Does Facebook Analytics Still Exist? 4 Tools You Can Use

Let’s start at the end. The end of Facebook Analytics was announced in July 2021 as an attempt to “consolidate business tools.” But every end is followed by a new beginning.

In this article, we’re taking a look at all the free tools Facebook is offering as an alternative, plus one tool that is proven to be very efficient for tracking those essential metrics and creating reports in one click.

What is Facebook Analytics?

All the way back to 2007, when Facebook launched Pages for business, a new necessity had arisen. As businesses understood the staggering potential of advertising on Facebook, the need to track performance has forced Facebook to create analytic tools.

While Facebook grew from a basic social network into a powerful marketing platform, the process of adding and expanding the analytical features gradually led to the birth of Facebook Analytics as a standalone tool for businesses and marketers in 2017. 

As you could have already guessed, Facebook Analytics had to give way to various analytical tools that allow better performance measuring and reporting. Let’s take a look at four of them so you can determine which ones fit your needs best.

4 Facebook analytics tools you can still use

We have gathered four instruments that are widely used to measure creative performance, track Facebook metrics, and build pristine reports. Since over 3 billion people use Facebook every month, it’s crucial to track your performance to optimize your ad costs.

1. Meta Business Suite 

This is a one-stop shop for businesses: You can use Meta Business Suite to create content, schedule posts, engage with your customers, and, finally, analyze data. It is mostly useful for managing different aspects of content distribution. 

While Meta Business Suite is obviously set to become a holistic solution for advertisers, a few Facebook analytics tools have not yet been completely absorbed by it. The expansion of Meta Business Suite is rapid. For example, Audience Insights is now called just Insights and has become a massive tab on the Meta Business Suite dashboard, together with some other instruments like Creator Studio.

To open your Meta Business Suite:

• Go to the login page 

• Create an account by logging in your Facebook and Instagram Pages 

• Follow the setup guide

Pros: Meta Business suite is free. Once you create a Facebook Page or an Instagram business account, you can access Meta Business Suite via desktop or mobile app. It gives a broad spectrum of instruments, becoming a holistic solution for SMBs.

Cons: Due to data collection and processing methods, there are discrepancies between Meta Business Suite analytics and other tools. Some users are noticing occasional issues with the accessibility throughout different devices. 

2. Facebook Page Insight

Another one of the free Facebook tools that allows you to track your business’s performance on the platform. Meta frequently updates this instrument making sure you have all the Facebook analytics data relevant to your business Page. 

To see Page Insights:

• Log into Facebook, then click your profile photo in the top right

• Click See all profiles, then select the Page you want to switch to

• Click Insights in the left menu

Pros: Again, it’s a free tool that helps any business with a Facebook presence analyze its Page's performance. Facebook Page Insights are very useful for tracking engagement and getting insights on followers, likes, and videos. There’s an integration with Meta Business Suite that allows you to export your data.

Cons: There are standard time limitations on how far back the insights can go. As Meta is putting it: “Keep in mind that you can only access data in Page Insights for the last 2 years, and demographic data, such as age, gender, and location, are available in Page Insights once there is data for 100 or more people.” While few would expect analytics for less than 100 people, insights for a customized period would be useful since Pages have been available for 15+ years already. 

3. Facebook Audience Insights

Former Facebook Audience Insights are now incorporated into Meta Business Suite and remain a valuable source of information on your audience demographics: age, gender, top cities and countries, location, and interests.

But the most exciting part of Audience Insights is a tab called Potential Audience. With this insight, you can get a better picture (painted in numbers) of your demographics by applying filters.

To see Facebook Audience Insights:

• Go to Meta Business Suite 

• Click Insights in the right menu and then click Audiences

Pros: Learn more about your audience demographics and geography. 

Cons: There are only a few data parameters. To discover a simple way to create lookalike audiences, try our next tool. 

