One of the (many) benefits to having a Facebook Business page is access to Insights.
Insights is precisely what it sounds like… metrics, analysis, data… “insight” into the performance of your page.
But the first time you click on Insights (found at the top of the page), you might be a bit overwhelmed. It’s a lot.
We’re here to give you the info you need to know right now to strip away the mystery of Insights.
Ready?
A Beginners Guide to Facebook Page Insights
Page Summary
When you first click on Insights, you land on “Overview”, a Page Summary. This is a literal overview of your page’s performance and begins with 9 different metrics located in 3 rows of 3 boxes.
These metrics can be viewed as –
- Organic – Happened on it’s own.
- Paid – A budget was put towards an ad goal.
There are also different time increments, with the default being “Last 7 days”. The other options are Today, Yesterday, Last 28 days.
What are the 9 metrics in the boxes and what do they mean?
- Actions on Page – the number of times someone clicked on the contact info or used the call to action button.
- Page Likes – The number of new people that liked your Facebook page.
- Page Views – The number of times people have viewed your Facebook profile.
- Reach – The number of people who had any posts from your Facebook page show on their screen. This is broken down by total, organic and promotions.
- Post Engagement – The number of times people reacted to, commented on or shared your content.
- Videos – The number of times your videos have been viewed for more than 3 seconds.
- Page Previews – The number of times people hovered over your page name or profile picture to get a preview of your recent content.
- Recommendations – The number of times people recommended your page.
- Page Followers – The number of people who have followed your page.
For additional details about each of these metrics, you can click the metric’s box or on any of the links in the left side menu.
The other sections you will see in Insights, just past the 9 metric boxes are –
Recent Promotions – A list of any recent boosted posts.
5 Most Recent Posts – Includes Post type (video, photo, link), targeting, reach, engagement, and an option to boost right there.
Pages to Watch – Add any other Facebook pages and compare their performance to your page’s performance. We recommend including at least one or two competitors.
Now that you know what to expect when you click on Insights, what are the top metrics you should care about?
Here’s what we think is most important:
- Reach – Remember, reach is the number of people your information “reached” on Facebook. Reach is important because if your information reaches a lot of people, then you are doing something right. If your content is not reaching a lot of people, it’s time to make some changes. Maybe you need to take a closer look at what type of information you are sharing, what time of day you are posting, how often you are posting, etc.
- Post Engagement – As a reminder, engagement is the number of times people reacted to, commented on or shared your information. If your content is falling flat and not resonating with your audience, then it’s time to make some changes. You might consider how much text you are using in the status, whether your content is helpful or timely, what time of day your posting, etc.
Now feel confident learning more about the data available to you behind the scenes of your Facebook Business page through Insights.