25.01.

2015

ABeginnersGuidetoFacebookInsights

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ABeginnersGuidetoFacebook
Insights

FirstName

FacebookInsightsisaprettypowerfultoolforthosewantingtotrackuser
YourEmail

interactionontheirFacebookFanPage.FacebookInsightscanbeseenbyall
theadminsofyourpageanditcanhelpyoutrackthenumberofactiveusersto

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betterunderstandpageperformance.
ByusingFacebookInsightsyoullbeabletodeterminethebesttimeofdayto
post,thebestdayoftheweektopostandwhattypeofcontentismost
popular.ItisimportanttonotethattheFacebookInsightstoolisconstantly

217
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updatedtoreflectyourpagesdevelopmentsandanypatternsthatmayform.So
youllneedtokeepcheckingbacktokeepintheloop.
HerearesomeusefulstepsforindividualsnewtoFacebookInsights:

1.HowtoAccessFacebookInsight
ClickonthegearwheelonyourFacebookFanPageandselectViewInsights.
Youllseeagraphliketheonebelow.
ThisisthemainInsightsdashboardandhereyoullseethetotalnumberoflikes
(andwhetherthisisincreasingordecreasing),thenumberoffriendsoffans
available(thisisthepotentialnumberofpeopleyoucanreach!),howmany
peopleareactivelytalkingaboutyourpageaswellasyourtotalweeklyreach.

2.ViralityofPosts
Belowthegraphyoullseeyourlatestpostsandlearnabouttheirvirality.Thisis
especiallyusefulifyouwouldliketoseewhichpostswerethemostsuccessful.
Youcansortpostsbythefollowingtypes:

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allposttypes
posts
photos
links
videos
platformposts
questions
Thisisusefulifyouwanttoknowthesuccessofacertainpost(i.e.avideoyou
postedrecently).Soinsteadofsiftingthroughalltheposts,youcansimplysortby
videos.
Youllbeabletoseethedatethepostwasmade,thetitleofthepost,itsreach,
howmanyusersengagedwiththatparticularpost,howmanyspreadthe
wordaboutit,aswellasitsviralityinapercentageform.

Takeaway:Knowingtheviralityofthepostgivesyoutheknowledgetocreate
morecontentthatyourfanslike,whichwillthenincreaseyourbranding,reach
andhopefullytraffic.

3.Likes
IfyouclickLikesyoullbeabletoseethedemographicsaswellasthelocations
ofyourfans.Youllalsobeabletoseetheiragegroups.Inthiscase,ourCheap
FlightsSouthAfricafanpagehasamuchlargerfemalefanbasethanamalefan
base.WearealsoabletoseethatmostusersaresituatedinCapeTown,South
Africaandhencewecancustomizeourpostsaccordingly.

Belowyoullseeanothergraphthatlookslikethis:

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Nowyoucansearchbynewlikesandevenbyunlikes.Forexample,onthe
abovegraphyoucanseethatourfanpagehadsomeunlikes.Dammit!Itwould
beusefultogobacktoyourpageandseewhatpostsyouwroteonthosedays.
Yourpreviouspostsmaybeabletogiveyouanindicationastowhatwentwrong
thatday.Werentyouentertainingenough?Orwereyoujusttoomuch?Perhaps
youpostedtoomanyarticlesandnotenoughimages?Itiscrucialthatyoudothis
stepotherwisethestatsareprettymuchjuststats.
Takeaway:Havingdemographicinformationaboutyourfansallowsyoutobuild
personasofyourtargetaudience.Thiscanbeverybeneficialwhencreating
landingpages,homepagecopyandoverallmarketingmessages.

4.Reach
ItsallverygoodandwellthatyouhaveaFacebookfanpage,buthowmuchof
yourcontentisactuallyreachingyourfans?Whoistalkingaboutyourpage?Are
anyofyourfansreferringyourpagetoothersorsharingyourimageswiththeir
friends?
Thissectionhelpsyouseeyourpageviewsanduniquevisitorviews(thosewho
searchedforyouasopposedtoclickingontheFacebookad).Youllalsobeable
toseeyourreachintermsoforganicsearches,paidandviralsearches.

