Facebook is full of surprises.
If you’re a marketer, you know this all too well.
The Facebook algorithm is consistently throwing curveballs at businesses that are trying to figure out how to reach customers while sticking to the platform’s best practices.
But despite the grumblings of consumers and marketers alike, Facebook is booming right now.
According to a recent report by Facebook management, the platform saw a significant increase in revenue (29% year-over-year), ad impressions (37%) and overall engagement during Q3 2019.
Surprising, right?
There’s no denying the marketing potential of Facebook’s in 2020 and beyond. Mastering the platform simply means understanding your customer and audience data.
Thanks to the number of Facebook analytics tools out there, figuring out how to increase your own engagement and uncover new customers is easier than ever.
Take a deep dive into your data with these Facebook analytics tools
Are you looking to build your Facebook presence from scratch? Learn more about your target audience? Optimize your ads?
With the right Facebook analytics tools you can do that and more.
Below is a breakdown of eight tools to conduct an in-depth Facebook analysis regardless of your company goals.
1. Facebook Insights
To kick things off, make sure that you take the time to learn Facebook’s native analytics platform.
Understanding your customer demographics and top KPIs provides a baseline level of data to reference as you explore new Facebook analytics tools. With this data, you can set realistic social media goals as you explore opportunities to grow your audience.
The previously cited report mentions that Facebook ad prices have actually gone down in each of the last four quarters. That said, knowing your analytics is essential for squeezing the most out of your ad budget.
2. Sprout Social
Sprout Socials’ suite of Facebook analytics tools is a game-changer for brands looking to grow on Facebook.
The platform provides a bird’s eye view of KPIs and metrics, including audience engagement over time. Reporting is Sprout is clean and easy to understand, making your data share-worthy among your teammates, colleagues and clients. The ability to see your brand health at a glance is a nice added bonus for busy marketers.
The platform allows you to manage your customer service on Facebook, Instagram and any other major social network in one location. With a tool like the Smart Inbox, you can stay close to any real-time conversations happening around your brand. The end result is timely, personalized customer care.
And Sprout’s Calendar tool is a major asset for brands juggling multiple campaigns and accounts. For example, Sprout allows you to see your scheduled social media posts and paid promotions side-by-side in the publishing calendar. In short, you’ll have more visibility on when you’re publishing content or running ads.
3. Iconosquare
Although Iconosquare might be better known for their Instagram analytics tools, the platform’s features for tracking Facebook engagement are extensive.
Perhaps most notable is Iconosquare’s engagement report, providing a day-to-day analysis of content performance alongside bigger-picture trends. Not unlike Sprout’s reports, these features make it easy to spot spikes in engagement which can clue you in on your top performing posts.
Iconosquare also offers free Facebook analytics tools through their Page audit. Acting as a spiritual successor to the now-defunct Likealyzer, this audit scans the details of your Page to make sure it’s optimized for engagement.
4. Quintly
Many Facebook analytics tools have built-in features for competitive analysis and Quintly is no exception. The platform allows you to see how your content’s engagement stacks up against that of your direct competitors based on audience interactions.
Remember that when it comes to customer care, consumers tend to pit companies against each other in terms of who provides a timely, more personalized experience. Features in Quintly such as the Customer Care Benchmark report illustrates how often customers are asking questions among you and your competitors.
5. TrackMaven
Brands should strive to take a goal-driven approach to social media that’s backed up by data.
TrackMaven’s features deliver big time when it comes to tracking KPIs. Beyond interactions and reactions, the platform also measures how particular posts and ads performed related to on-site conversions.
At a glance, you can see how long Facebook visitors spend on-site and what actions they took while they were there (think: registered for an event, completed a purchase, etc). These reports are particularly useful for marketers running ad campaigns on behalf of a brand or client.
Meanwhile, TrackMaven’s Executive Dashboard also provides a comprehensive report on top performing content, including posts and ads that scored the most engagements and conversions. This can highlight the performance of your paid social efforts versus what you’re doing organically.
6. NapoleonCat
NapoleonCat represents an affordable suite of Facebook analytics tools that emphasize engagement.
For example, the platform boasts auto-moderation features that allow Pages to automatically reply to queries or comments during off-times.
NapoleonCat monitors engagement metrics over time, and easy-to-read reports are straightforward for you and your team. For example, here’s a snapshot of the platform’s Facebook video report. Such reports can directly influence your content strategy as you determine whether or not short-form or long-form video perform better with your audience.
The platform also allows you to assess your day-by-day and weekly post engagement versus your competitors. This can help you spot trends to determine the best times to publish to Facebook based on your audience.
