Analytics 101: Social Media Metrics Series - Facebook
The days of counting likes and followers is over. Social media platforms have become much more sophisticated - so should you!
Throughout this blog series, we’ll break down which metrics you need to know on each of the big four social platforms, where to find them, plus how to improve them. Let’s get started with Facebook...
Reach
Definition - Reach is the number of people who saw a given post at least once.
More Info - Reach is the base metric upon which every other metric relies. After all, if someone doesn’t see your post, he/she can’t engage with it in any way. And that’s why it’s so important.
How to Improve - The easiest way to improve your reach is through paid ads. To grow your reach organically, make engagement-worthy content, especially sharable content. See below for details.
Impressions
Definition - Impressions are the number of times a given post is displayed.
More Info - The difference between impressions and reach is that impressions count the same person viewing a post multiple times, while reach counts unique views. If your impressions aren’t much higher than your reach, then your content likely isn’t being engaged with much and needs to be more interesting.
How to Improve - Same as reach.
Engagement
Definition - Engagement is the total number of actions people take on a given post.
More Info - Actions include reacting to, commenting on, sharing, viewing a photo/video, and clicking a link. The more engagement you have, the more successful your post is. Each time someone engages with a post, it gives other people the opportunity to see it, which is why it increases your reach and impressions.
How to Improve - We’ll go into detail on how to increase each type of engagement below. Generally speaking, post about topics that interest your audience. Entertain them. Inspire them. Teach them. Make them laugh.
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Comments
Definition - Comments are the number of times people post a reply to your post.
More Info - Commenting on a post takes time and effort - more time and effort than simply hitting that thumbs up. That means that people are more invested in your brand! The goal of social media is to move people down your sales funnel, and leaving a comment is one step in that direction. On top of that, people can mention their friends in their comments, which is similar to sharing (see below).
How to Improve - People are more likely to leave a comment on your posts if you ask them to! The easiest way to grow your comments is by asking questions. For example, post an inspirational quote then ask what your audience is doing today to reach their dreams. Or post a multiple choice question targeted at the pain points of your followers.
Shares
Definition - Shares measure the number of times people pass your post along to their friends.
More Info - I’m sure you’ve heard of posts going “viral”. A post goes viral when people share it, then other people share it, and so on. On top of leading people down your sales funnel, another goal of using social media should be to grow your brand. When people share your post, it expands your audience and grows your reach.
How to Improve - Similar to comments, you should ask people to share your posts! Include a note at the end of your post like, “Like this post? Share it with your friends!” But of course you have to post content that’s worth sharing. Some types of sharable content include motivational quotes, how-tos, interesting bits of information, and beautiful photos/graphics.
Link Clicks
Definition - The number of clicks on links within a post.
More Info - Once again, you want to use social media to lead people down your funnel. In order to do so, you should link to your website, blog, services, etc. within your posts. By tracking the number of times people follow those links, you’ll be able to measure your success.
How to Improve - Start by including links in most of your posts! Then, to encourage people to click them, follow one of these strategies:
Content Preview - Introduce a sample of some larger piece of content (e.g. a snippet from your latest blog post), then instruct your audience to follow the link to get the rest. This strategy works particularly well with lists. For example, include one of five tips in your Facebook post, then list the other four in your blog post.
Pain Points - Tap into the pain points of your followers, then tell them you can help in a particular way and send them to your website to learn more.
Freebie - If you have a freebie (if you don’t - make one!), explain the value of it and send your audience to get it.
Demographics
Definition - The age, gender, location, and language spoken by your fans, followers, people reached, and people engaged.
More Info - This information is a large collection of different metrics that tells you about your audience. It’s crucial because you want to make sure you’re reaching your ideal customers.
How to Improve - If you find that your people are out of alignment with your intended audience, review your content. Make sure what you’re posting is speaking to the type of people you’re trying to attract. Another excellent way to change your demographics is through paid ads, which you can target at very specific audiences.
Summary & Next Steps
The most important metrics to track on Facebook are…
Reach
Impressions
Engagement
Comments
Shares
Link Clicks
Demographics
With all metrics, it’s vital that you track them over a period of time. If you have nothing to compare your measurements to, they’re pretty useless.
So compile these analytics for the past quarter and look for trends. See which posts performed the best and which content performed the worst. Develop your future strategy based upon that information. Then, review these metrics on a monthly basis and adjust your content as necessary.
If you need help optimizing your content, hit us up! Set up a consultation so we can give you the clarity and confidence to rock social media like a pro.
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