What Does Meta’s Shift to Views From Impressions Mean for Your Social Media Strategy?

As long as most of us can remember, one of the most important social media metrics has been impressions. While the definition varies from platform to platform, it has long been used as an indicator of a piece of content's total footprint.

But things are changing.

Meta (aka the parent of Facebook and Instagram) began rolling out a major change in the way this footprint is measured.

Views have taken the place of impressions and plays.

So, why the change? In part, due to platforms like TikTok that have set a new standard for performance metrics and content formats. It's also a more accurate measurement of what Meta considers actual human interactions.

For social media managers this means optimizing content to generate maximum views and actions, emphasizing and creating more types of content that naturally create multiple views.

Let’s break it down.

What is Instagram's transition to views?

Instagram has officially transitioned from impressions to views as the platform's primary performance metric, with the change taking full effect on April 21, 2025. This will result in impressions being deprecated, and ultimately no longer tracked.

Importantly, this update doesn’t just apply to Measure Studio. It affects all third-party tools that use the Meta API to deliver Instagram performance data. Since Meta is officially deprecating impressions across the platform these changes will be reflected everywhere the API is used.

At this time, the change is limited to Instagram. Meta has not yet announced any timeline or confirmed plans to deprecate similar metrics for Facebook.

How does it impact your social media strategy?

Here’s how the shift to views on Instagram will impact your social media strategy:

1. Adjust content formats

With views taking center stage, static photos aren’t going to cut it. Shift your content calendar to prioritize content formats that naturally generate multiple views, such as Reels, Stories, and carousels.

2. Inspire audience actions

With Meta counting repeat views, content that loops well or is highly rewatchable gets more traction. Create seamless content, satisfying sequences, quick how-tos, and storytelling formats that make users want to watch again.

3. Reevaluate KPIs and benchmarks

Impressions is no longer the success metric it once was. With the shift to views, update social dashboards and performance reports to reflect this shift. Internal KPIs should now be aligned with view-based performance.

What happens to my old impressions metrics?

Your historical Impressions data isn’t disappearing - yet. You’ll still be able to view and export it for older posts, especially those published before July 2024. But starting April 21, 2025, impressions will stop updating and will be marked as “Deprecated.”

They’ll no longer be prioritized or used in post rankings, benchmarks, or most dashboards going forward. If you rely on these metrics in custom reports or formulas, you’ll want to start phasing them out.

For a look at the complete list of deprecated metrics check out the Instagram Media Insights page on Meta's developers page.

How does Instagram's shift to views impact my social media dashboard and performance reports?

As mentioned above, start by updating your KPIs. If impressions were your top-of-funnel go-to, replace them with views.

Next, it’s time to rework your social dashboard and reporting templates. Swap out impressions, plays, and legacy video views for newer metrics centered around views.

From there you'll want to re-evaluate your social benchmarks. As is the case whenever you shift from one metric to another, your numbers will look different and baseline performance should be recalculated. You’ll need to track a few weeks of data under the new metrics to set realistic performance goals going forward.

Finally, make sure you’re communicating this shift with stakeholders, whether it’s your team, clients, or leadership.

A short explainer in your social media reports can keep everyone on the same page about what has changed, why it matters, and how your strategy is adapting to match.

Wrapping up

With Instagram impressions officially deprecated, and Facebook potentially on deck, the way we measure success on Meta has changed for good. It’s no longer about how often your content appears, it’s about how many times it gets seen.

Instead of relying on legacy metrics, this is your moment to experiment, rethink what success looks like, and tap into formats that genuinely resonate. Use this transition to your advantage.

Because at the end of the day, adapting fast isn’t just a priority, but a requirement. Test, learn, and lean into what your audience truly enjoys watching.

Now, need a tool that does the work for you?

Get started with Measure Studio today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Meta replace impressions with views?

Meta switched to Views from Impressions to focus on content exposure and interaction rather than just display counts.

Can I still access historical impressions data?

Do I need to change how I run paid social campaigns?