Until recently, many brands measured the success of their Facebook activity by the number of ‘Likes’ their page received.

But the true value of Facebook to a brand is not in how many people like a page; it’s about how many people are talking about the brand.

Beyond ‘liking’ a page, users who post on the brand’s wall, share or comment on posts, reply to events, or tag brands in photos, are those who are truly engaged and open to brand messages.

Recognising good old-fashioned ‘word of mouth’ as the very basis of its value to business, Facebook has created a new ‘Talking About This’ metric that quantifies this activity, provided as a number on the left hand side of the page, just beneath the number of ‘likes’. The metric refreshes daily, and reflects interactions over the past seven days.

The data, available right down to the individual post level, allows companies to better measure the success or otherwise of their Facebook initiatives, giving a truer indication of the impact of their efforts, and provides the feedback necessary to do better the next time around.

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Featured: Facebook: @facebook

Article by: Cormac Hanrahan