Brands today need to focus on the networks that are going to be most beneficial to them. Almost always, Facebook ends up at least in the top 3 networks to be on, and a look at any web analytics, show Facebook as one of the top social referrers. A Facebook Page is the backbone of any brand’s social media presence. It is looked at by many as the main social representation of a brand and every section and action should be carefully thought out.
While value-based metrics are not as easy to measure, Facebook believes it gives marketers the tools to drive organic growth and the authority to lead organizations forward. The amount of information one can get from Facebook on the performance of posts, audience demographics and campaign tracking are amazing. While having all this information available is good, it’s only useful when it’s clear which data points matter the most to the business.
Let’s look at the 5 Facebook metrics every brand has to track:
1. Engagement
Engagement measures the number of times someone took action on your posts. That could mean clicking a link, sharing your post, making a reaction or leaving a comment.
Where to Find It
There are a couple ways to track engagement. The first is through Facebook Insights. Another option is to use Konnect’s Social Analytics tools. The reports show how much engagement your page and posts receive, as well as the types.
Why You Should Measure Engagement
Engagement is a sign that people actually like the content you’re sharing. Also it may give your posts more exposure to your audience.
Facebook uses an algorithm to determine where your posts show up in your followers’ News Feed. The purpose of the algorithm is to surface posts, users are most likely interested in. If one of your posts receives a ton of engagement, that signals to Facebook that it’s popular, so they’ll be more likely to surface it to your followers.
2. Reach
Reach is the number of people your content is seen by on Facebook. This can be through either paid or organic efforts.
As a result of the algorithm based feed, many businesses saw drastic drops in the number of people their content reaches organically. Some studies have reported reach to be as low as 2.6%. So even if you’ve built up a large audience, it doesn’t mean they’ll all see your posts. That’s where reach comes into play.
Where to Find It
You can see an overview of your reach by going to your page Insights. You can also monitor the reach of your posts in Konnect Insights’s Facebook Analytics reports.
Why You Should Measure Reach
There are brands that are able to reach a larger piece of their audience. Plus Facebook Ads can help you reach a larger audience as well. Reach helps you learn and understand what your audience likes, and why certain posts outperform others.
3. Impressions
Another Facebook metric related to the visibility of your posts is impressions. While reach tells you how many people saw your posts, impressions measure the number of times your posts were seen. That includes if one post was seen multiple times by a single user.
Where to Find It
In your Facebook Insights, go to the posts tab. Click on the button for “reach” and switch it to impressions. Konnect also provides very detailed impressions metrics within their Facebook Analytics Dashboard.
Why You Should Measure Impressions
Impressions can give you a good idea of the “viral” nature of a post. One person may get exposed to one of your posts multiple times. For instance, if they saw it once in their feed and then again when a friend shared it, that’s two impressions.
With all the content being thrown at consumers on a daily basis, especially on Facebook, getting your content seen multiple times is necessary to get people to take action. It’s a playoff on the rule of seven in marketing. The rule of seven essentially states that a prospect has to see your marketing message seven times before they take action.
4. Facebook Referral Traffic
Facebook referral traffic is the number of visitors your website gets from Facebook. That includes traffic from people clicking links in your posts, traffic from other people sharing your articles or visits from clicks on your profile link.
Where to Find It
You can see your referral traffic in Google Analytics under Acquisition> Social > Network Referral.
Why You Should Measure Facebook Referral Traffic
Facebook is great for building and feeding your community. But you’ll eventually want to get them off Facebook and onto your website to complete an action.
To truly measure the success of content you share on Facebook, you need to look at your referral traffic. This Facebook metric means that people felt so compelled by your headline and description that they took the time to click through and read it.
5. Page Likes & Follows
Page Likes are the number of people that follow your brand on Facebook. They liked your page or opted-in to be able to have your posts show up in their feed. You can think of them as fans or subscribers.
Where to Find It
You can see your total number of Likes or follows directly on your Facebook page.
If you want to go more in depth, you can visit the Likes tab in reporting. Here, you can see how your page’s Likes trend over time, as well as your number of Unlikes and a breakdown of organic or paid Likes. Facebook also provides you with a breakdown of where your Page Likes happen.
Alternatively, you can use our Facebook Analytics tools to see your audience growth as well. This puts all your Facebook metrics in one simple and easy to read report rather than having to navigate through multiple screens to get the data you need.
Why You Should Measure Page Likes
Measuring page Likes is important because page Likes show your audience size on Facebook. Over time, that number should ideally be growing by retaining current followers and adding new ones. So if you’re not measuring your audience growth, you’ll be left in the dark.
Facebook Video Metrics
With video becoming such a large part of Facebook, more marketers are jumping on board. Facebook provides plenty of data to allow you to measure the success of your videos, whether you’re running video ads, live streaming or posting native Facebook videos.
Here are some of the related Facebook metrics you should track to measure the success of your video content:
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Video Retention
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Video Engagement
Facebook Ad Metrics
The Facebook Ad metrics you track will depend on your brand’s goals. But here are some of the more common metrics you should measure:
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CTR (Click-through rate)
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(CPM) cost per thousand impressions or CPC(cost per click)
References
https://www.facebook.com/iq/articles/defining-the-metrics-that-matter
https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/analyze-facebook-metrics/
http://whatagraph.com/blog/articles/top-5-facebook-performance-metrics-that-actually-matter
https://econsultancy.com/blog/7213-what-facebook-marketing-metrics-matter-the-most/