Think you know how many of your Facebook Fans are seeing and engaging with an individual post? Chances are good that you don’t. But I can show you how…
Briefly, Facebook Page owners were given a number at the bottom of each post that represented the percentage of Fans that saw it. This has since been changed to [number] “people saw this.”
Think that represents the number of Fans who saw your post? Nope. That includes all people.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking. What about the Organic number? That represents the number of Fans, right? Nope. That includes the unique number of people who saw your Page post in the News Feed, ticker or on your Page’s Wall — but it includes non-Fans.
So how the heck do I see the total number of Facebook Fans who saw or engaged with a post?
Here’s how…
Export Your Insights
First, go into your Facebook Insights and click the Export Data button. Then select Post Level Data.
Nope, Not Those Columns!
It’s easy to be confused and think that these columns within Key Metrics apply to Fans only. They don’t…
- Lifetime Total ReachReach measures the number of Accounts Center accounts (formerly users) that saw your ads at least once. You can have one account reached with multiple impressions. More: The number of unique users (Fans and non-Fans) who saw your Page post
- Lifetime Organic Reach: The number of unique users (Fans and non-Fans) who saw your Page post in News Feed, ticker or on your Page’s Wall
There are actually several columns that could be confused for Fan-only statistics. But if you don’t go far enough, you’ll completely miss the data you’re looking for.
Columns V through AB
Keep scrolling… keep scrolling… THERE IT IS!
Columns V through AB are as follows:
- Lifetime Post ImpressionsImpressions are the number of times your ads were displayed to your target audience. Impressions aren't counted if it is detected they came from bots. More by people who have liked your Page
- Lifetime Post Reach by people who like your Page
- Lifetime Post Paid Impressions by people who have liked your Page
- Lifetime Post Paid Reach by people who like your Page
- Lifetime People who have liked your Page and engaged with your post
- Lifetime Post Stories by people who have liked your Page
- Lifetime People Talking About your post by those who have liked your Page
Want to really know how engaged your Fans are? Focus on this data!
There is some gold in these columns. It’s unfortunately a bit buried and difficult to access, but
You May Be Surprised
When you look through this data, the numbers may be lower than you had expected. I recently wrote about The Value of Facebook Promoted Posts. It was then that I had discovered that non-fans made up far more engagement on my Page — promoted and otherwise — than I had thought.
Is this good? Bad? I don’t know. But it’s important. Knowing that 30% or so of the audienceThis is the group of people who can potentially see your ads. You help influence this by adjusting age, gender, location, detailed targeting (interests and behaviors), custom audiences, and more. More reading your Facebook post may be non-Fans could alter the way you approach your strategy.
