Facebook Rolls Out Impressive New Fan Page Analytics

Quite often when Facebook rolls out new changes people start raising their pitchforks and torches. This time however Facebook got it right and I have a feeling it is going to be nothing but high praise. They are rolling out new fan page analytics (insights) that are quite impressive and definitely worth checking out. While many of you might not have received it just yet, I have a sneak peek and I have a feeling you will love what you'll see.

The expected roll out for the new fan page insights is expected to take place through the end of summer. For some strange reason Facebook seems to always roll the new updates to me last even though I am their biggest fan. Hopefully Zuckerberg will finally take notice and add me to the privileged first list. However, Fstopper's writer Noam Galai was fortunate enough to already receive the roll out and grabbed some screen shots for us from his Facebook page so you would know first what's in the pipeline.

You'll know when the new and improved insights have been rolled out to your page by seeing the announcement "Check out the new Page Insights" in the same box where we have the current page insights.

The new stat overview covers the last 7 days, with a weekly comparison as well as a box that covers the week's engagement (comments, likes, shares and clicks). These graphs can be drilled down by clicking on them.

The overhauled recent posts page gives you customization options to see what you would like there. But what is really quite nice is they give you a nice detailed explanation of how your last 5 posts are doing. For example I love being able to see if the posts are reaching fans vs non-fans, and which posts are causing people to engage with it. As you can tell there are is some great data there to mine over. But wait, it gets even better. As a hint, look along the top there and you'll see Facebook will now even help you know when your fans are online. More on that a little later.

With the new Page Likes graph you can see how many likes you added each day and which posts were published on those days to credit for those likes. When you click the graph it will nail down even more stats for you in detail.

The Net Likes graph is a great way to see how you have acquired or lost likes. For instance if you see a spike in unlikes that might just be indicative of a post you made that day which did not resonate well with you audience. You can also compare this graph with your averages to make sure you are on par or set goals for yourself to do better than normal.

The new Post Reach graph will give you a great visual as to which posts are reaching the most people and if they are organic or paid for visits.

This chart shows which daily posts are helping you reach more people through comments, likes and shares.

Here is where you get to find out what is not working. By clicking on the date on the graph you can visually see which posts are causing people to hide your posts, report you as spam, or even unlike your page.

Interested in what people are visiting most on your page? Well this chart will show it. It will tell you what people are looking at most. That might include your photo albums or even third party tabs that you installed on the top of your page. There is also a chart to show what people are doing on your page such as when they post on it, click an offer, took some kind of action or even mentioned you.

These next two graphs are definitely my new favorites. The first one shows the day of the week when most of your fans are online and the bottom one shows the time of day. The dotted line just compares your fans to the Facebook average. Now you no longer have to depend on the hearsay about when it's best to post. You got the information right there in front of you when your fans are active. Definitely take advantage of these graphs to time your posts efficaciously.

Another great new addition, these charts show which type of posts get the most interaction from your fans and the average amount of reach and engagement for each type.

Facebook has given you a more dynamic way to see the demographics of your fans and how it compares to Facebook in general. You can use this information to tailor your posts for your audience.

Lastly, you'll find the already familiar chart of where your fans are located and the language they speak. Along the type you can choose to see this information now sorted by fans, as well as my favorite by "People Engaged." Or in other words you can really drill it down to see the demographics on the people that are actually engaging with your page vs just fans of it. I always get a chuckle out of seeing how many people have their Facebook set to English (Pirate) - look in the bottom right corner. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh to Noam's 421 pirate fans!

All this new data can also be exported into a spreadsheet. Good stuff right!

Facebook has always been a powerful marketing tool for our businesses. These new tools should enable us to have a better idea what kinds of posts are most effective and at what time we can find the largest audience. Using the new analytics we can be more effective as we strive to build, engage and even retain our Facebook fans.

Thanks again Noam Galai for the screenshots. Now go check out his Facebook page to see a great shot of hip hop legend Run D.M.C.