The addition of Insights to Facebook will help brands develop true metrics of the success of their social media marketing campaigns. Insights allow marketers to see how frequently their brands are mentioned and who is chatting about them.
In the past, measuring the value of Facebook marketing was judged solely by page Likes and other actions on the site that were quantifiable. However, the addition of Insights allows companies to see the conversations generated by their brand on the social network, which recently announced it has surpassed 800 million users.
For marketers that have struggled to get full buy-in from their CMO or other executives, the new Analytics will help bring actual revenue numbers to the table. Companies that have already found success with Facebook marketing can use Insights to direct efforts to elements of their campaigns that have been more successful in driving engagement. Additionally, businesses can addresses parts of campaigns that may not be performing as hoped.
According to Fast Company, social media marketing also shows brands which customers – or types of customers – are most loyal. Citing information from a comScore report, Fast Company found Facebook Fans of Starbucks spent 8 percent more than other Starbucks customers and shop at the stores 11 percent more frequently.
Insights should inspire increased social investments, but the channel was already on the rise. Brafton reported on Monday that social media marketing has maintained growth throughout 2011, used by more than 70 percent of businesses.
