Do you wonder what activity is successful on your Facebook page and what is not? Who is seeing your posts and what content earns interaction and reach?
Facebook has long provided free metrics to all page administrators. These statistics are called Facebook Insights, and they are loaded with in-depth information that will guide you on moving ahead with what works so you don’t waste your time on what doesn’t.
Most people track Facebook “likes” over anything else. These are merely “vanity metrics.” Of course, it feels good to be liked! But is that earning you leads?
This is the first in a series that will help you navigate Facebook Insights without overwhelm, so you can take meaningful steps to measure success metrics.
Recent update:
Facebook has been testing the new Insights features in beta mode, taken feedback from that testing, and is now rolling out these changes to all page admins. If anything looks different to you from what you see here, it is coming your way!
Where to find it:
While Facebook Insights may be one of the most important things on your page, it isn’t the most obvious. From your admin panel, there are two places from which you can access your metrics.
Powerful metric No. 1
Skip over to the fifth tab to find an amazing feature that answers a burning question of many: “When is the best time to post?” There are many dueling schools of thought on this.
My answer? The most popular answer in social media — “It depends.” Why not let your own audience tell you?
The “When Your Fans Are Online” feature tells you what days your fans are most active and what time of day your fans are online.
Of note: This snapshot comes from a page with 4,500 likes. Notice how the online users are between 3,500 and 3,600 daily.
Next steps:
1. Find your insights, and take a look at this quick overview video from Facebook to gain some more foundation on recent changes and the power of this tool.
2. Take a look at your active community, comparing total page likes to those actually online.
3. See what days people are most active, and at what times of day.
4. Create posts over the course of the next couple weeks guided by these insights. You’ll notice in this case, there are more active users online at 9 p.m. It may feel strange to post out of your normal range, but give it a go!
A client once accidentally scheduled a post for 11 p.m. instead of the intended 11 a.m. The comments received were greater than they had ever been! A key new insight into the behavior of her audience.
5. As your page grows, these numbers may change, so make sure to make this review a part of your monthly process.
Share in the comments if you find any enlightening or surprising stats about your audience.
Sue Koch is the owner of Soaring Solutions, a Chicago-based social media strategy, consulting and training organization that supports several top-producing mortgage lenders and real estate brokers.
