Available now in open beta, Measure offers a robust solution that clarifies organic and paid performance for each post on Facebook and Instagram. This initiative addresses long-standing challenges in reporting Meta organic and paid data on the post level, providing you with more transparent, reliable, and actionable insights by retrieving paid metrics from the ad level instead.
Note: The open beta organic and paid metric improvements will be available via Measure’s beta content widgets only so you can experience the new metrics improvements while the old model remains. Any existing dashboards with non-beta widgets will not be affected.
Historical challenges in Meta organic and paid metrics reporting
Historically, Measure has reported content at the post level because organic metrics are provided on the post level by Meta’s Graph and Insights APIs. Paid metrics are available from both the Insights API on the post level and the Marketing API on the ad level, which has required Measure to map paid metrics back to posts through several indirect signals. This issue has led to confusing organic vs. paid metrics totals, duplicated dark posts, and inconsistent visibility into paid activity to date.
Meta does not recommend relying on paid post-level insights received from the Graph and Insights APIs because the attribution is inconsistent. Instead, Meta provides the most reliable paid activity on the ad level via the Marketing API. For this reason, Measure has introduced a new model that cleanly unifies organic and paid activity on a single post from the ad level and eliminates unnecessary dark posts.
Improvements in the open beta model
Our open beta model solves the Meta organic and paid metrics reporting challenges and inconsistencies Measure users have experienced to date.
Organic and paid Meta metrics are unified under each post
Each post now consolidates all related metrics—organic and paid—into a single, unified view for Facebook and Instagram posts. This eliminates confusion caused by duplicate dark posts, paid Instagram performance being attributed to dark Facebook posts, and dynamic ads.
The new model easily displays and filters:
Which posts are ads, organic, or boosted.
The combined performance (organic and paid) of one post across all placements.
Totals specific to the ad account.
No more hidden or duplicated metrics — every number is traceable and clearly labeled as organic or paid.
Paid metrics are received from the Marketing API via Advertise
Note: Going forward, a Meta ad account will be required to be connected to Social Media Management for Measure to receive reliable paid metrics from Advertise.
All reliable paid metrics come through our integration with Advertise, which receives ad‑level data from Meta’s Marketing API — the source Meta recommends for the most accurate paid data reporting.
Paid metrics are now directly attached to the original organic post, while pure ads and dynamic ads are clearly identified and reported. This ensures that every impression, engagement, and reach figure is correctly attributed, regardless of how the content was promoted.
Each post will provide full breakdowns by Meta platform as applicable (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, etc.)
Each post will provide full breakdowns by currency if the post is promoted from multiple accounts.
Dashboard and widget-level filters can filter posts by ad account and ad platform.
We will no longer receive unreliable paid metrics from the Graph API.
For Facebook and Instagram each post will have the following families of metrics:
Metric family | Definition | Notes |
Total | Organic + paid performance of the post on its native platform. | This total is the closest to what is visible natively on the post in its native platform. |
Organic | The post's metrics with no paid performance. | Available without an ad account for Instagram. For Facebook, a connected ad account is required. |
Paid | The post's paid performance (can be split by platform). | Requires a connected ad account and user access to the connected ad account. |
Meta | Organic + total paid performance of the post across all Meta platforms. | Requires a connected ad account and user access to the connected ad account. |
Warning: Please be aware that Total metrics vs. Meta metrics are defined as follows:
Total metrics reflect the post’s performance on the native platform (i.e. organic + paid performance on the post's own platform only). (e.g. a Facebook post's Total performance = the post's organic performance on Facebook only + the post's paid performance on Facebook only.) We receive this number from the Insights API and it most closely matches the post's total performance numbers on its native platform.
Meta metrics reflect the posts’s cross-platform performance (i.e. organic + all paid placements across all Meta platforms it was shared to). (e.g. a Facebook post's Meta performance could = the post's Facebook organic performance + Facebook paid performance + Instagram paid performance + Threads paid performance + Messenger paid performance, etc.)
Note: Metrics that require a Meta ad account to be connected will be displayed in the UI but be locked if there is no ad account connected, or if the accessing user does not have access to the ad account. See our guidelines for the open beta below for more information.
Multi‑ad campaigns remain clean and consolidated
If several ads promote the same post (even across multiple ad accounts), you still see one post’s paid metrics from all relevant ads as aggregated. Dark copies from disconnected ad accounts will remain invisible to avoid misleading totals.
Note: Please note that if an ad account is not connected, we will not receive paid metrics, but the total from Meta will still include them. We recommend connecting any ad accounts to Social Media Management to ensure you have a full picture of where your total Meta metrics are coming from.
