What are the best third-party tools for advanced Facebook analytics? It’s a question I’m asked fairly often so I thought I’d do a round-up of options that are worth checking out.
It is fair to say that Facebook is getting better at providing this data itself; the latest version of Facebook Insights offers a wider range of information than ever before. But many still find it lacking so a number of companies have stepped in to try to fulfill this need.
In this post I’m purposely leaving out comprehensive suites like Radian6 or Lithium and focusing on solutions that are specifically (or at least mostly) geared towards Facebook analytics.
I’ve also left out the feature and pricing information as this frequently changes.
With that in mind here are some Facebook analytics tools to experiment with:
PageLever
PageLever may be the most frequently suggested third-party tool, having positioned itself as Facebook Insights on steroids. The functionality is good and the price is reasonable, and they offer a 14-day free trial.
Simply Measured
Simply Measured’s Facebook Fan Page Analytics gets a gold star for clear, simple data visualization. They roll up the analysis into a series of graphs and charts that can be viewed online or exported to Excel or PowerPoint. It is also easy for agencies to white label the reports.
EdgeRank Checker
EdgeRank Checker offers a good way to dig deeper into the specific actions that aid in Facebook newsfeed optimization. The Pro version is reasonably priced and worth the upgrade.
Buddy Media
Buddy Media doesn’t technically belong on this list because they’re now positioning themselves as a comprehensive suite. But in the past they focused primarily on Facebook Page creation and management so I’ve included them. Their Analytics offering provides advanced data for Page owners, and they recently partnered with ComScore to provide additional data and analysis.
Socialbakers
Socialbakers is also now branching out into Twitter, Google+ and others but Facebook is still the major focus. Their Engagement Analytics Pro offers performance monitoring and competitive analysis for Facebook.
Unilyzer
Unilyzer has a Facebook Analytics Dashboard that tracks 20+ different metrics. There are three pricing levels and all of them are reasonable.
SEOmoz Pro
While SEOmoz Pro is primarily a suite of SEO tools, they recently added a Social Analytics section that provides a range of data on Facebook pages and activity.
Webtrends
Webtrends has a Facebook add-on that pulls in data on Facebook pages and apps into their analytics suite. The catch is you need to be using Webtrends, so this is not an option for those on Omniture or Google Analytics.
Clickable
Clickable is a good solution for advertisers. Their Facebook Advertising Suite offers both deep analysis and effective management for Facebook Ads.
So that’s a good group to get you started.
Had positive or negative experiences with any of these tools? What else are you using?
Please let me know.
Danny Whitehouse says
You missed off Raven Tools. It’s pretty awesome as a complete package.
Adam Sherk says
Thanks Danny. I didn’t realize they had a Facebook component now.
preetam singh says
@Adam, have a look on http://www.buzzref.com
a most valuable tool for facebook analytics.
Also its free to use.
Steve says
You may soon add http://www.wisemetrics.com to your list!
A solution dedicated to Brands & Agencies
Cheers
Adam Sherk says
Thanks Preetam and Steve, I’ll check those out.
Aviran says
Although this very detailed information, I still find Insights very good and most reliable tool for Facebook analytics.
Though I still lack the understanding of effects towards main website.
Mikael Thuneberg says
You should also check out our brand new Facebook Module for GA Data Grabber (a popular report automation tool for Google Analytics, AdWords and MS adCenter in Excel): http://www.GADataGrabberTool.com
Our tool is aimed at companies managing many fan pages and/or apps, to make it fast & easy to keep track of performance.
Adam Sherk says
Thanks Mikael, I’ll check that out.
Noel gil says
@Adam also check out SocialDon http://www.socialdon.com/ which allows you to compare Facebook statistics of different companies by fan growth and other metrics for free. Not only that, you can check the statistics of your competitors as well.
Kim Smith says
Thank you for sharing this list, Adam. However, you missed one of the best Facebook analytics tools, AllFacebook Stats, http://www.allfacebookstats.com.
This tool has, in my experience, the most Facebook page data and the price is good. Furthermore, there is also a free model and nice gimmicks for all website visitors, such as real-time statistics and the Facebook country statistics.
Best, Kim
Tom Andersen says
We just started using Polygraph – http://www.polygraphmedia.com – and really love it. It’s the first thing I’d seen that makes all of this easy for a community manager to understand.
Peter Marino says
I private label my digital marketing services for many other companies and have been very happy and successful using http://RavenTools.com
Ashley Cole says
Hi Adam. Can i suggest to include PageViral Audience Analytics where we measure audience behavior, sentiment, interaction and engagement patterns in real-time. It does include a free dashboard that presents insights data in an easy-to-understand infographic style
Adam Sherk says
Thanks for the additional suggestions everyone.
ehra cruz says
Hi is there also tools to keep analytic track of Facebook Groups? It seems that all these tools only works on Pages.
Thanks!
Adam Sherk says
Ehra – Facebook Insights does not cover groups to my knowledge (at least it didn’t in the past). I’m not sure about the third party tools as it’s not something that I’ve had a need for.
Ivy says
Hi Adam, I need to conduct analysis on FB group discussion. Can you tell me which tools can do group page analysis? Thanks a lot!