There were a couple of new features trailed for Facebook this week that this alert covers. They're in the "coming real soon" category and the only info that others are reporting on is this post on the Official Facebook Studio site. Details are a bit "thin on the ground right now", so we will look at them in more detail once full access is live.
A new suite of metrics are to be opened up by Facebook in the "coming weeks", the two metrics are focussed around the extended reach of your page / content, giving you insights into how friends of fans interact with your content as well as metrics such as virality & engagement to each post. The aim is to empower businesses / page owners to further undertand what kind of content resonates well with fans so the business can be as relevant as possible at all times. The three summary bullets from Facebook outline these metrics in more detail, see below: (Source - Official Facebook Studio site)
- Assess the performance of your Page through new metrics such as Friends of Fans, People Talking about This, and Total Reach
- Understand which content resonates with your audience by getting access to detailed analytics on reach, engagement and virality for each of your posts and
- Optimize your publishing strategy so that people are more likely to tell their friends about your Page
The implications of such metrics seem quite obvious, you will soon be able to look back over your last 500 posts and understand which content garnered you the most reach & engagement. Considering your editorial calendar & with this data in mind should refine your content to ensure you see your Facebook fans increasing as well as other metrics such as visitors to your site etc. It all comes back to the quality of your content but at least now you can measure that in some kind of meaningful way without getting into opinions!
The second new release to come through in the next few weeks relates to Facebook ads. It allows you to take posts from your page & place them in adverts. These adverts will expand for fans & friends of fans to display the interactions that are taking place. These adverts will be published on fans & friends of fans homepages meaning they will be front & centre so should receive a lot of interactions. All in all quite similar to the sponsored stories currently available on Facebook. Facebooks statement on this update...
The new expanded Premium Ads offer a more engaging way to reach both fans and non-fans that puts your Page posts on the Home Page, in front of your ideal audience. When people have friends who are fans of your Page, your ad will expand to show what people are saying about your brand alongside your brand's message, all in one. The expanded Premium Ad creates a seamless experience between interactions on your Page, in your ad, and in the News Feeds of people and their friends.
The implications for these adverts I think are similar to the page insights, in that the more relevant & engaging your content / stories, the more likely they are to garner traffic & fans. If the content resonates well it will also create more interactions with the content which will help you content feature better on fans walls!
You can read more about these updates at this SearchEngine Watch summary.
By Chris Soames
Chris Soames is a Smart Insights blogger and consultant, he has worked in digital marketing for over 6 years with the last few years managing international web strategies for a leading travel brand. Now the Commercial Director at First 10, an Integrated marketing agency, he helps clients get clarity on their marketing strategy and create campaigns engineered to engage with their consumers to help drive sell-through. Most of all, Chris enjoys working with talented people who want to create great (& commercial) things not just tick boxes.
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