Tracking the Performance of your Posts and Ads on META- Facebook and Instagram

Executive Summary

“Facebook is Dead. Long Live The King.”
Is it so? This blog explores META’s platforms, namely, Facebook and Instagram, looking at their continued relevance, the user behavior behind it, the different options available to businesses to engage consumers and generate leads (Organic and Paid).
Finally, this blog looks at how these leads may be tracked for Performance (ROI/ ROAS) through META’s own data platform. It also investigates special cases where if lead generation and conversion is of paramount importance Marketing Teams should consider using Google Analytics to track leads from Facebook, and finally presents a complete solution of how an Omnichannel CRM may be ultimately needed if Marketing and Sales Teams need to convert leads in volume, track performance and build the basis of robust Customer Data Portal that will also cover, post sales customer engagement and audience insight mining.
Given the wide array of topics covered, readers are recommended to use the hyperlinks to skip to the sections that interest them.

Why Facebook is still relevant for Digital Marketing Teams?

Every couple of quarters, we are hit by a slew of articles claiming that Facebook is dying. Newer social platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, et al are weaning away younger users. The easier UI/ UX of group chats like WhatsApp, Telegram are taking people away. There’s truth to all these stories, but it’s not the whole truth as this Business Insider report from Nov 2023 indicates- Meta's Instagram and Facebook Growing Faster Than TikTok.
Consider this, at heart Facebook is a platform where you can share pictures, experiences, and your group of friends can Like, Comment, Share it giving you a dopamine kick. Period.
It’s here that the continued utility of Facebook lies. Over the past 17 odd years, you have built up a huge network of friends on Facebook. And though new platforms may come, the stickiness is still there. People are familiar with a simple interface (which may not be the best) and there are enough of them around. Given these facts, it would be negligent for Marketing Teams to ignore a Social Media platform with over 3.05 billion monthly active users (MAU) and a DAU of almost 2.08 billion as per META’s investor earnings report for Q3‘23.
A further point, contrary to the sensational headlines- “Younger consumers are deserting Facebook”, the median age of Facebook users is still around 30, which is the global median age, driven primarily by younger demographics joining Facebook from emerging economies.
In a nutshell, it is still too early to ignore Facebook. It still is the world’s largest Social Media Platform.

The continued rise of Instagram

Since bursting on to the scene in 2010 primarily as a photo and video sharing platform, Instagram today has 2 billion monthly active users (MAU). A more visual medium compared to its sister platform, META, Instagram’s user base is slightly skewed towards a younger demographic, with 85% of users below 45 years of age. Whether celebrities or brands, Instagram account can create communities of millions.

So, if you are targeting a younger demographic, Instagram is the platform you need to be on.
One key fact to keep in mind is that only 0.01% of Instagram users use only the platform. The most common platform used in conjunction with IG is Facebook (81.4%),¬ making the combination of Instagram and Facebook really potent in seeking out audiences and exposing them to retargeting.

Different content types and how you can engage visitors on Facebook and Instagram.

Before we delve into the world of Organic content on Facebook and Instagram, let’s clear the doubts around Organic reach being less than 1% on META. Yes, true, over time META has restricted Organic reach. But building organic content is still important. Firstly, even if it’s 1%, it’s still 0.5% of a large number, secondly, once a visitor engages with your content, consistent posting reinforces your brand, and finally, with the numerous organic content types, there are always hidden opportunities to create something that may go ‘viral’.
Very few other platforms give Users and Businesses the flexibility to post content of different in so many ways as Facebook. No wonder that Facebook continues to be the numero-uno Social Media platform.

Facebook Text post

This was where Facebook started off. Simple Text post sharing an update. In the age of hyper Rich Media, they may seem passe, but still good for announcements or to start off a serious conversation. You can embed a link to your website to generate leads.



Facebook Picture Post

To break through clutter, add in a picture to your post. Simple eye-catching visuals make it easy to grab consumer attention.



Facebook Video Post

Video content is the best performing content type on Facebook. As by default videos are auto play on user feeds, if you can make the first few seconds of the video, engaging, you are likely to get an engaged user.



