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The following blog post is an adapted excerpt from HubSpot's new ebook, "How to Use Facebook for Business: An Introductory Guide" for 2011. Get your free copy here!
Measuring results is a key part of any marketing strategy, and Facebook is no different. It's important to realize that Facebook provides its own analytics data for every business Page created on its platform. This data, called Facebook Insights, provides Facebook Page administrators with analytics data about Page visits and engagement. The following is a list of metrics you should regularly track to measure and analyze your Facebook business Page.
Page Overview Metrics
In the "Page Overview" section of Insights, you can take a quick look at how many new Likes your page has received as well as the number of your Page’s fans who are actively engaging with your content. Because of Facebook's EdgeRank (Facebook algorithm for deciding what gets shown in users' news feeds), this engagement level factors into your content’s ability to spread across Facebook. A key metric to note here is the percent change of active users. Increasing your number of active users can help drive traffic and leads to your business.
Also in the Page Overview is a snapshot of some engagement data that shows how much post feedback (i.e. Likes and comments on your Page) it has received in a given period of time. Look at the spike in Likes and comments, and determine which marketing activity occurred at the same time and could have contributed to this engagement boost. Plan more of the marketing tactics that cause spikes in Facebook fan engagement.
User Demographic and Activity Metrics
Under Facebook Insights' "Users" tab, marketers can obtain more granular information about the activity and demographics of their Page visitors, such as gender, age, location, and language.
This section of the Insights report also breaks down activity on a given Page by its individual tabs' page views. Use this data to understand which tabs on your Page are generating the most views, and optimize Pages that aren't generating much traffic. Also provided is a list of a Page's top referring websites to help you understand where traffic to your Page is coming from.
Facebook Interactions Metrics
A deeper dive into the “Interactions” tab of Facebook Insights allows you to view another meaningful piece of data: unsubscribes. Just as you looked at spikes of engagement to determine causes of that positive behavior, you should also examine spikes in Facebook Page unsubscribes. You have worked hard to generate fans, now take the time to keep them around!
In addition, this tab offers specific data on individual posts in terms of impressions and feedback. Use this information to determine which type of content is resonating with your audience.
Note: All tabs within Facebook Insights allow you to analyze activity on your Page for specific time frames by applying various date ranges to the data provided.
Traffic, Leads, and Customers
While these metrics aren't ones that can be tracked using Facebook Insights, they're definitely important ones to monitor. Facebook engagement and interaction are important, but you should also be using tools like HubSpot Marketing Analytics or Google Analytics to measure the traffic, leads, and customers you're driving from Facebook. If you're not generating leads and customers from Facebook, you might consider altering your strategy.
Use the free data Facebook provides in Insights as well as data on traffic, leads, and customers to make smarter and informed business choices and to maximize the results of your Facebook marketing efforts.
What else do you suggest businesses measure to analyze the effectiveness of their Facebook presence?
An Introductory Guide: How to Use Facebook for Business