Measure will identify Meta template posts
Under the new model, Measure will surface the name of the ad that generated each template post, making it easier to recognize them and interpret them correctly. All duplicates (e.g. 10 identical dark posts) will be removed.
Guidelines for the open beta
The new, open beta model for Meta organic and paid metrics reporting will be accessible under the following guidelines:
You must have a Meta ad account connected to Brandwatch to receive paid metrics.
This is required for Measure to receive reliable paid metrics about your ad content from Meta's Marketing API.
Without a connected ad account, dark posts will no longer appear in Measure. (This is unlike the old reporting model where dark posts could appear in Measure, even if you had not connected an ad account to SMM).
Any user accessing the new model via the open beta must have access to the connected Meta ad account(s) in Advertise.
Without access to the ad account, users will not see paid metrics coming in from that ad account.
The open beta model can only be accessed using Measure’s beta content widgets.
All changes will take effect in Measure's new, beta content widgets:
No changes will be reflected in Measure’s existing, non-beta widgets, so you can access the old organic/paid metrics model at any time.
Note: Metrics changes under the open beta model are only effective going forward from May 28, 2026. At this time, metrics from the new model will not be available retroactively.
Accessing the new metrics model from Measure’s beta widgets
For the duration of the open beta, the new Meta organic and paid metrics model will be accessible only within Measure’s beta content widgets:
Any existing dashboards with non-beta widgets will not be affected.
To access the beta widgets, create a widget in a new or existing Measure dashboard. In the Widgets menu, select a content widget with the Beta badge.
Beta widget filter updates
The following filter updates will be available within Measure’s beta content widgets:
Beta widgets will feature Ad account and Ad Meta platform filters
A new Ad Meta promotion status filter will be added:
Use to clearly distinguish between your organic, boosted, or pure ad content
Only available if the ad account is connected to SMM
Only available for Facebook and Instagram
The existing Visibility filter will be removed
Dark posts will be categorized under the Meta promotion status filter with the “Ad” status
Measure’s non-beta widgets will still support the Visibility filter
New open beta metrics supported
When you utilize a beta content widget in Measure, the following new paid and organic metrics will be supported for connected Meta ad accounts and be visible to users with a role on the ad account.
Note: If you have already been using Measure's beta content widgets prior to May 28, 2026, you will see two visible changes after May 28:
Post counts may drop noticeably. The new model’s ingestion logic will stop pulling unnecessary dark posts. Widgets filtered to include dark/no exposure posts will show fewer posts.
Instagram promotion status will start populating. Any widget filtering by promotion status will start treating Instagram promoted posts correctly, as previously they wouldn't appear under the "Boosted/Ad" filters.
Do not be alarmed by either change as these are both intentional improvements in Measure going forward.
Available Facebook metrics
Total metrics (totals from Facebook only)
Metric | Definition/Formula |
Views | Number of views on Facebook. |
Reach | Reach (based on Facebook Viewers metric). |
Reactions | Total reactions on Facebook. |
Comments | Total comments on Facebook. |
Shares | Total shares on Facebook. |
Engagements | Total engagements on Facebook (Reactions + Comments + Shares) |
Interactions | Reactions + Comments + Shares + Link clicks |
Clicks | Total clicks on Facebook (includes link clicks, photo views, video plays, and other interactions). |
Organic Facebook metrics
Note: With the exception of Organic views, all Facebook organic metrics require an Ad account connection to Measure.
Metric | Definition/Formula |
Organic views | Views on organic posts. |
Organic reach | Total reach - Paid reach on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic reactions | Total reactions - Paid reactions on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic comments | Total comments - Paid comments on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic shares | Total shares - Paid shares on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic engagements | Organic reactions + organic comments + organic shares, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic link clicks | Total link clicks - Paid link clicks on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Organic interactions | Organic reactions + organic comments + organic shares + organic link clicks on Facebook, estimated from Measure. Ad account connection required. |
Paid Facebook metrics
Note: All paid metrics require an Ad account to be connected to Measure.
