Facebook really never fails to surprise us with new updates here and there - some of which can be quite distressing or shocking, some are amazing, and some leave us befuddled!
On our previous blog, we wrote about Facebook getting rid of the Facebook Analytics mobile app and desktop. Now, through their Business Help Centre page, they've also announced that they're transitioning from Audience Insights to Business Suite Insights very soon - and by very soon, that's starting 1st July 2021. Ohhh crikey!!!
For those who don't know, Audience Insights is a separate tool from Facebook Analytics. It is a function within Facebook's Ad Manager. You can access it by going to your Facebook Ad Manager, click the drop down menu under 'Tools', and look for Audience Insights.
Photo via Jetski Shaman
With the Audience Insights tool you can compare audiences, plan and create your campaigns and relevant ads. It also shows you a breakdown of audiences by demographics, interests and behaviours. It's built to help you plan your advertising campaigns both on and off Facebook.
So, you might be wondering WHY Facebook's taking it down then??
According to AdExchanger, most marketers and developers prefer to use a third party analytics tools that are more robust and detailed.
On Mari Smith's Facebook post, (the QUEEN of Facebook, and Facebook Marketing Expert), many of her followers have expressed their disappointment towards the matter. Some said that Facebook is taking useful things away and only adding not so useful tools instead. While others have also mentioned that Facebook is broken and are forcing them to look for different options elsewhere. What a palava this has all been!!!
We've listed down two alternatives for Audience Insights, so you can still study your audiences and create campaigns out from that. To start with, Facebook is heading towards the direction of encouraging marketers to use Business Suite Insights instead of the Audience Insights.
According to Facebook via Business Help Centre, "Audience Insights will no longer be available starting 1 July 2021. Instead, we recommend that people use Facebook Business Suite Insights, which is a tool that allows you to access your audience insights across Facebook and Instagram. In addition to audience data, you will also be able to view trends and metrics on the performance of your Facebook Page and Instagram business profile."
Facebook Business Suite
One great thing that we love about Business Suite is the ability to access your Facebook and Instagram audience insights at the same time, in the same place. It also has a new feature that allows users to view and respond to Facebook and Instagram messages in one inbox - just open your Facebook page and click 'Inbox' - awesome!
Another fantastic upgrade of Business Suite is the ability to schedule Stories in advance. For people who don't want to manually post Stories everyday, this is really an advantage.
However, what’s lacking with Business Suite Insights is the competitor's pages wherein you can compare your data from your competitor's data - boooooo!!
Identify your client avatar
With Audience Insights going away, determining and understanding who your client avatars are can really give you an edge against your competitors. It's very important that you know who your audience is, who you need to target, who needs your products and/or services and for whom are you doing your work for? If you're targeting everyone in the market, you're not reaching your ideal customer.
Be strategic!!! Do your own in-depth research. Don't rely only on what's given to you - do your part of the bargain. When you already have all the details you need, start customising! Your posts, your ad copy, ad creative, graphic/video, and landing page should speak directly to your target audience. If you can successfully do that, you'll definitely reach more potential clients and have an edge over your competitors.
If you're struggling to work out your client avatars and don't know where to begin, you can book a free 1:1 discovery zoom with me for 30 minutes and let me help! Click here to book!