Last week, Facebook announced that their free tool, Facebook Analytics, will be retired as of June 30, 2021. The social media giant quietly published the news via their Facebook for Business help center.
Users will now have to export charts and tables before June 30 if they wish to access reports and insights through the tool. Navigating to analytics.facebook.com now redirects users to the announcement, which reads:
“Facebook Analytics will no longer be available after June 30, 2021. Until then, you will still be able to access reports, export charts and tables, and explore insights. To export data into a CSV file from Facebook Analytics on your desktop, click the arrow in the top-right corner of each chart or table.”
As of now, the company doesn’t offer a reason for its decision to discontinue Facebook Analytics.
If you’re like me, you might be wondering what this might mean and what your alternatives might be. But before we get into that, let’s discuss what Facebook Analytics is and what it does.
What’s Facebook Analytics?
Facebook Analytics is a tool that tracks “likes,” page views, and monitors the interaction of the audience with a business page on Facebook. The tool aimed to help businesses take a structured approach tying a company’s social media efforts with its business goals.
Analytics also help a business refine its strategy and measure its return on investment.
For businesses and marketers, the tool would let you know how your ads were doing and provide information that could help you target the ads better in the future.
Why is Facebook Analytics going away?
While the news could seem alarming to marketers and businesses, some users speculate that Facebook Analytics was not as useful as many other analytics tools.
In contrast, others point out the company’s announcement of Facebook Business Suite last year and its intention for the tool to be available to businesses of all sizes in 2021. Believing that Facebook is trying to push its Business Suite, Ads Manager, and Events Manager as alternatives for analytics, this has received a rather mixed response from users.
What we know at this point is that Business Suite is not available to businesses of all sizes. Perhaps an update to Facebook Business Suite will be available before June 30.
What are the alternatives?
While Facebook does not offer insight on the discontinuation, it does point users to the following business tools to use after Analytics is removed:
»Facebook Business Suite: Allows users to manage their Facebook and Instagram business accounts. Business Suite offers detailed insights about a business’s audience, content, and trends (but is not available to everyone)
»Ads Manager: Lets businesses view, make changes, and see results for Facebook campaigns and ads.
» Events Manager: Can help users set up and manage Facebook business tools like the Facebook pixel and Conversions API (Application Programming Interface). Also reports on actions taken on a business’s website, app, and physical store.
The Takeaway
These business tools are not exact 1:1 alternatives. The challenge will be for businesses and marketers to adapt using a combination of the above tools to accomplish the same tasks they’re used to getting done in Facebook Analytics. Or, begin the search for and implementation of “all-in-one” third-party reporting tools.
Not sure which is the best way to move forward? Feel free to contact us, and we would be happy to set up a consultation and discuss a digital strategy that is right for you.
And remember, if you’re a business or marketer using Facebook Analytics, it might be in your best interest to export charts and tables before June 30 to access reports and insights.
Posted In Digital Strategy & Social Media