Facebook Live

Originally introduced in 2016 as Facebook’s answer to live broadcasts, Facebook Live is still a great tool to use the medium to broadcast event’s, launches, shows and for Influencers doing brand promotions. By sharing live raw authentic content, Facebook Live drives almost 10X engagement than normal video. The below example of Chewbacca Mom holds the Guiness World Record for the maximum number of views- 159 million.



Facebook Stories

Facebook introduced Facebook Stories to counter Snapchat. Essentially you can upload a 20 sec clip with filters or interactive elements like stickers, polls, questions and emojis. People can see the story for 24 hours before it disappears.

Facebook Link Post

A Link post allows you to share a link on your profile. Perfect for sharing news updates on websites and new blog posts. Facebook generates a preview based on the meta ‘og’ parameters and visitors clicking on the link will be taken to your website.



Pinned Post

You can pin any post to the top of your page as a Featured item. Unless you unpin it, it will be the first post people see when they land on your page. Use it to highlight important announcements or offers.



Facebook Marketplace

Facebook’s step into ecommerce. All you need is a Facebook account to buy or sell new or pre-loved items. As a user, you don’t have to share your phone number or email directly, yet with your Facebook account linked, buyers and sellers can check information about the other party. Have features like search by location radius and category. The CTA is a message to the seller through Facebook Messenger. Popular categories are auto, home décor, clothing, electronics, properties to rent.



Other Opportunities to Generate CTA’s and connect with your Audience on Facebook

Location on Facebook Profile

Don’t ignore your Facebook profile. Studies show that businesses that filled out proper physical location information saw increased store visits. Not only that, but the mobile App in Facebook also lets users search for businesses in a location. One final benefit, by ensuring that your NAP details are correct, provides that added bump to your local SEO results.

Phone Number on Facebook Profile

No brainer this one. With 98.5% of users accessing FB through mobile (and 81.8% from mobile only), being able to find your phone number correctly ensures that you are just a click away from clients calling you.

Your website on Facebook

Like phone and address, adding the correct website details on Facebook is another way to attract new visitors. Woo them on Social Media with your content, and if they are interested, bring them to your website for business. Again, like phone and location, having the correct website details provides another reinforcement for your Local SEO NAP checks.

Facebook Groups for Community

Facebook Groups are an oft overlooked tool for brands trying to engage their community. Why? Firstly, Organic Reach. Over time Facebook has decreased the organic content in user feeds and today it would be below 10%. However, Facebook still prioritizes Group posts on feeds, and posts made in your group will have higher organic reach. And the other reason is the opportunity to build lasting relationships and reinforce your value to a committed core group. A further benefit is the access to unfiltered customer insights. Short of spending big bucks on Market Research, where else will a business be able to get access to this.

Single Photo Post

Simplicity has a power of its own. Single photo posts are surprisingly the second most popular content type on Instagram. Think of them as reinforcement touch points for your already existing fanbase. The below illustration shows a single IG account with Single photo post highlighted in green.



Carousel Photo Post

You can weave up to 10 images or videos into a story in a carousel post like shown in the IG account above which has the carousel post highlighted in orange.

Video Posts

Longer format video (can be up to 60 mins long). Easiest way to share videos on Instagram. Example, the video post highlighted in yellow above.

Live Videos

Broadcast feature for real-time video sharing with followers. Brands can use this for Influencer collaborations, Events/ Product launches, Q&A sessions or even for tutorials.

Instagram Stories

20 second video clips. Expected to be candid and stay for only 24 hours. Visible only to Followers (or everyone in public accounts).



Reels

Reels like Instagram Stories are short form videos (they can be up to 90 seconds long). But the key difference with Stories is that Stories are only visible to your Followers (or anyone if you have a Public Profile) whereas Reels are viewable to all Users. And unlike Stories, Reels do not expire in 24 hours, making it the perfect content format for making something viral. An example is Khaby Lame’s video from 30 Aug 2021 which till date has garnered 11.8 million Likes.



Guides

Instagram Guides are being sunset in December 2023. Before that IG Guides were a lovely tool. But Guides when they existed were a great tool for curating collections of products, places, and posts.

