The Facebook Distribution Score Metric is Key for Social Media Success

There’s a new metric in town, and it goes by the name “Facebook Distribution Score.” Have you seen it on your Facebook posts recently? If not, you will shortly.

It can be found on almost every post that you upload to a business’ Facebook page, but not in your Insights tab or even printable reports. So why even have it at all! That is quite literally my job to explain to you.

Now, we know what you are thinking, “Another statistic that I have to worry about? When will this end!” But lucky for you, this is an easily digestible metric that will help you craft content that is proven to work. 

What is the Facebook Distribution Score?

Before we get into the why of it all, we have to get into the what.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of distribution is “the action of sharing something out among a number of recipients.” So it would make sense that the Facebook distribution score is mainly calculated based on organic impressions.

Basically, the Facebook Distribution Score is a quick way for someone who is “statistically-challenged” to see whether or not their post is performing well. So, if a post gets a positive distribution score, it is outperforming your other recent posts. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your other posts didn’t resonate, but it may help you find out what your niche target audience responds best to.

Big numbers are always fun and engaging to see, but a steady stream of positive distribution scores could show you that your content is consistently growing at a rate higher than before. When it comes to social media, the longevity of your content is extremely important and viral content helps kick-start the momentum your page needs to make lasting impressions.

As you can see above, a post we published recently about one of our newest team members had a fantastic distribution score. There are a few possible reasons for this. The first reason is that the other posts we had done before this performed so horribly that it made this one look incredible by comparison. Another could be due to an errant Facebook glitch, or that Mark Zuckerberg himself saw to it that we get a boost in analytics. However, the last, and much more likely reason, is that people that follow us were excited to see the addition of a new team member!

It makes complete sense that this type of post would get a higher Facebook Distribution Score because it is positive news about something that our followers directly relate to. 

Why Does the Facebook Distribution Score Exist?

Facebook already has a ton of metrics that can help you decide whether or not your social media efforts are reaching your goals, so why did they decide to add another? Though there is no definite answer, it can be assumed that with the influx of new online businesses, the average Facebook business pages are run by non-social media professionals. So, as a way to assist both the veteran and the novice, the Facebook Distribution Score was born.

If you want a more indepth view at the distribution score, then all you need to do is click on the score itself and it will show you a breakdown of the metrics that fall under the distribution summary.

The three categories that are often represented by the Facebook Distribution Score are:

• Post Impressions, or how many times your post is viewed.
• Post Clicks, or how many times the photo, link or profile was clicked on.
• Reactions, or how many people liked and reacted to the post.

You can find more information on these metrics in our blog Get It Together: Creating a Social Media Calendar that Works

As you can see from the example above, an organic share is most likely the reason behind the explosive distribution summary results, as compared to the other posts within 21 days of it being published that did not receive any organic shares. From this, I recognize that content that is shared typically gets higher levels of engagement across the board. While this may seem obvious, it’s important to be able to digest this quickly and that is what the Facebook Distribution Score aims to do.

How Can I Use the Facebook Distribution Score to My Advantage?

Formulating a strategy based on distribution score can be done, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you lean on for a basis of foundation. The base metrics that Facebook pulls the distribution score from should be where you begin developing your campaigns. So let’s outline how to use those to reach your goals.

Setting goals for your company’s social media efforts is the first step in deciding which analytics you want to use for measuring your success. These are often called KPIs, or key performance indicators. KPIs can be based on impressions, follows, engagements, or anything that you can measure over time.

A few examples of goals and their corresponding KPIs would be:

Goal #1: To increase my company’s brand awareness.
KPI: Increase post impressions.

Goal #2: To build a loyal community.

KPI: Increase follower count.

Goal #3: Create conversations around your product/service.

KPI: Increase engagements.

To learn more about how to find a social media strategy that works for you, read our blog about it here.

So now that you have your goals and KPIs outlined, you can use your Facebook Distribution score as a supplement to your analytical strategy. From there, you can record how certain posts have performed and repurpose them into your future efforts. A model we like to use is the 70/20/10 model, which is where 70% of the content you post is proven to work, 20% is content that needs to be revised, and 10% is content that is new and experimental. The Facebook distribution score provides a quick way to categorize these posts into their respective percentage placeholders.

In conclusion, the Facebook Distribution Score is a fun new way to digest analytics that doesn’t involve spreadsheets, calculators or a degree in statistics. If you would like to learn more about the Facebook Distribution Score, visit the Business Help center where you can find articles titled:
– About Distribution Scores
– How Distribution Scores are Calculated

– See Distribution Score in Creator Studio

Interested in learning more about social media marketing? Let’s talk strategy!