This blog is part of the How to Monitor Social Media in 10 Minutes a Day eBook download.

I spend a lot of time on Facebook, managing posts for clients, creating ads, optimizing pages, seeing what other marketers and companies are up to, and listening to my friend Bill brag about the warm weather in California.

Facebook is always changing and evolving and it’s a challenge to stay on top of the changes. One of the major changes is that organic reach on Facebook has declined significantly. That is, when your post isn’t boosted or advertised, the probability that it will reach a large percentage of your fans is lower than it once was. This is especially true for posts that aren’t linked, lack relevancy, don’t have engaging content, or don’t have great images. I guess now that Facebook is publicly-held, the board and investors are pushing for continued revenue growth.

So, having viral attributes is a necessity for your Facebook posts, not only to maximize your organic reach and engage people to the extent that you can, but to lay the groundwork for an effective boost or ad. But, how do you really measure the efficacy of the time and money you spend promoting your business and generating leads on Facebook? How do you know if your page posts are effective as an integrated part of your overall strategy and plan?

There are four major metrics that you can easily view that will show if your posts have been successfully engaging fans and consumers or not. Click on Insights within the left-hand menu of your businesses page. Then select Posts in the menu. Here you can scroll down to see every post you've ever published and how people have engaged with it. Click on a post to analyze these four categories: Likes, Comments, Shares, and Post Clicks. They will give you the quickest and most relevant barometer of engagement.

It goes without saying that if you have a good Facebook post that gets somebody’s attention and resonates with them, they’ll probably Like it. And if it’s really engaging and speaks to them in a manner that encourages them to weigh in with their two cents, they’re going to Comment. And if they think it’s a great post that more people should see, they’ll Share it. Last, but not least, if you’re really successful at getting your fans to take action, they’ll Click on the link to your website, blog, landing page, or event signup that you've included in your post. 

It’s great to have fun, engaging posts that keep our fans up to date with what we have going on in our businesses and communities, but we ultimately want to use our Facebook posts to get them to take action. Checking your Insights is one of the best ways to stay informed of these actions. The more actual engagement on a post, the more you know you've included the important attributes in a successful manner.