How to Measure Success on Facebook

As an employee or owner of a small business you may have already invested some time into Facebook - you setup a business page, added photos and relevant information, and even post regularly with the latest company happenings or with the useful information found on your blog. Now that you’ve put in all of that hard work, how can you measure the degree to which your time spent is paying off?

The Value of a "Like"

Although it's great to have a high number of "likes" on Facebook, it can sometimes be a misleading number. Think about it: how often have you liked something on Facebook and then never visited the page you liked afterwards? Oftentimes "liking" is a passive activity, and someone will like a page without ever visiting a link or commenting on a post.

The good news is that likes DO have value - by liking a page a user is opting in to receive further updates from that page. So if someone likes your business page and you keep it updated regularly with new content, they'll see that content in their news feed and they'll be more likely to engage with a comment or click-through.

Gain Some Insight

Once you've received 30 or more likes you'll have a new panel available on your business page called Insights. The information on the Insights panel is only available to administrators of the page, and it provides some excellent data for evaluating your Facebook presence beyond how many likes you have.

One of the most important statistics you can find with Facebook Insights are the number of people that are visiting your page on a daily basis to consume the content you post to it (otherwise known as active users). It makes sense that if someone has followed your content and has also chosen to interact by leaving a comment or visiting a link you posted, they're more engaged with your brand as a whole.

Examine Outliers

Another good practice to keep in mind is to examine anomalies when it comes to likes or activity on your Facebook page. Did you suddenly get 30 likes in one day when you had only received 1 or 2 in the past two weeks? Maybe you received an unusual amount of positive or negative feedback on a certain day. If you notice any bumps or dips in likes and activity make sure to evaluate what you were doing around that time.

It could be that the content you published on a certain day was particularly well received - make sure to use this to your advantage! Ultimately your followers will tell you what they like and don't like based on their activity on any given day, so if you receive a positive or negative response be sure to tailor your content appropriately.

Remember that your goal when using Facebook as a small business tool is to get potential customers to learn about your product or service by engaging in your content. If you share useful information and provide your followers with a pleasant experience they'll remember your business when it comes time to make a buying decision.