Facebook insights is an analytics tool that one can use to track web statistics related to a Facebook business page. It goes beyond the number of “Likes” one has received and provides a deeper set of metrics that allow visibility into the volume of users within the extended friend network (could be used as a rough proxy for addressable market), the number of people engaging with the page, and the page’s weekly reach.
The graphs on the page are easy to decipher, so one can track the popularity of the page over time via the “people talking bout this” and “weekly total reach” trend lines, overlaid with the posts that have been made. The tool also gives a detailed breakdown of each post so that one can assess which ones generated the greatest user engagement (i.e. clicking on the post), which posts have generated the most conversation (likes, shares, or comments), the posts’ virality (the percentage of people that have created a story related to the post relative to the total number that saw it), and its reach (the number of unique people that have seen the post).
Further into the tool, one can access basic demographic data such as location, language, gender, and age. It also shows where the “likes” came from (e.g. on a PC, mobile, etc.). Unsurprisingly, the most engagement comes via mobile which aligns to the overall trend with Facebook usage. We also see referring site, which sections of the page are most popular (e.g. Timeline, profile, etc.), and how many people have engaged with the page relative to the number of people that saw it. There are also graphs that show how much of the page’s reach was generated by organic, vs. paid vs. viral origin. Finally, the tool provides a demographic cut of the conversation data, which helps you know your audience.
These metrics offer guidance on post topics or formats that can be used in the future, that may resonate with their fan base more effectively and spur broader interest outside of the page’s immediate network. For a free tool, Facebook insights provides a fair amount of data that an organization can use as it dips its toes into the realm of social media.
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