7. Vaizle
Another cost-effective tool, Vaizle offers straightforward Facebook analytics and reports that track your growth, activity and engagement. Their performance reports go beyond the basics of Facebook Insights, digging into metrics such as fan penetration, amplification (shares, re-posts) and average CTR.
Additionally, the platform offers a side-by-side Facebook competitive analysis tool for free.
8. Grytics
Grytics is unique among this list of Facebook analytics tools as it focuses heavily on features related to Facebook Groups.
Keeping track of your metrics and performance can be a hassle, especially if you’re juggling multiple communities. Grytics provides a clean overview of interactions as well as which types of content appeal to your individual Group members.
Additionally, you can see how your Groups are engaging side-by-side and when they’re the most active.
How to translate Facebook analytics into action
Let’s say you have a pulse on your KPIs and are ready to start making sense of your customer data.
What do you with it all, anyway?
Here’s a snapshot of how data from Facebook analytics tools can translate into actionable marketing decisions.
Uncover new ad audiences and improve your targeting
Although Facebook’s ad platform is noted for its laser-targeting and engagement opportunities, high-performing ads don’t happen by accident.
Consider the many measurables and variables related to Facebook Ad targeting, such as:
- Creatives (call-to-action, imagery, copy)
- Ad types and placement
- Budget (daily versus lifetime)
- Demographics (age, location, gender)
- Timing
Getting the most out of your ad budget means gathering as much data on your customers as possible before you create, let alone run, a Facebook ad.
Cross-referencing your customer data and personas with your Facebook Insights information can help clue you in with what’s likely to perform well with your audience on Facebook.
For the sake of gaining first-hand insight, we recommend running a small test ad with an audience before scaling to a full-blown campaign. Also, note that Facebook’s audience errs on the older side according to recent social media demographics.
Optimize your organic content and reach
Whether you’re running a hybrid social media strategy or are strictly focusing on organic content, you need to know which types of content actually drive engagement.
Maybe it’s video. Perhaps it’s infographics or back-and-forth Q&As with your followers.
Either way, it’s key to understand how much reach you’re currently receiving through organic content. Reports in Sprout can detail your range of impressions and top performing content to ensure that what you’re posting is poised for engagement.
Figure out your ROI from Facebook
Businesses today have dozens of choices when it comes to social media channels.
As such, marketers must decide which platforms deserved their attention and result in the highest engagement rates.
For example, should you focus on Facebook or Instagram? Are you missing opportunities by neglecting Twitter or Pinterest? Where should you be running ads, if at all?
Paid performance report highlights how one company’s success across channels can vary wildly. By knowing what platforms are your top performers, you can allocate your resources (think: content creation and ad dollars) with some much needed peace of mind.
Facebook analytics tools are crucial for determining if you’re seeing a positive ROI from social media. Specifically, paid social media analytics in Sprout summarize your social spending to justify whether or not your ads make sense across Facebook. Given that Instagram runs on the same ad platform, these numbers can signal paid opportunities there as well.
Fine-tune your Facebook sales funnel
Facebook is a massive source of sales and leads for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
For the sake of improving your conversion rate from Facebook, businesses need to monitor the journey between Facebook and their websites.
For example, what promotions and content result in leads and conversions? What’s your conversion rate between paid and organic visitors? Conversion goals in Google Analytics can highlight both as you assess your most valuable traffic sources.
Boost brand loyalty and customer engagement
As noted earlier, so much of building a Facebook presence centers around customer relationships.
For example, going back-and-forth with followers is an awesome opportunity to build brand loyalty. Meanwhile, addressing customer concerns in a timely manner is a must-do to retain customers and present yourself as a caring brand.
Some social media management software not only monitor mentions via notifications and social listening but also ensure that your customer care is on point. For example, Sprout’s response reporting highlights the times when your followers are most active. You can also determine whether or not you need to speed up your response time and allocate more resources to customer service.
Which Facebook analytics tools are you taking advantage of?
The numbers don’t lie: Facebook isn’t falling out of favor with marketers or consumers.
But remember that brands that crush it with ads and drive consistent engagement are knee-deep in data.
As the platform becomes more competitive and the algorithm continues to change, breaking down your customer data is only going to become more important.
That’s why we recommend marketers to own their data with third-party Facebook analytics tools like Sprout Social. The features baked into the platform empower marketers to optimize their ads, build relationships with customers and produce click-worthy content.
And that’s the end-goal for any brand looking to get a better ROI from Facebook.
We want to hear from you, though! Are you using any Facebook Analytics tools beyond Insights? Anything you’re having trouble tracking? Let us know in the comments below!