I came across an interesting blog yesterday by Troy Thompson. It included a slideshow with some really great and simple measurements to take of your Facebook audience to see how effective your marketing appeals have been performing.
Facebook is a great marketing platform if it is being used in a way that highlights its best features. Namely, building community through social sharing features. There are three specific measurements you can take to get the pulse on the vibrancy of your community.
(1) Reach Rate - How far can your messaging spread?
Facebook measures an Active Monthly User as ANYONE (not just your fans) who has interacted or VIEWED your posts (newsfeed, sponsored stories, etc) or page.
*Sampling of 13 client pages we admin at Common Sense NMS
(2) Post Interaction Rate - How reactive users are to your posts. This is getting beyond just seeing your posts, do your fans want to communicate back to you or engage other members of the community. Low engagement rate means you better take a hard look at what you are posting and start experimenting with different (more engaging) types of content.
*Sampling of 13 client pages we admin at Common Sense NMS
(3) Unsubscribes - The number of fans that have hidden your content from their newsfeed. Subtract this from your fan base to get the true amount of Likes for your page.
*Sampling of 13 client pages we admin at Common Sense NMS
What does it all mean?
Simple. Having a Facebook Page with a large following is not enough. Page admins need to focus on supplying engaging content that is worth interacting with and sharing. Test, test, test. Create a content grid and over the course of a month measure which types of content are the most engaging, then make sure you are supplying your fans with that type of content. It is going to differ from Page to Page, so try out a multitude of methods and find what works best for your users.
Keeping users engaged means that you are able to stay in user newsfeeds and relevant. Therefore, when the time comes to make an appeal for donations or a hard product sell you know that you are reaching the largest amount of folks possible. The results will make the time and effort of building community worth it.