Takeaway:TheimportantpartoftheReachareaisthatyouwillbeabletosee
whatchannels(organicsearches,paidandviral)arethemosteffective.Most
likely,youllwanttoincreasetheviralsegmentasmuchaspossible.

5.TalkingAboutThis
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Asyoucanseebelow,ourCheapFlightsSouthAfricaFacebookpagedidnthave
thatmuchinteractionbeforethe14thofMarchwhenweimplementedour
Facebookadvertisements.Ourpagewentfromroughly5peopletalkingaboutit
perdayto537atitspeak!
TheTalkingAboutThissectioncanalsoprovidevaluabledataaboutwhois
talkingaboutyourpagethisincludesdemographicsandpercentagesofpeople
indifferentagegroups.

Takeaway:Theimportantthingtolearnfromthisdataistounderstandhowyour
contenttrendsovertime.Youmayfindthatittakessometimeforyourcontentto
liftandreachmanypeople.Thiscanbeveryhelpfulwhenplanningpromotions
andothertimesensitiveinitiatives.

6.CheckIns
ThissectionisnotreallyrelevantforourpagesinceCheapFlightsSouthAfricais
internetbased.However,checkinscanbereallyusefulforcompaniesthathavea
physicallocation.Fansthatcheckinwhentheyarriveatyourbusinessshow
theirloyaltytoyouindoingso.
Underthecheckinsectionyoullbeabletoseethenumberofpeoplewhohave
checkedin,wheretheylive,whethertheyaremaleorfemaleetc.
Takeaway:Checkindataisextremelyvaluableforbusinesseswithaphysical
presence.Frombeingabletomeasurethesocialmediaimpactonsales,to
monitoringyourbusiestdaysdefinitelydigintothisinfo!

7.WantMoreDetailedData?
ExportyourdatausingthetoprightbuttonontheInsightspage.Thislittleblock
willpopup:

SelectPageLevelDataandtheMSExcelformatoption.Youcanchooseadate
rangeforthedata.

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Onceyouvedownloadedtheinsightsyoullseeneverendingcolumnsofdata
whichmayatfirstseemoverwhelming.Atthebottom,youllalsoseevariousdata
sheetscontaininginformationsuchaskeymetrics,dailylikesources,dailyviral
reachetc.
Eachcolumninthekeymetricssheetprovidesyouwilldifferentinformation.For
example,ifyouscrolltotheLifetimeTotalLikescolumnyoullbeabletosee
howmanylikesyourpagereceivedoverthedatesyouspecified.TotalDaily
Reachisusefulaswellandhereyoullbeabletoseethenumberofpeopleyour
postsmayhavereached(evenfromfriendsofyourfans).
Takeaway:Sometimeslookingatthetabulateddatacangiveyoumoreinsights
thangraphs.IfyoureproficientwithExcel,youcansliceanddiceyourdatatofind
outmoreaboutyourFansandsocialmediaimpact.Ourrecommendation:Dont
beafraidtodiveinandseewhatsinside!
IfyouwanttoexplorethisPDFexportalittlemore,heresavideotoguideyou.

FacebookInsightsgivesyouaplethoraofusefulinformationaboutyourFacebook
page.However,thekeyistotakethedataandcreatesomethingmeaningfulwith
it.Usingthedatatotracktheperformanceofyourpageandfindemerging
patternsiscrucial.
AbouttheAuthor:ElizabethJossisthemaincontributorofXcellentMedia,a
mediaandmarketingcompanybasedinCapeTown,SouthAfrica.Shecovers
topicslikesocialmedia,SEO,webmarketingandtechnology.FollowXcellent
MediaonFacebookandTwitterorvisittheirblog.

