Facebook analytics in ContentMate helps you understand which content attracts attention and interactions and how your Page's followers develop. This guide covers navigation, the underlying data and a practical analysis workflow. Individual definitions, formulas and examples are in the Facebook metrics glossary.
Requirements and the initial history
Connect the correct Facebook Page to your workspace and allow access to its statistics. A Facebook login without the necessary Page tasks or insights permissions is insufficient. ContentMate workspace access and Meta Page permissions are separate requirements. See Connect a Facebook Page for connection problems.
After connection, ContentMate imports published media and available metrics in the background. Data is stored and aggregated into reports. Opening a chart, changing tabs or selecting another period does not query Facebook live. The interface reads the data already stored in ContentMate.
A new connection does not automatically provide complete historical coverage. An older post showing 5,000 views today does not establish how many happened last week. That requires suitable historical measurements or an earlier baseline. A long selectable date range does not guarantee an equally long imported history.
Select the Page and period
- Open Analytics in the correct workspace.
- Select the Facebook Page at the top. Similarly named Pages can be different accounts.
- Choose Today, Yesterday, a preset period, This year or Custom range.
- Review data freshness and any notices about incomplete or unavailable data.
- Switch between Overview, Engagement, Community, Reach, Content and All media.
Today and Yesterday use hourly observations for eligible metrics in the workspace timezone. Daily insights may still be unavailable. Gross followers gained and lost, in particular, are not estimated from a simple net difference.
Longer charts may combine days into larger intervals. A plotted point therefore does not always represent one day. Read the axis and tooltip. For important comparisons, use the period card with its defined denominator; averaging plotted daily rates is not a substitute for recalculating a period rate.
Overview: establish the scale first
Overview brings together follower totals and changes, views, reach, engagement rate, publications and interactions. Additional Platform metrics show, when available, Page actions, Page post engagements, media views, unique media viewers and post clicks.
Start with three questions:
- Did activity change, or did you simply publish more?
- Does the figure represent activity over time or a snapshot?
- Is the comparison period fully covered?
Followers are a stock, views can repeat, and reach is deduplicated within its report window. These quantities should not be added together. A trend can be absent when the connection is too recent to support a meaningful comparison.
Media views and unique media viewers describe current Facebook data. Historical impressions and fans metrics sometimes have different definitions. A renamed or retired metric does not automatically represent a genuine performance change.
Engagement: distinguish actions from rates
ContentMate's common engagement calculation is reactions + comments + shares. Clicks are displayed separately. The follower rate divides period engagement by the stored follower total; the reach rate requires matching unique period reach.
For example, 80 reactions, 15 comments and five shares produce 100 engagements. With 1,000 followers that is 10%. It does not mean exactly 100 distinct followers interacted. One person can perform multiple actions, and non-followers can contribute.
Next, examine reaction, comment and share histories. Unlike cumulative counters in media details, these describe observed activity or changes. Removed reactions or comments can create negative changes. Reaction breakdowns distinguish Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry; this is not automated sentiment analysis.
Reaction distribution describes the latest observed reactions to posts published within the selected period. It is therefore a different report from net change over time. Also consider sample size when comparing formats and evaluating recommendations.
Click activity counts post clicks, not exclusively external links. The Click Rate card currently divides clicks by post engagements; it is not conventional impressions-based CTR. Consult the glossary before comparing it with ad CTR or website analytics.
Community: separate totals, gains and losses
Community shows follower totals, net growth and, when data exists, gross gains and losses. In reports covering multiple days, 30 gained − 12 lost = +18 net. A total of 1,018 does not mean 1,018 people joined during the period.
Countries and cities describe the stored geographical follower distribution. This snapshot does not break down every person reached during the selected month. Some locations are unassigned or withheld. A missing area therefore does not establish zero followers.
Compare several complete periods and examine gains and losses separately. An unchanged total can conceal substantial activity in both directions. A small Page without sufficient data may not yet support a meaningful demographic report.
Reach: do not add unique counts
Reach compares views, reach, per-post averages and appropriate rates. Repeated views can be added; unique viewers cannot be recovered by simply adding daily reach.
ContentMate needs an exactly matching stored Meta report for the unique period card. The current Facebook import supports native windows of 1, 7 or 28 complete calendar days. For 30 days or an unmatched custom range, the unique total can remain unavailable even when individual daily values exist. Engagement rates depending on it are unavailable too.
Per-post averages instead examine posts published during the selected period. Their stored cumulative values up to the applicable cutoff are divided by the number of those posts. An older post can contribute to Page activity without belonging to that publication selection.
Example: four new posts have 2,000 views between them, while older posts contribute another 800 views during the month. The average for those four new posts is 500; 2,800 divided by four is a different ratio. Individual post reach values likewise cannot be presented as unique Page reach.
Content: publishing mix and video measurements
Content shows publication count, format distribution, history and monthly distribution. Post density groups publications by weekday. Its average line uses the available daily values; missing days are not confirmed zero days.
The Best time to post recommendation considers the last 365 days, independently of a short dashboard period. It groups posts by weekday and hour in the workspace timezone and evaluates their average reactions, comments and shares. Recommendations need at least 20 eligible posts and at least three in each recommended slot. They reveal historical relationships, not guaranteed reach or measured online times of every follower.
Video reports distinguish general media views, views meeting a duration threshold and watch time. Individual 30-second cards need matching native report windows. Not every video field offered by Meta is available as a complete period-level dashboard report. Check the individual medium for additional available values.
For longer videos, “complete views” should not be interpreted as proof that every viewer reached the end: the corresponding 30-second counter describes its threshold. The glossary explains each video metric.
All media: inspect individual content
All media is an inventory of imported publications independent of the selected period, ordered by publication date and displayed across pages. Values are the latest stored cumulative counters since publication. The global date filter does not turn it into a list of only newly published content.
Open Details to compare reactions, comments, shares, views, reach, engagement and clicks. Suitable Facebook videos and Reels can additionally show 3s/15s/30s views, watch time, average watch time, the calculated completion ratio, plays, replays and Reel reach. Unreported detail values are not invented.
Review Last updated and open the original if needed. An individual medium's engagement rate uses that medium's reach as its denominator. It therefore differs from a follower-based period rate.
Investigate gaps and differences
| Observation | Explanation and next step |
|---|---|
| Page connected, no figures yet | Initial import and aggregation may still be running. Check freshness. |
| Period card missing, daily chart available | The matching native period measurement may be absent; unique daily values cannot be added. |
| Older post has large totals but no earlier activity | Without an earlier baseline, activity cannot be distributed retroactively. |
| Individual medium differs from a monthly card | Compare the cumulative total since publication with activity during the month. |
| Dash instead of zero | Missing data, a missing denominator or an unavailable metric; not a reported zero. |
| “Being checked” or unavailable | The report is not currently enabled for a reliable display. This is not a measured zero. |
| Meta Business Suite shows different values | Align the Page, date boundaries, timezone, definition, organic/paid scope and freshness. |
| New imports fail | Check the connection, Page permissions and error message; reconnect when appropriate. |
Repeatedly refreshing does not create new Facebook data. For a persistent problem, the Page name, affected period, report, freshness and screenshot are more useful than repeated reconnections. Reconnecting cannot replace a historical observation that never existed.
Sources and further help
Updated: 11 October 2026. This guide describes the current ContentMate workflow. Meta's definitions and availability may change.