Insights and Analytics

Introduction

Your page's insights (analytics) show how people respond to your content. Used well, they tell you what to make more of. Used badly, they cause panic over daily ups and downs. Menus and metric names change, so use Meta's help pages for the exact meanings in your account.

Key metrics

• Reach: how many different people saw your content. Distinct from impressions, which counts every time it was shown, including repeats.
• Views and watch time: how many times a video was watched and for how long in total.
• Retention: how much of a video people watch, and where they drop off. For short videos, the opening seconds matter most.
• Engagement: reactions, comments, shares and saves. Shares and saves are strong signs that people found it valuable.
• Follows: how many people started following after seeing it.
• Audience: age ranges, locations, languages and when your followers are active.
• Traffic sources: how people found your content, such as from followers, recommendations or search.

Meta's own definitions may differ from these, so check them.

Compare fairly

• Look at patterns over weeks, not single days. Results fluctuate.
• Compare similar posts: videos with videos, similar lengths, similar topics.
• Consider context: a holiday, a news event, or a different posting time can change a result.
• Beware of small numbers. A post seen by 50 people tells you less than one seen by 5,000.
• Sort your posts by a key metric, such as shares or average watch time, and study the top and bottom ten.

Questions to ask

1. Which pillars and formats perform best, and are they the ones I enjoy making?
2. Where do viewers drop off in my videos? What did I say or show just before?
3. Which posts brought the most new followers, and which brought only passing views?
4. Who is my real audience, compared with who I thought it was?
5. When are my followers online?
6. What do comments tell me about what they want next?

Turn numbers into experiments

Analytics are only useful if they change what you do.

1. Form a hypothesis: "Videos with a question in the first sentence hold viewers longer."
2. Test it on several posts, changing only that one thing.
3. Measure the result against your normal posts.
4. Keep, change or drop the idea, and note what you learned.

Examples: test hooks, video lengths, posting times, thumbnails and calls to action.

What analytics cannot tell you

• Why something happened. You have to infer it, and you can be wrong.
• Whether you are creating something valuable. Numbers do not replace your judgement or feedback from real people.
• Exact earnings in advance. Revenue depends on programmes, eligibility and many factors outside your control.

Avoid chasing numbers by posting low-quality or misleading content, such as clickbait or engagement bait. It can reduce your reach and put your eligibility at risk.

A simple weekly review

Write down:

• Your best post and the likely reason
• Your weakest post and one thing to try differently
• One experiment for next week
• One thing you will stop doing

Keep this in a simple document, so you can see progress over months.

Try it yourself

Open your insights (or a sample from a page you follow). Choose the top three and bottom three posts from the last month. Write two things they have in common, and design one experiment.

Summary

• Reach, watch time, retention, engagement, follows and audience data each answer different questions.
• Compare similar posts over weeks, watch sample sizes and context, and study your top and bottom posts.
• Turn insights into small experiments, and do not chase numbers with misleading content.