We attended the AllFacebook conference here in San Francisco last week, and one of our favorite presentations came from Emeric Ernoult of Agora Pulse. Ernoult’s french accent was easy on the ears, as was his knowledge of Facebook Insights.

Ernoult said business of all sizes should focus on these 5 Facebook Insights metrics:

1. Reach
2. Engaged Users
3. Stories Generated
4. Clicks
5. Negative Feedback

If you’re just getting started, you can find your Facebook Insights on the left hand side of your business or fan page. Let’s break down what each metric is, where you can find it in Facebook Insights and why it matters to your biz.

1. Reach

What is it? Facebook defines Reach as “the number of people who have seen your post. Figures are for the first 28 days after a post’s publication and include people viewing your post on both desktop and mobile.”

Where do you find it? Within Facebook Insights you have the option to Export Data (as seen in the screenshot below).

Why does it matter? According to Ernoult, Reach is the only metric that gives you the quality of your fan base. If yours is low, you may have lost fans along the way due to poor quality content, or you may have acquired them through a Like campaign. These campaigns can bring in fans but not ones that sought you out to Like in the first place, garnering less interest in your business.

2. Engaged Users 

What is it? According to Facebook, Engaged User is a measurement applied to individual posts. It’s the number of unique people who have clicked on a individual post.

As a percentage of your total fans, this number also gives you an idea of the reach of your posts.

Where do you find it?  In the Engaged Users column (see screenshot).

Why does it matter? Ernoult explains that the Engaged User metric is important because Reach only shows that fans were exposed to your content; Engaged Users shows they actually paid attention to it because they clicked on it. They may have liked it, commented, shared, or viewed a picture or video. Plus, it has a direct impact on your EdgeRank and future visibility. In short, it’s the real barometer of the effectiveness of your content.

3. Stories Generated

What is it? Stories Generated according to Cindy Ratzlaff is, “A story is generated when a fan likes, comments on, shares your post with his or her friends, answers a question or responds to an event.”

Where do you find it? Within Insights you’ll see How People Are Talking About Your Page. You can also see likes, comments and shares (see screenshot).

Why does it matter? Ratzlaff shares,”This is an important number because it reflects the ability of your content to cause a second action. Your fans actually read what you wrote, they were compelled to share, like or otherwise amplify your content, creating a story or action in their own news stream that subtly tells their friends they “endorse” you or at least found what you wrote to be engaging enough to make them take an action.” Ernoult confirms, “Storytellers are the cream of the crop of the Engaged Users.”

4. Clicks

What is it? Clicks= link clicks+ photo views + video views

Where do you find it? In the downloadable file from Insights you’ll see Lifetime post consumers by type.

Why does it matter? If engagement is the barometer of interest in your content, clicks are the real thing. These fans want to see, hear, and view your content. These are the folks actually interacting with your content. By examining what is getting clicked, you can judge what type of content is most popular and resonated with your fans the strongest and create more content like that.

5. Negative Feedback

What is it? Ratzlaff tells us that Negative Feedback is “how many people hid your content in the news feed or otherwise gave it negative feedback, perhaps by [glossary_exclude]blocking[/glossary_exclude] you, or reducing the number of posts they see from you by choosing ‘only important.’”

Where to find it? In the downloadable file you can view the Negative Feedback From Users column.

Why does it matter? If you start to notice this number increasing, you’ll want to look at the types of content you’re sharing that’s getting the negative reaction. From there you’ll need to examine if you want to share this type of content going forward as it may not be hitting that mark for your fans. The good news is, according to Ernoult that most people will choose to hide a single post versus hiding all, un-liking your page or reporting the post as spam. The bad news is, higher than average negative feedback (0.1 is acceptable level of negative feedback says to Ernoult) will hurt your reach over time.

Using these 5 Facebook Insights metrics can provide you information about the effectiveness of your content and allow you to make the most of each and every post.

Learn more about using Facebook for your business in our Definitive Guide to Getting Started with Social Media Marketing ebook here.

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