Facebook Analytics will go away in June, should you be worried?

If you’ve logged into your Facebook page, ad account or app recently you may have seen a notification saying:

“Facebook Analytics will no longer be available after 30 June 2021. You can download the data from your reports directly from charts.”

Understandably, this message has caused concern in marketing teams across the globe. How will we report on Facebook engagement? How will we see how ads are performing? How can we track demographics?  All valid questions, but despite the ambiguous message from Facebook, most marketers will be unaffected by the upcoming change.

What is Facebook Analytics?

Facebook Analytics is a tool created to help understand user behaviour across Facebook Pages, Ads and external websites. It was intended to give businesses a clearer view of user journeys and interaction with brands.

It is different from the Facebook Page Insights and Ad reporting features found elsewhere in Facebook.

Why is it happening?

Not many businesses were using the tool and the digital landscape is changing. As we’ve seen with Google’s move away from cookies and the new changes incoming with Apple’s iOS 14, user privacy is the number one focus for 2021 (and already causing headaches for Facebook advertisers).

Facebook is taking the preemptive step to shut the tool down as Facebook Analytics uses techniques to identify and track users which will soon no longer be available.

What do I need to do?

Nothing. If you’re not currently using the standalone Facebook Analytics platform you can continue to collect insights in the same way you normally would. If you use social media management platforms such as Hootsuite, you will continue to be able to track your Facebook performance alongside your other social media networks.

The change does not affect the Insights sections of Facebook Pages and Instagram profiles, and this isn’t the end of all analytics on Facebook, just the end of this specific tool.

Facebook recommends their other business tools that can help you understand your advertising, presences and activities on Facebook and Instagram:

• Facebook Business Suite enables you to manage your Facebook and Instagram business accounts and can show you detailed insights about your audience, content and trends.
• Ads Manager lets you view, make changes and see results for all of your Facebook campaigns, ad sets and ads.
• Events Manager can help you set up and manage Facebook Business Tools such as the Facebook pixel and the Conversions API, and reports actions taken on your website, in your app and in your physical shop.

If you are currently using Facebook Analytics, check out the article in the Facebook Business Help Center on how to export your data.