so in the note and explain what you're changing, rather than leave it out.

If your reels ask people to comment, Instoly's analytics shows the comments, messages sent and clicks for each Auto DM flow, and its invoices tool is there when it's time to bill the brand.