The Fundamentals of Facebook Analytics
It’s pretty clear that Facebook is here to stay, at least for the next few years. As such, many companies now have a Facebook Page that they have set up in hopes of attracting the notice of other users. There is an issue with this however: How do you know what your fans like and don’t like? Facebook can provide the answer through the use of powerful analytical tools.
Here’s three basic points on using Facebook analytics to help figure out what content is working and what isn’t, and make your social media campaign even more effective.
Gain some content insight with Insights
Facebook’s built-in analytical tool – Facebook Insights – is a powerful way to keep track of how well your content is doing. Insights is available for free to Facebook Page administrators and can be accessed by pressing the Settings cog – located in the top-right of the window – and selecting View Insights.
Among other things, Insights allows you to view your content’s Reach, Engaged Users and Talking About numbers. Reach is how many people have seen your posts; Engaged Users is the number of users who have clicked on your links, and Talking About is the number of users who have shared or liked your posts.
Looking at these three numbers will give you a pretty good indication of what your followers like and don’t like. You can also compare the results from different types of content which will give you a great overview of what type of content your customers like.
To take it one step further, Insights also allows you to view activity by day. So, if you notice a picture or article got a lot of likes on a Saturday, this may be a good day to post similar content.
Get to know your audience
Insights doesn’t just provide information about your content, you can also get a snapshot of your audience by tracking data too, such as the average user age clicking the “Like” button and where they clicked the button – on your page, through a plugin, etc. If you notice that the majority of your users are older, it may not be a good idea to use slang commonly used by younger users.
The information Insights provides about your audience can help you gain a clearer picture on the type of content you should be creating to reach the intended audience. Furthermore, if you notice that a lot of likes or shares are coming from a website, or your blog, it may be a good idea to make the button more prominent or easier to find.
Take Facebook Advertising out for a spin
Once you have mastered Insights and know the type of targeted content you need to develop, why not try Facebook Advertising? This service allows you to target your content and posts to specific demographics in the hopes of increasing your brand’s exposure.
While this is a pay-service, you can choose to sponsor stories – these show up on the right-hand side of the page – or promote posts – these show content to users who have already liked your page. Both of these options allow you to set the demographic indicators which will place the ad in front of the users you want to target.
It’s important to not go too overboard however, as you could over-reach your brand and end up alienating potential customers. It’s a better idea to start small and continuously track how things are going. If something doesn’t work, you haven’t wasted thousands of dollars and can go back to the drawing board.
If you would like to learn more about Facebook Insights and how they can help your business reach the audience you want, why not give us a shout, we’re here to help.