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MariaReyesMcDavis

May30,2012at12:20pm

Thevitalityofpostsdatahasbeentrulyvaluableinhelpingunderstandwhatkind
ofposts/updatesaregettingthemosttraction.Yourbreakdownisexcellent.
Reply

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ElizabethJoss

May30,2012at1:44pm

DearMaria,thankseversomuchforyourcomment.Imreallygladyou
enjoyedthispost.IhopethiswillbeusefultothosenewtoFacebookinsights.
Reply

RaffaelloAntonino

Sep18,2012at4:55am

TheProblemwithviralityisthatitisscaleduponthenumberofpeople
exposedtothepost,includingthosewhohaveseenthepostthrough
sponsoredstories(ads).Ihaveexperiencedextremelylowviralityinsituation
inwhichthenumberoflikes/comments/sharewerestillveryhighduetothe
veryhighnumberofimpressionsthatthespecificpostreceivedthankstothe
sponsoredstories.Viralityisstillanindicatorbuthastobetreatedcarefullyand
wellinterpretedforeachsinglepostconsideringitsuniquecontext.
Reply

JeanLeong

May30,2012at4:36pm

Greatinsights!
Reply

ElizabethJoss

May31,2012at2:23am

ThankssomuchJean.Gladyoufoundthepostuseful:)Haveagreatday.
Reply

JimWatson

May31,2012at1:41am

GreatinsightfularticleElizabeth
Reply

ElizabethJoss

May31,2012at2:22am

ThankssomuchJim:)Thankstoyoufortheencouragement!
Reply

JoeGriffiths

May31,2012at2:26am

Reallyreallyawesomepost!Thanks!
Reply

ElizabethJoss

May31,2012at3:38am

ThankssomuchforyourcommentJoe.Imreallygladyouenjoyedmypost.
Reply

Guest

Jun01,2012at2:17am

ThanksforsharingyourknowlegdeaboutFacebookInsights,willlookintomyown

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pagedetailsfromadifferentperspectivenow.
Reply

ElizabethJoss

Jun01,2012at4:51am

ThankssomuchSkateDevil:)Gladyouenjoyedthepostandfoundituseful.
Reply

FilloLiu

Jul11,2012at1:32am

thisisreallyhelpful,thanksforposting
Reply

ElizabethJoss

Jul14,2012at11:54am

ThankssomuchFilloLiu.Gladmypostisofusetoyou.
Reply

ErikVuelos

Oct18,2012at1:22am

ReallygreatarticleElizabeth.IwasalittlebitconfusedwithsomeofthestatsIsee
intheFacebookInsightssection,butnowitsclearer.Nowtheproblemishowto
bemoreviralwiththeposts:)
Reply

George

Oct19,2012at5:12am

Thankyou!!GreatPost,VeryHelpful!!
Reply

Leah

Oct24,2012at9:07am

Thankyouforalltheinformation.IdohaveaquestionEachofourFBposts
showXpeoplesawthispost.Idliketoknowhowthatnumberisdetermined.
NothingshowsupinFBHelp.Anyideas?
Reply

Leah

Oct24,2012at10:28am

Magically,Ifoundtheanswer.Justneededtherightsearchcriteria.From
FacebookHelp:
HowisReachdefinedforeachofmyPageposts?
Reachisthenumberofpeoplewhohaveseenyourpost.Figuresareforthe
first28daysafterapostspublicationandincludepeopleviewingyourposton
bothdesktopandmobile.Yourpostcountsashavingreachedsomeonewhen
itisloadedandshowninnewsfeed.NotethatdatafrombeforeJuly2,2012
onlyincludespeopleviewingyourpostondesktop.
Reply

Guest

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/guidetofacebookinsights/

Nov08,2012at9:04pm

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CanweChangemostpopularagegrouppeoplewhoareregularlyvisitingour
page?OnmyofficialFacebookpagethereis4554yearoldpeoplewhoaremost
popularandformycompetitorsfanpagetheagegroupiscertainly2534years
old.Anyguideline?
Reply

Karthic

Nov18,2012at12:08am

Thoughmypagehas200fans,friendsoffansmetricisempty.Thispageis10
daysold.
Ihaveanotherpagewhichhasjust70members,butfriendsoffanscountis
2000.Canyouhelpmetounderstandwhyisfriendsoffansempty?
Reply

Rachit

Jan14,2013at11:32pm

Greatarticle!keepgoing.
Reply

ElanMallette

Nov08,2014at11:19am

IsthereanywaytocompareyeartoyearFBinsightstats?Insteadofjustbeing
abletoviewweeklystats?
Reply

Anudeep

Nov11,2014at6:58am

IhaveapageinfacebookandiwantthepostwhichwerepostedinmyApps
pageandiwanttoincludethosepostinmyportal.isitpossible?
Reply

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