Other Opportunities to Generate CTA’s and connect with your Audience on Instagram

IG being a mobile first medium, having your contact details like address, phone number, location allows users to easily search for, navigate to and contact your business from Instagram.

Different Facebook and Instagram Ad Types and User Behaviour

Facebook Ad types can be broadly classified in following types:

Photo Ads

Simplest for of Ads on Facebook. Photo, short description, CTA. Great for generating website visits (as per a META study) and creating brand awareness.



Video Ads

You can run these Ads as In-stream Ads, In Feed Ads or as Stories Ads. There are six common video Ad formats- Short Videos and Gifs, Vertical Videos; Instagram Stories; Video Carousels; Video Collections; and In-Stream Video. The golden rule is shorter the better. Though video Ads can be up to 60 seconds long, any Ad longer than 10 seconds comes with a card- “Keep Watching.”
#ProTip-A great source of content for engaging Ads, is your own Organic content. Identify your best performing content on Instagram/ Facebook/ YouTube and convert it into an Ad.



Carousel Ads

Use multiple images and videos to tell a mind-blowing story, explain a process, showcase your product range or even highlight the features of a single product. These Ads can be run on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or the Facebook Audience Network .



Stories Ads

These Ads appear in Stories on Instagram, Facebook. Messenger. Audience affinity with stories is high. Studies show that users feel stories to be authentic, immersive and make them feel part of a community. The general CTA here is a website visit or brand awareness.



Lead Ads

Make it easier for viewers interested in your products and services using Instant Forms which come pre-filled with their contact information from Instagram or Facebook, eliminating the need to navigate out to a landing page and manually entering data. You can include optional questions for the viewers. One condition for using Lead Ads is that your Privacy Policy needs to be shared through an online link for viewers. You can even create conditional forms and put gated content as PDFs or images for people to see once the form has been filled. Responses are stored in Meta Business Suite (for a period of 90 days after the response has been submitted) or fed directly into a CRM like Pronnel.



Click To Message Ads

META’s step into conversational commerce, Click-To-Message Ads allow users clicking on the Ad to directly enter a conversation with the Advertiser. The success of this format is proven by Click to Message Ads becoming a $10 billion revenue stream for Facebook already.



Slideshow Ads

Are lightweight video Ads stitched together from different pictures. Ideal for targeting markets where data speeds are low.

Collection Ads

They are similar to Carousel Ads, except they are focused more on immersive selling and served only on mobile devices. They start with a mandatory video and 4 product images. Think of it as creating an instant virtual storefront for your products.



Playable Ads

Aimed at the rapidly growing $80 billion mobile gaming market. These Ads are composed of a Lead In Video, a Playable Demo and a CTA (allowing users to download the App from Google Play Store or the Apple Store) in the end allowing users to try out a small portion of the game before they make up their mind.

Different Facebook and Instagram CTA’s and how you can track them on META Ads manager?

Different Facebook and Instagram CTA’s.

All the different Organic content and Ads across META platforms end up being mapped into a set of standard user behaviours with the objective being:

Brand Awareness

Either watch content on the platform (images, videos), or outside on the website or platforms like YouTube. Here the CTAs would be reach, recall rate, engagement metrics, video plays, likes, comments, etc.

Lead Generation

The purpose of most businesses is to sell, and therefore the focus is on generating leads. META Ads allows businesses to setup:

1. Website/ landing page visits.
2. Fill out Lead Gen forms directly (built in forms from META).
3. Send messages to WhatsApp/ Instagram/ Facebook Messenger.
4. Call on phone.

App Downloads

Primarily targeted at game developers

Tracking Leads and Performance on META Platform

Given these Ad and CTA combinations there are three ways in which we can deal with them. Firstly, track through META’s own platform; secondly, track through Google Analytics; and finally use an Omnichannel CRM like Pronnel.
Let’s understand how, and why?
It’s a no brainer that the best way to track the performance of your Ads on META should be through META Ads Manager or META Business Manager. No integration or setup needed. The chances of error creeping in are very low and you can cover all your different CTAs in one place. Even website conversions can be tracked through a Facebook Pixel.
But there are certain conditions for which this may not be sufficient. Consider for example if META Ads are only a small portion of all your leads. Where will you get a consolidated view? How will you reconcile which platform or Ad is the most lucrative? What if the gestation period is long as in online acquisitions and offline conversions, ticket size of your conversions is large.
The below infographic- "Why Do you need Google Analytics or an Omnichannel CRM to track leads from META." As can be seen from the Infographic, META Ads Manager or META Business Manager is good as long as the majority of your leads come from Zone A and Zone B.