4. Madgicx

Madgicx presents you with a holistic solution for all of your advertising needs. It’s integrated with all of Meta’s platforms and helps you throughout all of your advertising – from designing a creative to making a One-Click Report.

Specifically for getting insights on Facebook analytics, you can use Madgicx’s 360° Meta Audit. The 360° Meta Audit is a powerful tool that provides in-depth analytics and insights for your ad account, taking your performance beyond standard reach. 

It allows you to analyze budget distribution, creative performance, and audience segmentation in great detail, leading to actionable insights and optimized advertising strategies.

To use Madgicx:

• Sign up for a free Madgicx trial

• Connect your Facebook ad accounts

• Under Analytics in the left-side menu, go to 360° Meta Audit

• Get your insights!

Pros: Madgicx is basically the only tool you need to streamline your performance on Facebook. From getting inspired by creatives and templates to receiving cross-channel analytics and valuable insights generated by AI – whenever you have any questions or need assistance, Madgicx offers chat support. 

Cons: Only the trial period is free. 

Discover an easier way to manage your Facebook analytics with Madgicx - Try for Free

The Facebook analytics metrics you must monitor

Choosing and tracking relevant metrics is strategically important for every business. Traditionally, the key metrics you should be tracking depend on your customer’s awareness stage - also referred to as the position in the sales funnel.

The funnel might be slightly different for various areas and business sizes and also depends on your priorities. But in any case, you have to have a clear understanding of which Facebook metrics matter and why.

Facebook Page analytics

Apart from the “health level” you can find on your Facebook Page dashboard, there are several metrics to keep in mind:

• Facebook Page and Post Reach measures how many people see your Facebook content, counting when someone actually views it. It's crucial for understanding your audience's interest and ensuring you're targeting the right people. Unlike impressions, reach confirms that someone has actually seen your content.
• Impressions indicate how often your post appears on someone's Facebook timeline. They typically outnumber reach since one person can see your ad over and over again, adding up to multiple impressions. Tracking impressions is crucial for businesses aiming to increase brand awareness. It helps ensure your content reaches your followers and target audience.
• Engagement measures how your audience interacts with your Page or post, including clicks, shares, comments, reactions, and likes. Tracking engagement is essential for tailoring your content to resonate with your audience and ensuring it appears more frequently in people's newsfeeds.
• Engagement Rate is calculated as the ratio of interactions with a post to the number of followers the Page has. A high engagement rate suggests your content is resonating well, while a low rate may indicate the need for improvement. 
• Finally, let’s mention Likes and Followers. The most obvious metric comes last simply because it is not very relevant to the actual awareness. But, when combined with engagement and impressions, they offer a more comprehensive understanding of your reach.

Facebook Audience Insights

The most fascinating feature of Insights is the chance to see your potential audience. By applying filters, you can see the approximate size of your target demographics. This way, you can refine your targeting based on language, age, gender, and location. 

You can really narrow it down by listing the interests of your audience. Insights also give you an approximate number of Facebook users you can target based on those filters. 

Stories and Reels analytics

If you are utilizing a lot of video content (here’s why you should post videos), you should be tracking the following metrics:

• Impressions refer to the total number of times your Story or Reel has been viewed, regardless of whether your audience engaged with it or not. Impressions provide insights into the overall visibility and exposure of your story or reel across the platform.
• Reach represents the number of unique accounts or users that have viewed your Story or Reel within a specific timeframe. 
• Interactions include replies, taps forward and backward, and exits. Monitoring interactions provides valuable insights into how users engage with your content and the level of interest it generates.
• Completion Rate refers to the percentage of viewers who watched your entire Story or Reel from start to finish. It measures the extent to which your content captivates and retains the audience’s attention. 
• 3-second Video Views represent the number of times a video within your Story or Reel was played for at least 3 seconds. This metric indicates initial viewer engagement with your video content and provides insights into the performance of your hooks.
• 1-minute Video Views indicate the number of times a video within your Story or Reel was played for at least one minute. This metric measures deeper engagement with your video content and suggests that viewers found the content worthy of serious attention.

