Total Plays Now Included in Facebook and Instagram Reels Reporting - June 2024

A significant enhancement has been made to Sprout's reporting for Facebook and Instagram Reels. Previously, reporting metrics only captured initial plays, which led to discrepancies when compared to native platform reporting that includes total plays (initial plays + replays).

What’s Changing?

Facebook Reels:

• Total Plays: A new API endpoint now allows us to capture total plays for Facebook Reels posts. This means that for any Facebook Reels created after January 1, 2024, Sprout post-level reporting will display “total plays” in Video Views and Impressions.
• Metric Mapping: Note that Facebook Reels Video Views are mapped to Facebook Reels Impressions in Sprout, so these values will always be identical.
• Engagement Rate Impact: With the inclusion of replays, the Engagement Rate per Impression metric for Facebook Reels will also be updated.

Instagram Reels:

• Total Plays: Similarly, we now capture total plays for Instagram Reels posts via a new API endpoint. For Instagram Reels created after January 1, 2024, Sprout post-level reporting will reflect “total plays” in Video Views and Impressions.
• Metric Mapping: Instagram Reels Video Views are mapped to Instagram Reels Impressions in Sprout, ensuring these values are the same.
• Engagement Rate Impact: This change will also affect the Engagement Rate per Impression metric for Instagram Reels.
• Profile Performance Report: Starting July 1, 2024, Video Views in the Instagram Business Profiles Report’s Performance Summary and the Video Views widget in the Profile Performance Report will include daily values for Instagram Reels.

How It Works

The Reels Total Plays metric includes both initial plays and replays. This metric is defined as the number of times your reel starts to play or replay after an impression is counted. Plays of 1ms or more are included, and replays are counted after the initial play in the same Reel session. This total plays value will replace the current Reels play information throughout Sprout’s reporting.

Impact on Reporting

You can expect an increase in video views and impressions values due to the inclusion of replays. As a result, the engagement rate per impression may decrease because of the higher total impressions value.

We’re confident this enhancement provides a more accurate reflection of your Reels’ performance and helps you make more informed decisions based on comprehensive data.