There’s a new insight on Facebook, and a lot of people are either talking about it or wondering what it means. Facebook’s new “Talking About This” metric means more transparency for brands and a smart way for administrators to measure their content’s ability to engage.
The following list contains Facebook’s current top ten consumer brands, ranked by engagement:
1. Coca-cola
2. Starbucks
3. Oreo
4. Red Bull
5. Converse All Star
6. Converse
7. Skittles
8. Playstation
9. Pringles
10. Victoria’s Secret
The list changes a bit when we re-order it not according to “Likes”, but according to how many people are “Talking About This”, or rather, are engaging with the brand on Facebook:
1. Starbuck’s
2. Coca-cola
3. Victoria’s Secret
4. Skittles
5. Oreo
6. Red Bull
7. Playstation
8. Converse
9. Pringles
10. Converse All Star
The first list is ranked by how many people “like” the brand’s page. This means they clicked “like” one time. Until now, we had no idea exactly how they were interacting past that point.
The second list is ordered by how many people are “Talking About This” brand. The following actions add up to the “Talking About This” metric:
- Liking a Page
- Posting to a Page’s wall
- Liking, commenting on, or sharing a Page’s post (or other content on a page, like photos, status updates, videos, albums or other content)
- Answering a posted Question
- RSVPing to an event hosted by the Page
- Mentioning a Page in a post (users must formally tag the page)
- Tagging a Page in a photo
- Liking or sharing a check-in deal
- Checking in at a Place
The “Talking About This” metric is visible for anyone who visits a Facebook Page, increasing transparency for the user. Your fans can see if your page is active and engaging just by glancing at this metric.
Here’s a snapshot of Coca-cola’s numbers:
This new gauge of engagement reinforces the brand to fans, and it also offers Facebook Admins a sharp measurement tool. When you are planning content for your page, you want to be mindful of which types of posts are engaging your fans, and what time of day is optimal for sharing content. The “Talking About This” tool gives you the insight you need to gain traction with your fans, as well as measuring the virality of your content.
“Talking About This” has its own tab in the new Facebook Insights. It looks like this:
The tool breaks down fans that have engaged with your page into various demographics, such as, age, sex, location, language, as well as telling you how these fans are talking about your page by illustrating the following:
- Page Likes
- Stories generated from your posts
- Mentions and photo tags
- Posts by others
Facebook Insights does a remarkable job at painting a picture with their visual graphs; however, if you want to dive deeper, I suggest you export the insights. Facebook Insights Data Export gives you an extremely detailed and intricate story of what is happening on your page. Spend some time getting lost in it and you will find very applicable knowledge about your fans.
The most noteworthy measurement tool included in “Talking About This” is the Viral Reach metric. Virality helps measure the reach of a post against those talking about it. There is a formula for this:
People are Talking About / Reach = Virality
As Facebook continues emphasizing engagement, the insights provided by the “Talking About This” metric will help Page Admins understand what drives the numbers and how to best engage their advocates. Another reminder about the relationship between quality content and engagement.
More information related to this article can be found here:
http://searchengineland.com/demystifying-facebooks-people-are-talking-about-this-metric-96104
http://mashable.com/2011/10/09/top-facebook-brands-talking-about/
Post written by Tia Marie Kemp aka @TiaMarieKemp. To learn more from fbadz.com, become a fan!
