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Understanding Your Analytics
What metrics MostlyPostly tracks for every published post, when and how data syncs from Facebook and Instagram, and how to use this data to improve your content strategy.
What's Tracked
For every published post, MostlyPostly syncs the following from Facebook and Instagram. Not every metric is available on both platforms — see the platform differences section below.
Reach
The number of unique people who saw your post. This is the primary measure of how far your content traveled.
Likes / Reactions
Instagram Likes plus Facebook Reactions (all types combined — likes, loves, hahas, etc.) shown as a single combined figure in your dashboard.
Comments
Total comments left on the post on each platform.
Shares (Facebook only)
How many times your post was shared on Facebook. Instagram does not expose share counts via the API.
Saves (Instagram only)
How many users saved your post to their Instagram Collections. A strong signal of high-value content.
Engaged Users
The number of unique people who took any action on your post (liked, commented, shared, clicked, etc.).
Engagement Rate
Calculated as: engaged users ÷ reach × 100. A higher engagement rate means more of the people who saw your post actually interacted with it.
Link Clicks (Facebook only)
How many times people clicked the booking link included in your Facebook caption.
When Data Syncs
Analytics data is synced automatically on a schedule. However, there is an inherent delay — fresh posts may take 24–48 hours before Facebook and Instagram report meaningful reach and engagement data. Their APIs do not return real-time numbers.
This means a post published this morning may show 0 reach until tomorrow — that's normal. The data will populate once the platforms process and expose it through their API.
Sync Insights Button
Click Sync Insights on the Analytics page to manually trigger a sync for your salon at any time. This pulls the latest available data from Facebook and Instagram and updates your dashboard immediately.
Use this when:
- You just published a post and want to check if data is available yet
- A post is showing 0 reach even though it's been more than 48 hours
- It's been more than a day since your last sync and you want fresh numbers
💡 Pro Tip
Check your analytics once or twice per week rather than daily. Social data stabilizes over 3–5 days after a post goes live — early numbers can be misleading.
Reset & Relink Facebook Post IDs
This is an advanced tool available on the Analytics page. Use it only if your analytics look wrong after reconnecting your Facebook account.
What it does: clears all stored Facebook post IDs in MostlyPostly's database and re-fetches them from your Facebook Page's live feed. Posts are matched by publish timestamp (within a 5-minute window) to re-link your MostlyPostly records to the correct Facebook posts.
Use this when:
- You reconnected your Facebook account with a new OAuth token
- Posts are consistently showing 0 reach even after multiple syncs
- Analytics appear mismatched or out of order after a Facebook reconnect
This is not needed for routine use. A normal Sync Insights is sufficient for day-to-day data updates.
Top Performing Posts
The Analytics dashboard highlights your highest-reach posts in a dedicated section. Only posts with at least one real engagement signal (reach, likes, comments, or engaged users) appear here — zero-engagement posts are filtered out automatically so you're looking at real results, not noise.
Use this section to spot patterns: which post types get the most reach? Which stylists' work performs best? What time of year sees the highest engagement?
Instagram vs. Facebook Differences
The two platforms expose different metrics through their APIs. Here's what to expect:
Impressions vs. Reach
Instagram deprecated the Impressions metric in API v22+. MostlyPostly uses Reach (unique viewers) for Instagram instead. Facebook still reports both.
Reactions vs. Likes
Facebook reports Reactions (all emoji types combined). Instagram reports Likes. MostlyPostly combines them into a single "Likes" column in your dashboard.
Shares and Saves
Shares are Facebook only. Saves are Instagram only. Neither platform exposes the other's metric via the API.
Tips for Better Analytics
- →Post at consistent times using the Scheduler settings. A predictable cadence trains your audience to expect and look for your content.
- →Use high-quality photos — good lighting and clear focus dramatically affect engagement. Before/after posts tend to generate the highest reach and saves.
- →Check which post types perform best specifically for your salon. Results vary by audience, location, and clientele — use your own data as the guide.
- →Look at engagement rate, not just reach. A post seen by 500 people with 50 engagements outperforms a post seen by 2,000 people with 10 engagements.