This week’s blog post focuses on another recent announcement from Facebook, that their Analytics tool will no longer be available to businesses after 30 June 2021.

What is happening?

This announcement from Facebook comes not long after their controversial decision to ban Australian businesses from sharing news. They attempt to reassure users by explaining that “Until then…” (30 June 2021), “...you will still be able to access reports, export charts and tables, and explore insights”, but what about afterwards?

How will this affect my business?

If you, like many other businesses rely on this information to build reports you are likely to be shocked by this news, as you may have found their simple way of capturing insights quite useful. Once 30 June rolls around, you will not be able to access information on page reach, post engagements, page views, actions on page and so on, and the removal of this data may mean you have to make some adjustments, particularly if you use Facebook as your primary online presence.

What are my other options for accessing customer analytics?

There are a range of other social media analytics tools available that businesses can link to their Facebook page to provide tracking and reporting, you just have to do a bit of research to find the one that best suits your needs. Facebook themselves also provide three options (that may come at a cost and/or may not yet be available) including Facebook Business Suite, Ads Manager and Events Manager. While understanding your social analytics is important, you should always have a grasp of the type of traffic coming into your website from these platforms and other sources.

With .au domain name registrations having increased significantly in the past year as more businesses have moved online (auDA reported an increase of 31% in the 6 month period from April 2020), understanding your website as a powerful tracking tool is crucial. By linking your website to an analytics platform like Google Analytics, Hotjar or Tableau you will be able to seamlessly track user engagements such as pageviews, visitors, session duration and pages viewed per session, all of which can be incredibly useful in learning more about your customers and their online movements.

Having a website provides a strong foundation for your business's online presence, and if you want to better understand user behaviour and insights there are plenty of options available. If you are yet to set up your .au domain name and website or would like more information, why not speak to a registrar about your options today?