Facebook Analytics: By the Numbers
Facebook analytics are no different than any other data you deal with on a daily basis. Social media managers walk a fine line between providing clients with enough information to measure key performance indicators and overwhelming them with unfamiliar numbers. The following metrics form the basis of Facebook analytics. Each brand we work with at TPM has different goals, so to provide a complete picture, additional data is combined within this framework. Navigate to Facebook Insights and use this summary to explore each tab.
Facebook Overview
This snapshot shows the past week's worth of activity. It can help you make micro-adjustments to your posting or advertising schedule. It can also provide a quick competitor comparison if you have added 'Pages to Watch.' See how your brand stacks up in the number of new Likes, engaged fans and audience reach each week in the Facebook analytics overview.
Facebook Likes
Facebook is no longer a popularity contest to see who can get the most Likes. Since the Facebook algorithm has created a pay-to-play platform, it is important to target your core customer base. Not only do you have to pay to find these fans, you have to pay for your posts to reach them too. Choose quality over quantity for the best ROI. Slow and steady will be a better strategy for many brands on Facebook.
Sometimes Unlikes are important too. There are many reasons you may see a spike in Unlikes: a contest ended, a paid Likes campaign wasn't well targeted, or there were too many/not enough posts to your timeline. It is worth diving deeper to find out why. Download the Facebook Excel spreadsheet for page data and compare column C (Likes) with column D (Unlikes). This is a clear way to compare activity over time.
Facebook Reach
See how far your posts reached over the course of a month. When you post to your timeline or advertise your brand on Facebook, you have a positive effect on how large an audience you reach. When there is a large spike, it is worth investigating what happened. In this case, the post picture and messaging were on target and received 2,506 Post Likes, 429 Shares, and 83 Comments for a total Facebook Reach of 84,032 users.
Since this was by far the best performing post, it is important to analyze and replicate those successful elements again. Looking back at Likes column C on the Facebook Excel spreadsheet, it also earned over twice the average Page Likes that day -- an added benefit.
Facebook Posts
In the early days of Facebook, it was important to know when your fans were online so that you could time your Posts to reach more of them. Now fans are typically online 7 days a week during waking hours. This is not a surprise. Posts from your timeline are also shown in date order on this tab. It is interesting to re-sort the columns by Reach or Engagement to see the top performing posts of the last three months. Look at the elements of these top performing posts and find ways to replicate them for future success. Post type, messaging and time of day may have all played a part. Find out more from Facebook here.
Facebook People
This tab shows demographic data that you can compare to your core customer base. For example, a local bank that operates solely in a sparsely populated county does not need a lot of Likes. They need Likes to come from within their geographic service area. This tab shows the location of Fans (Likes), Reach (total audience) and Engaged (any click, comment or share). For this bank, reaching the right audience is more important than the number of Likes they receive.
Spend time looking through Facebook Insights and soon you will be able to recognize trends. Learn from past mistakes and build on past successes. Everyday, there is something new to learn in social media. At TPM we adapt our techniques and strategies as social media changes. It works, and we have the Facebook analytics to prove it.