Some of you may have a Facebook Company Page, but may be confused by the “Likes” number versus the “Talking About This” number. Here’s a screen shot from a page I like to follow:
Social Media Examiner has 230,329 likes with a 5,263 talking about this number.
You may be wondering what the two numbers mean and which one is more important. Should the “Likes” number only be used to judge whether an audience is engaged with a page? The answer is NO.
First, let me define these numbers:
Likes – this is the number of users who have clicked on the “Like” button at the top of your page; they have made a connection with your page. Liking a Page will add it to the user’s list of Likes on the user’s timeline. Be aware, however, that your page posts may or may not appear in the new fan’s News Feed. Facebook utilizes a very complicated algorithm to determine if a post from your Company Page will be displayed in fans’ News Feeds. This article does not address Facebook’s algorithm or strategies for increasing “Likes”.
Talking About This – this is the number of unique users that have interacted with your Page in the last week in some way or other. PTAT (People Talking About This) includes engagement from users posting to your wall, users “liking” something on your page, users sharing a post that you made, users commenting on your wall, tagging the Page in a photo, responding to an offer, etc.
I think PTAT is more important to analyze rather than the number of Likes. If you have 1,026 Likes but only 4 people talking about this that only shows a 0.39% engagement rate (yes, that number is below one percent!). However, if you have 245 Likes but have 16 People Talking About This then the engagement rate is 6.5% – much better! So although increasing the number of Likes is important, what’s more important is the rate of engagement your fans have with you and your page. A high rate of engagement could indicate a greater chance of fans converting to customers. By the way, an engagement rate of about 2% is considered good. Social Media Examiner’s engagement rate is 2.3%.
Facebook Insights provide even more information about Page Likes, Post Reach and Engagement. More on Facebook Insights in a later post.
What are some ways you try to increase the PTAT number on your Page?
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