Facebook ads analytics

Facebook ads are one of the most powerful forces in marketing: the audiences are massive, the competition is high, and the metrics are plenty. So, while you’re navigating Facebook Ads Manager, consider investing in a powerful tool, so you could really harvest the potential of Facebook ads. Enhance your ad performance with Madgicx and get those insights you won't find anywhere else.

Engagement Metrics:

• Clicks represent direct user engagement with your ad, indicating the level of interest or curiosity in your offer or message. A higher number of clicks suggests a more compelling ad.
• Reactions offer a nuanced understanding of user feelings towards your ad. They provide insights into how your ad resonates emotionally with the audience.
• Comments show active engagement and interaction with your ad. They can provide valuable feedback, spark conversations, and help measure audience sentiment.
• Shares amplify your reach organically.

Delivery Metrics:

• Reach reveals the unique number of users who have seen your ad, providing an overview of its exposure and potential audience reach. A higher reach suggests broader visibility.
• Impressions, as mentioned above, show the total number of times your ad was displayed, offering insights on visibility and exposure on Facebook. There’s an important metric related to Impressions called CPM. On Facebook, you compete with other advertisers by bidding on ad auctions, and the outcome is a Cost Per Mille (CPM), representing the price for every 1,000 views of your ad.
• Frequency. Understanding how frequently users see your ad helps gauge ad fatigue and audience saturation. Monitoring frequency helps ad optimization and targeting adjustments.

Performance Metrics:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR) measures the percentage of users who click on your ad after seeing it. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is compelling and resonates with the audience, driving more traffic to your desired destination.
• Conversion Rate reflects the percentage of users who completed a desired action (for example, a sign-up) after clicking on your ad. It indicates the effectiveness of your ad in driving meaningful actions and achieving campaign objectives.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) compares the revenue generated from your ad campaign to the amount spent on advertising. It quantifies the profitability of your ad investment, helping assess the overall success and efficiency of your ad campaigns.
• Cost per Click (CPC) or Cost per Action (CPA): These metrics evaluate the average cost incurred for each click or conversion generated by your ad. They provide insights into ad efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and budget allocation optimization.  

Facebook Pixel analytics

Facebook Pixel analytics lets you track the audience coming to your site from Facebook. It lets you gather data and target your existing audience. And it does all this while respecting their privacy.

With this tool, your Facebook ads will be shown to people who have already visited your page, thus softly pushing them down the sales funnel and improving your CTR. Meta recommends using the Pixel alongside Conversions API.

• Website traffic refers to the volume of visits directed to your website from Facebook. It shows how well your Facebook marketing brings users to your site. It also shows how interesting your content is to Facebook users.
• Conversions represent the number of desired actions completed by users on your website as a direct result of your Facebook ads. These actions may include buying, signing up, downloading, or other set goals. 
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) measures the revenue generated from your Facebook ad campaigns relative to the amount spent on advertising.
• Custom events involve tracking user actions or events on your website. These include looking at products and adding items to the cart, starting checkout, and finishing purchases. Custom events provide detailed insights into user behavior and enable precise targeting based on their actions.

Facebook Analytics FAQs

How do I see my Facebook analytics?

1. Tap your picture in the upper right corner.
2. Select the Page you want to switch to.
3. Tap your Page's profile picture.
4. Tap Insights to view detailed analytics of your Page's performance.

How do I extract Facebook analytics?

To export your Page's insights data: 

1. Click Insights at the top of your Page. 

2. Click Export Data in the top right. 

3. Select a data type, file format, and date range. You may also need to choose a layout. 

4. Click Export Data again.

Conclusion

The end of Facebook Analytics did not leave an unfillable void: there are several tools that provide insight. Some of them are provided by Meta, some are available for a fee. To track all of the important metrics, try 360° Meta Audit by Madgicx and harvest the full potential of your Facebook presence.