Last week, Facebook announced a major update: ‘Views’ will now replace impressions as the primary metric for posts and Stories. This change aligns with Instagram’s recent metric updates and aims to simplify performance tracking across content formats.
What does ‘Views’ measure?
Views indicate how many times a Reel, video, photo, or post appears on someone’s screen. Here’s how it will work for each format:
Reels and Videos
For Reels and videos, Views will replace the Plays metric. However, the calculation method remains unchanged, so you won’t notice any significant differences beyond the name.
Stories, Photos and Text Posts
For Stories, photos, and text posts, Views will replace Impressions. Views will be calculated as the number of times the content appears on a person’s screen, including repeat views. For example:
- If someone views a photo three times in one day, it will count as three Views, not one Impression.
This update may result in higher View counts compared to past impression data. Reach, however, will still reflect the unique number of individuals who saw your content.
Why has Facebook changed its primary metric to views?
The move to Views simplifies content metrics by creating a universal standard across all formats. Instead of juggling metrics like impressions for posts and plays for Reels, you now have a single metric that applies to all content types. This makes it easier to understand how your content is resonating across formats and Meta platforms.
Updates to video metrics
Facebook is also introducing changes to its video metrics:
- Minutes Viewed will replace Watch Time and will round viewing time to the nearest minute.
- Average Minutes Viewed will replace Average Watch Time.
These updates provide a more streamlined way to evaluate video performance while maintaining key metrics like Reach, 3-Second Views, 1-Minute Views, Reactions, Comments and Shares.
When will these changes roll out?
The new Views metric will appear in Meta Business Suite and the Professional Dashboard over the coming weeks. Additionally, Views will be integrated across all ads measurement tools and apply to every ad format.
Need help with social media reporting?
At Aston Digital, we specialise in turning raw data into actionable insights. Contact us to discover how we can help you make the most of your social media performance!
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