Facebook has recently overhauled its “Pages Insights” tool and just added an interesting new metric. It’s“People Talking About.” Like any good direct marketer, the more stats I have the better! Let’s take a look at what PTA (People Talking About) means.

Currently there are 4 statistics tracked on the Pages Insights page. Users will see this statistic below the total number of Likes on a page. It really is an indication of compelling and interesting content. The theory goes that the more people are talking about something, the more interest there must be. It’s a powerful statistic for content creators in that it motivates them to create comment worthy content (good stuff). It measures user-initiated activity that relates to a Page.

What causes PTA to increase? It really is a measurement of activity. Think posts, comments, sharing of posts, liking, answering a question, sharing a deal and checking in somewhere. It looks at a LOT but its a very interesting stat. I can see an army of content creators racing to improve their week over week stat by pushing out more interesting content.

Look for Facebook to continue to come up with more and more interesting “social statistics” as the platform evolves. Smart marketers will stay one step ahead of the curve and find interesting and creative ways to use these stats to increase their business.