Influencer Marketing: Changes to Instagram Metrics April 2025

As of April 21st, 2025, Meta has officially removed the Impressions metric from its Instagram marketing API. This update represents a broader industry shift toward more consistent and transparent measurement standards across social platforms. In alignment with this change and to ensure a unified and accurate reporting experience, Sprout Social Influencer Marketing will begin phasing out the Impressions metric across all platforms, starting with Instagram, in the coming weeks.
 

What’s changing now?

The definition of Views is changing for Reels content. Previously, a View only counted after 1 second of playback after an Impression was counted. Now, Meta counts any visual load of the video as a View.
 

To maintain data continuity and minimize disruption, Sprout will continue displaying the Impressions metric, but source its value from the Views metric when possible. This applies to Photos, Videos, Carousels, and Stories for opted-in Instagram Creators. In most cases, Views and Impressions values are nearly identical, making this a reliable stop-gap. 

What does this mean for metrics on the platform?

You'll see the following impacts to metrics on the Influencer Marketing platform, including:

• Reels Views are expected to increase by 40% for opted-in creators.
• EMV will also increase for Reels by 40%.
• Instagram EMV is expected to increase by 35% for opted-in creators.

These changes apply only to opted-in Instagram Creators who have permissions to Insights data. Historical impressions will remain unchanged, but future content may show slightly different performance due to these adjustments. 
 

Why is this the change that Sprout is making?

Meta’s decision to remove Impressions from the Instagram API has prompted Sprout to reevaluate how we report performance metrics across the platform. As Impressions are no longer supported by Instagram, and aren’t consistently available across most other networks, relying on this metric would lead to data inconsistency. By transitioning to Views, Sprout is aligning with the measurement standards used across the broader social ecosystem, ensuring  reporting remains accurate, transparent, and actionable.
 

What can I expect in the future?

Sprout is actively working on a long-term solution to fully remove and replace Impressions metrics across the platform in a way that supports consistency and comparability across all networks. Sprout's goal is to ensure you have access to reliable and standardized performance insights. As Sprout finalizes our approach, expect updates and timelines to be shared in the following weeks.