You cannot complete a jigsaw puzzle without all the pieces. Or you can try, but it will be difficult to see the full picture. This is often the feeling when trying to map out a digital customer journey using only Google Analytics.
With the introduction of Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics, new possibilities have emerged. The puzzle is still not entirely complete, but we are getting much closer.
In Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics, you can now carry out people-based tracking of your customers, rather than relying solely on cookie-based tracking – a significant improvement.
In this blog post, I will explain what this means and show you how to use Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics to gain deeper insights into your customers.
This is what the interface in Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics looks like:
Meta Analytics
Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics is a tool that collects data from your apps, pixels, Facebook pages, paid channels, and offline lists. Meta (formerly Facebook) is probably the platform with the most user data in the world. However, it is important to emphasise that this tool cannot fully replace Google Analytics – it should be used as a supplement.
Cookie-based tracking
The main difference between Google Analytics and Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics is the way the tools track visitors. Google tracks user behaviour on your website using cookies. A cookie is a small text file that a website places on the device you use to visit it.
For example, if you visit www.wemarket-digital.co.uk from your mobile phone, our website will place a cookie on your phone. If you visit www.wemarket-digital.co.uk again to complete a contact form, but this time from your tablet or PC, the website will place new cookies on those devices.
Google is therefore unable to track cross-device activity. This means Google does not know that your visits from mobile, PC, and tablet are from the same person. The visits will appear as separate sessions, not as parts of the same customer journey. As a result, your data will not provide an accurate picture.
People-based tracking
This is where Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics is particularly clever. Meta (formerly Facebook) can, to a large extent, track cross-device. Instead of tracking by device, Meta (formerly Facebook) tracks via open Facebook profiles. Since you often have your Facebook profile open on mobile, tablet, and PC, Meta (formerly Facebook) can see that the various visits to www.wemarket-digital.co.uk come from the same person. This gives you a better data foundation.
If you run a webshop where you have installed a Facebook pixel, you can now measure revenue per person, not just per device.
Customer Lifetime Value
Because Meta (formerly Facebook) is not limited by cookies, Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics can provide a better view of your customers’ Lifetime Value. Your relationship with a customer begins with their first purchase. Based on Meta (formerly Facebook) data, you can predict what value your customers will bring to your business over time. You can see the average revenue a customer who buys in week 0 generates in weeks 8 and 9, or what value a purchase brings to your business after, for example, six months.
You will find an overview of your customers’ lifetime value in the left-hand menu as shown in the image below:
Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics is also useful because the data you receive about your visitors is no longer limited to their behaviour on your website.
In Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics, you can create funnels that track different events, such as those leading up to a sale or a completed contact form. You can also do this in Google Analytics. However, Meta (formerly Facebook) knows how many of your customers, before visiting your website, interacted with a Facebook post, and this can add an entirely new layer to your data.
With this additional data layer, you gain insight into how effective your marketing on Facebook is, allowing you to make the adjustments that make sense.
You create a funnel in Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics by clicking on Funnels in the left-hand menu, as shown in the image above. After clicking ‘Create Funnel’, you select the steps you want Meta (formerly Facebook) to track.
Meta Attribution
Attribution is always a challenge – which channel should receive the most credit for your conversions? Meta (formerly Facebook)? Google? Or perhaps something else entirely? The question is still difficult to answer, but Meta (formerly Facebook) has now made it easier for you.
You can now link all your platforms (for example, Bing, Yahoo, Google) to Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics, giving you a more complete view of the conversion journey on your website. This is done under Meta (formerly Facebook) Attribution:
Explore the possibilities
Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics offers many other useful features, which would take too long to cover here. Therefore, I recommend simply searching for Meta (formerly Facebook) Analytics in your Business Manager and exploring your data. If you have previously worked with Meta (formerly Facebook), many of the metrics you find will already be familiar.
If you use Meta (formerly Facebook) Business Manager and find it a bit of a jungle to navigate, you can read Jannick’s excellent blog post on the subject and gain more insight right here.
Read more:
Meta advertising – increase brand awareness and boost sales
Meta Analytics – now also as an app