Tracking Facebook and Instagram performance on Google Analytics (GA4)

If a sizable chunk of your leads come from platforms other than META (Zone C in above Infographic- “Why Do you need Google Analytics or an Omnichannel CRM to track leads from META.”), then you need to consider using a tool like Google Analytics (GA4).
Of course, there will be components you will be missing. Two namely, GA4 will not be able to provide you with details on engagement like video views, Likes, Shares of Organic and Paid content, and GA4 will not be able to track Click-To-Message Ad results.
And furthermore, you will have to spend time setting up UTM parameters on Ads to differentiate and track the performance of each Ad set.
Another drawback to both the above methods is that in case your final conversion is offline, there is no way to reconcile the ROAS or Marketing ROI of these Ads. That takes us to the Special case of using an Omnichannel CRM like Pronnel to completely track and convert Leads.

How Pronnel can help you track the full pipeline from Lead Acquisition through to Offline Conversion.

An Omnichannel CRM like Pronnel can capture leads from:

• Directly from Lead Gen forms in META with tracking parameters
• Leads from website/ Landing with source information (like UTM’s and Campaign ID, etc)
• Leads from Click-to-Message Ads get directly populated into the Leads Dashboard
• Users can enter data from phone calls received from clients manually.

Conclusion:

We have seen how Facebook along with it’s sister platforms Instagram and WhatsApp remain a very potent Social Media platform to engage with users globally and explored the different opportunities for businesses in Organic assets as well as the plethora of Ad options available both within META’s own ecosystem and the wider META Audience network. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp cannot be ignored.
With its rich targeting options, and wide variety of content which engages users, the CTAs available are few. In the final part of our blog, we have explored how depending on the Use-Case Marketers can choose between three options, using META’s native Business Manager platform, use tools like Google Analytics or for complete 360 view and added functionality use an Omnichannel CRM to track and convert leads.

FAQ’s

Q1: What is the Structure of the Facebook Ads Campaign?

The hierarchy of Facebook Ads setup is as follows:

Ad Campaign

At the highest level for each initiative you will set a campaign with an Objective. Each Ad Campaign will have a Campaign ID (campaign_id), think of them as analogous to the Campaign in Google Ads.

Ad Set

A campaign will have multiple Ad Sets associated with it. An Ad Set will have settings for how, when and where to run. All Ad Sets will have the same Objective as the Campaign. Use it to target specific audiences with different characteristics or behaviors. An Ad Set is identified with its unique Ad Set ID (adset_id)and you can name them based on which Audience/ Location/ or demography you are targeting. Think of them as analogous to Ad Groups in Google Ads.

Facebook Ads

Are the individual pieces of content which are grouped under a single Ad Set. An Ad is identified by its unique Ad ID – ad_id (analogous to Ads in Google Ads).

Any regular Facebook account can run as up to 5,000 campaigns or Ad sets and up to 50 Ads per Ad Set. If the limits are reached then the Advertiser will have to archive them.

Q4: How does FBCLID show up in Google Analytics (GA4)? Is there a workaround to the problem?

Facebook Click Identifiers (FBCLIDs) are tracking parameters added to outbound links from Facebook and Instagram. Every time a user clicks on a link to say, your website, a 6 character alphanumeric string is appended at the end of the URL. These will show up in your Google Analytics as the source from which the traffic has come. While this is great to know that the traffic came from META properties, it can be painful to trawl through and analyze the reports.

Fortunately, there is a workaround in GA4. Go to ‘View Settings’ and add ‘fbclid’ to the Exclude URL Query Parameters.
In a CRM like Pronnel you can simply opt not to pick out the URL parameter as a hidden field in your form/ page link.