Many Facebook Page Admins are not sure at first which metrics are important on a Facebook Page. Here, discover why understanding engagement rate is more important than People Talking About This (PTAT).
You mean, it's about more than just People Talking About This (PTAT) on Facebook?
[caption id="attachment_3610" align="alignright" width="210"]
PTAT is not a full-color number[/caption]
If you're a smart Facebook marketer, it should be. A good idea to become more familiar with Engagement Rate...
People Talking About This On Facebook
When Facebook first released the "People Talking About This" (PTAT) metric, it was met with positive feedback because it was a quick-glance route to knowing more about a Facebook Page. Many thought you could gauge:
- Fan base interaction with the brand.
- Page Admin interaction with the fan base.
- Performance level of Page Admins.
For instance, if you strolled by a Facebook Page and saw a large number of fans, but only 3 people talking about it, the red flags would indicate that the fan base is not very passionate about the brand.
It was right about this time that discussions of Pages purchasing fans heated up. Some believed the PTAT number would reveal culprits with low levels of conversation on-page.
While the Talking About This metric is a quick way for potential fans to determine if they want to click like, and for page owners to check up on Page Admins, considering only this number leaves one with only half the story.
What contributes to the 'People Talking About This' number?
Despite your inclination to think so, it's not just the number of fans commenting on a Facebook Page. The PTAT number increases when someone does:
- like a page.
- post on the page wall.
- like a post.
- comment on a post.
- share a post.
- answer a question.
- RSVP to a page’s event.
- mention the page in a post.
- tag the page in a photo.
- check in at a place.
- share a check-in deal.
- like a check-in deal.
- write a recommendation.
- claim an offer.
Not so simple, eh? Now consider that each post tracks it's own PTAT. Too much, too quick? Inside Facebook offers a more detailed People Talking About This definition for those wishing to drill down.
If you look at that list above, some of it is NOT directly related to interaction on the Facebook page itself. A few things to consider:
- Just because someone Liked the page, does not mean they are interacting yet or talking about it.
- The PTAT number reflects engagement for the past week. But the visible numbers shown are a few days behind.
- Also included in the PTAT number are interactions from promoted posts and ads.
So, this number can be manipulated and gamed, as pointed out by socialbakers.
Perhaps a better metric to consider is...engagement rate.
Engagement Rate Definition
A Facebook Page's Engagement Rate is a percentage of the number of fans (likes) Page Admins have attracted to the page and enticed to interact.
You can actually calculate "Daily Page Engagement Rate." There's a really groovy algebraic formula for that. Again, for those that like working numbers.
So, small business owners and entrepreneurs, how about a more simple view, eh?
[caption id="attachment_3608" align="aligncenter" width="854"]
Idea Girl Media Facebook Page, mid-February 2013[/caption]
Pictured above, the essential numbers to look at are highlighted.
The simple math:
190 (PTAT) divided by 2042 (total number of likes) = .093046 or...
9.3% Engagement Rate.
This provides a quick estimation and a more realistic view of what is really happening on the page.
What Is A Good Engagement Rate On Facebook?
We had been hearing from some social media thought leaders that 1-2% was the average.
But a closer look at thousands of Facebook Pages indicated that the range is more accurately .5 to 1%.
So, while my average engagement rate floats between 12-20%, and I was feeling a bit low over the 9.3% for the day noted above, it is still considered a decent number. It tells visitors to the page that fans are interacting, and there is effort being given to nurture relationships with fans.
Which is really what having presence on a Facebook Page is all about!
Put A Ring On It
We can look at analytics, do math, and configure all sorts of percentages, but a good Facebook Page Admin knows when things are not going well on their page.
They are looking at interactions on a "per post" basis:
- Likes.
- Comments.
- Shares.
And also trends for groupings of posts. They will constantly be examining what fans are interacting with, how, and when, and looking for ways to optimize efforts in response to that.
The most accurate look at what's happening on a Facebook Page is engagement rate. Social media presence including more than one social network can then be evaluated with similar data.
Engage Me
Does this post help you understand engagement rates on Facebook?
What questions do you have about increasing your Facebook Page's engagement rate?
Please post your questions or feel free to share your favorite engagement tips below in comments! :)
25 Replies
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Wonderful site Keri. Many thanks for the excellent pointers. We need all we can get! Warm Hugs, Sandy & Dave blinkthebestseller.com
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David, Thank you for your kind words. I would hope to be a helpful resource. ~Keri
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Hi Keri, I have a question for the ‘good engagement rate’ section. It was mentioned in your post that according to “some social media thought leaders, 1-2% was the average, but a closer look at thousands of Facebook Pages indicated that the range is more accurately .5 to 1%.” Assuming that a Facebook Page has an average of 3.6% – 4.8% of engagement rate, what does this mean? Is it a good rate? Is it possible to achieve that rate because it’s way over the range of 1-2%? I am new to this engagement rate calculations and measurement of Facebook analytics. Any sort of help from your side would be great! Thank you so much!
