Try Googling “When should I post on Facebook?” and the range of different answers will have your head spinning. Some experts say to post when Facebook users are in general most active: first thing in the morning, around lunch, and on the weekends. Other experts say, no, those times have the most competition so it’s less likely your post will be seen since it’s competing with so many others. If you are in this camp of believers, you’d post in down times like very late in the evening instead. Our advice: both schools of thought are outdated! The single best way to know when to post is to stop listening to others, and instead listen to what your own Facebook audience is telling you. Luckily, Facebook makes it easy!
On your Facebook business page, click on Page Insights.
The first tab is the Overview tab. It will tell you how many new Likes your page has received and the total number of people who were shown your page and your posts that week. There’s a lot of general info here, but don’t spend too much time because what we really want is to click on the Posts tab.
The posts tab is divided into 3 sections:
- When Your Fans Are Online: This tab is very powerful. It shows you a graph of the number of Likes you get each day of the week, and the time of day where you get the most post Likes. If your graph shows major spikes at on a certain day of the week and at a certain time, preschedule your posts to appear on that time and day!
- Posts Type: This tab tells you the average reach (how many people were shown the post) and engagement (how many people interacted with the post, which includes Likes, comments, and shares) for each post you published. Based on this information, you can determine what type of posts your followers are most interested in. Did you get a lot of engagement from a post about kids glasses? Make sure you hit that topic again this week. Try changing up topics, and the type of posts you are creating by utilizing photos, video, infographics, or polls to see what connects best.
As you scroll down on the Posts Type tab you can see post by post how many people engaged, and how much money you spent on promoting the post if you did a Facebook Ad or clicked “Boost Post.” This tells you at a glance how much you’ve spent on Facebook advertising, and how much return you’ve gotten for the money.
On the top right of this data you can look at both positive and negative interactions you received per post. The graphic display defaults to show you how many people Liked/Commented/Shared your post (or positive engagement). If you click the dropdown menu and change that tab you can see how many people negatively responded to your post by hiding it from their timeline, reporting it as spam, or unliked your post or page as a response to seeing that post. Seeing what people don’t like can be just as informative as what they do like.
But that’s not all. Check out the People Tab on the Page Insights section to learn more about who your business is connecting most with. This tab is an incredibly powerful tool as you consider setting your target audience for paid Facebook ads. Here you can see the age, gender, and location of everyone that liked or engaged with your posts. Did your posts really hit with the demographic you are trying to reach? If not, it’s time to rethink your posting strategy to make it appeal more to the people in your local community you are trying to attract as patients and customers. You can find the posts you’ve made in the past that garnered the most engagement from that particular patient demographic, and tailor your next posts to focus specifically on those topics!
Facebook is more than a social media tool, it’s a powerful marketing machine. All the information for you to make the most of Facebook is just an easy click away, but don’t let the stats overwhelm you. Focus on the Posts Tab and the People Tab and let them tell you when and what to post to maximize your return on investment!
