Your engagement metric data in Post Performance and Social Media Performance reports may differ because they track engagement in different ways.
Post Performance report
- This report type counts all engagements on posts published only within the selected date range.
- Engagement is assigned to the post's original publish date, even if it happens later.
- Includes post-only interactions, such as:
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares
- Clicks
- Example:
- A post published on Jan 1, 2025, gets 2 likes on Jan 1 and 3 likes on Jan 2.
- The report will count all 5 likes under January 1.
Social Media Performance report
- This report type counts all engagements that happened within the selected date range, regardless of when the post was published.
- Includes non-post interactions, such as:
- Messages
- Shares
- Other profile actions
- Example:
- The reporting period selected is January 1-7, 2025.
- A user messages the profile in January 1.
- A post published outside the selected date range got a like in January 3, 2025.
- The report will count those actions for the selected date period.
- The post’s original publish date doesn’t matter as long as the engagement was received within the reporting period.
Summary
- Post Performance report: Tracks engagement based on when the post was published, even if actions occur later.
- Social Media Performance report: Tracks engagement based on when the action happens, regardless of post date. It also could include non-post interactions (messages, shares, other profile actions), but PPR does not.
The difference in engagement metrics between the Post Performance and Social Media Performance reports comes down to how each report defines and calculates engagement.
Post Performance Report: Engagement in this report includes likes, comments, shares, and clicks only. This provides a focused view on direct post interactions.
Social Media Performance Report: This report includes additional engagement types, such as private messages. As a result, totals may be higher than in the Post Performance Report.
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Important The engagement numbers in Vista Social's reports may not exactly match the numbers you see on Meta's native platform. This is because Meta does not provide third-party platforms with retroactive updates on some metrics (e.g., if a user unlikes a post), and some data is captured at different times. |
If you would like to know more about the other metrics included in these reports for Facebook, you can click here.
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Related Reading:
Social Media Performance Report
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