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Sheu, Thank you for reading my post about Facebook Engagement, and for trusting your questions with me. This specific post was written when the average engagement rate was 1-2%. Since then, Facebook has taken several turns, and at this time, .5-1% is probably more accurate for a Facebook Page not doing any type of advertising or other paid marketing. (Probably time for an edit/update on this post) It is possible that the number you used: 3.6-4.8% – This could have been referring to engagement rate on the Facebook Pages I managed at the time of publish. Yes, it IS possible to see engagement rates higher than 1-2%, and much higher. But you’re probably looking at a paid marketing approach to achieve that. Active management of a Facebook Page with consistent monitoring with quality content can still do well, though the .5-1% may be more accurate until a Facebook Page is over 1000 fans. The important thing is that you are creating and posting quality content and engaging with your fans. From there, you come to know what your fans like and what you should continue doing or change. Look to your analytics to give you the clues. I hope this helps. Please feel free to post any additional questions here. Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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Hi Keri, I’m a little late to the party but still wanted to say I enjoyed your post. Have a question about the socialbreakers formula I was hoping you could help me out with. As i understand it, it’s basically dividing a post’s total interactions – likes, comments, shares – by the page’s fan total to get the percentage of engaged fans. If that’s the case, could it be flawed in the sense that it’s essentially counting consumptions as consumers? Since one person can like, comment and share a post, isn’t there a good chance that there’d be more interactions than unique engaged users? For that formula to really work, wouldn’t you need to know the number of unique engaged users and divide that by total fans? Basically just like you did with your simpler way, dividing the PTAT (since its a total of the unique people who interacted) by total fans. Seems to me like that would be a much more realistic look at your engagement rate. Does any of that make sense?
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Evan, Every page manager is looking for slightly different metrics. And, if you want to analyze to be very exact, I encourage you to do so. Those figuring out where they want to be in the social space may want to drill down that far — Especially those with big budgets and staffs. However, many entrepreneurs wear multiple hats and would likely not have the time to analyze that far into the metrics. And, if they took the time, they would need to sacrifice the actual marketing, or other operations in their business. The methods I provided gave a reasonable way to gauge engagement. Also consider… At the time of this comment, Facebook now provides a new insights panel to draw data from. So, we can now look at our analytics differently again. You’ll probably see a post published here, or another blog I write regularly for coming up soon. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ~Keri
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Hi Keri, quick question. Does posting more have a negative effect on engagement rate?
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Joe, Great question! Facebook has been in transition lately with several slow rollouts of new features. This has made Facebook “wonky” and for that reason, it’s been hard to tell just what does or does not make a difference. That said, if you post too often, you do risk “wearing out your fans.” Meaning, you’re putting too much in front of them too often, and they may choose to “turn you off” by clicking to not see your posts any longer. The key really is providing value. If your fans are interested in your information – If it helps them solve problems and also entertains them, then they will like and share. But if the content just isn’t doing that, it will affect your engagement. One more thing… I do notice that when I post to pages more than 5 times per day, Facebook does seem to limit the views. But that is only what I found on my own, and measured for a number of weeks. Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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Great post. How would one figure out per post? Thanks again.
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Kevin, Thank you for reading, and for posing your question. To quickly figure out engagement rate on a single post, you would look at the bottom left corner of your post for the number of people that saw your post. Then, count the number of interactions (likes/shares) on the post. And then divide the smaller number by the larger number to get a percentage. Even at the bottom of the post on the main page, you will get a “hover card” of organic and viral reach. Those are helpful numbers to know. If you look at your Facebook Insights, you can find more information about each post as well. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have additional questions, Kevin. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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You say that the average engagement rate according to a study falls between .5% and 1%, however you say you average around 12%-20%. It looks like your pages are way above average. Am I understanding this correctly? Is the .5%-1% the average according the the simple math formula you are getting, or something else?
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Samantha, Thank you for your question! The .5-1% is something calculated by socialbakers.com for ALL Facebook pages that they accumulate data for. So, this includes the page for the little-known brand that posts once per week, and the big brands with maybe 100K fans. It is true that the more fans you have the harder it is to keep the number higher (Thanks, Facebook!). 12-20% is above average, yes. I’m proud of these numbers. Hopefully I answered your question and offered some helpful insight. I appreciate your reading! ~Keri
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Keri, Thanks for responding! Your numbers are awesome. Congrats! I guess another question I should have asked about was whether the .5-1% was average per post or average per day. Is your 12-20% average per day?
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Samantha, The study I am referring to by socialbakers.com broke things down per-day and by per-post. (It’s a popular post, I’m sure a search would get you there) Here, I reference a “per day” number. That’s a good gauge of how many people on the street are carrying the message and sharing with others. Being social. Per-post is indeed a valuable thing to look at, but more as a strategy move, or fine tuning. Like looking more the ingredients of the soup to improve the recipe. Social media is like a party. Party hosts are most excited to know if their guests are having a good time and will tell their friends. That happens for many reasons….not only if the soup was tasty. I hope that helps. Thanks for returning to my blog, and for your desire to clarify! ~Keri
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you are amazing , useful info , thank u 🙂
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Thank you for your visit, and for reading my post. I appreciate your kind words. ~Keri
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Good explanation Keri and I learned some stuff thank you. I run several pages and find that I start getting like clicks, comments and shares once you reach about 3,000 talking on the page is this your experience?
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Michael, Thank you for reading… Glad to be of help – I know you are busy out there in the social space! The pages I work with range in diversity. From a few hundred fans to about 20,000. I find that it’s all relative. Let me explain… A page just doesn’t magically see engagement, and at first, it is hard to trigger interaction. But if a Facebook Page Admin is consistent, likes and shares do not depend on the fan base size. It depends on the quality of the content and the tone in which it is presented. That is what I have found, anyway. Is it easier to get likes and shares at 3000 fans (or 3000 talking about this) – Yes. Just due to the “science” of how Facebook works. But I don’t think it’s necessary, as I’ve achieved as high as 60% talking about this with small pages, and with pages over 1000. Hope this helps. Always willing to share notes! 🙂 Thanks for your comment, Michael, ~Keri
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