Metric | Definition |
Paid views/impressions | The number of times the promoted post was shown. Ad account connection required. |
Paid reach | People reached through paid means on your post. Use the average to get accurate aggregated number of people reached on average per post published during the period. Ad account connection required. |
Paid reactions | The number of paid reactions on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid comments | The total count of comments generated through paid means (excluding replies for Meta) on promoted posts. This metric includes deleted comments. Monitoring this metric helps assess the engagement and impact of paid promotions. Ad account connection required. |
Paid shares | The number of paid shares on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid saves | The number of paid saves on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid engagements | Paid reactions + Paid comments + Paid shares + Paid saves. |
Paid interactions | Paid reactions + Paid comments + Paid shares + Paid saves + Paid link clicks. |
Ads engagements | Post engagements from Meta Ads Manager and Advertise. Calculated as Reactions + Comments + Shares + Saves + Clicks (all) + Video views + Photo views +Profile clicks + Profile follows + Location clicks + Hashtag clicks + Poll sticker clicks. (Please be aware that these metrics are aggregated and in some cases they are not available as separate metrics.) |
Meta metrics (totals across all Meta platforms, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, etc.)
Note: All Meta metrics require an Ad account to be connected to Measure.
Metric | Description/Formula |
Meta views | The sum of organic views + paid impressions across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta reactions | The sum of organic reactions + paid reactions across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta comments | The sum of organic comments + paid comments across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta shares | The sum of organic shares + paid shares across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta link clicks | The sum of organic link clicks + paid link clicks across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta engagements | The sum of Meta reactions + meta comments + Meta shares. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta interactions | The sum of Meta reactions + meta comments + Meta shares + Meta link clicks. Estimated from Measure. |
Available Instagram metrics
Total metrics (totals from Instagram only)
Note: Reach, Shares, Saves, and User follows will show only organic values if there is no Ad account is connected to Measure.
Views, Likes, and Comments will display the total value with or without an Ad account connected.
Metrics | Description/Formula |
Views | Number of views on Instagram. |
Reach | Organic reach + paid reach on Instagram. Estimated from Measure. If no Ad account is connected, this metric will only support organic values. |
Reactions | Likes from Instagram. |
Comments | Comments from Instagram. |
Shares | Organic shares + paid shares on Instagram. Estimated from Measure. If no Ad account is connected, this metric will only support organic values. |
Saves | Organic saves + paid saves on Instagram. Estimated from Measure. If no Ad account is connected, this metric will only support organic values. |
Engagements | Engagements on Instagram (Reactions + Comments + Shares + Saves). If no Ad account is connected, this metric will support total reactions and comments and only organic shares and saves. |
Interactions | Instagram does not support clicks for total metrics, so Interactions will show the same number as Engagements. |
User follows | Organic user follows + paid user follows on Instagram. Estimated from Measure. If no Ad account is connected, this metric will only support organic values. |
Organic Instagram metrics
Note: Organic Instagram metrics already exist in Measure and do not require an Ad account connection.
Metric | Description/Formula |
Organic views | Number of views on organic Instagram posts. |
Organic reach | Number of people who saw your Instagram post organically. |
Organic reactions | Number of organic likes on your Instagram post. |
Organic comments | Number of organic comments on your Instagram post. |
Organic shares | Number of organic shares on your Instagram post. |
Organic saves | Number of organic saves on your Instagram post. |
Organic engagements | Organic reactions + organic comments + organic shares + organic saves. |
Organic interactions | Instagram does not support clicks for organic metrics, so Interactions will show the same number as Engagements. |
Paid Instagram metrics
Note: All paid metrics require an Ad account to be connected to Measure.
Metric | Definition |
Paid views/impressions | The number of times the promoted post was shown. Ad account connection required. |
Paid reach | People reached through paid means on your post. Use the average to get accurate aggregated number of people reached on average per post published during the period. Ad account connection required. |
Paid reactions | The number of paid reactions on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid comments | The total count of comments generated through paid means (excluding replies for Meta) on promoted posts. This metric includes deleted comments. Monitoring this metric helps assess the engagement and impact of paid promotions. Ad account connection required. |
Paid shares | The number of paid shares on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid saves | The number of paid saves on the promoted posts. Ad account connection required. |
Paid engagements | Paid reactions + Paid comments + Paid shares + Paid saves. |
Paid interactions | Paid reactions + Paid comments + Paid shares + Paid saves + Paid link clicks. |
Ads engagements | Post engagements from Meta Ads Manager and Advertise. Calculated as Reactions + Comments + Shares + Saves + Clicks (all) + Video views + Photo views +Profile clicks + Profile follows + Location clicks + Hashtag clicks + Poll sticker clicks. (Please be aware that these metrics are aggregated and in some cases they are not available as separate metrics.) |
Meta metrics (totals across all Meta platforms, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, etc.)
Note: All Meta metrics require an Ad account to be connected to Measure.
Metric | Description/Formula |
Meta views | The sum of organic views + paid impressions across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta reactions | The sum of organic reactions + paid reactions across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta comments | The sum of organic comments + paid comments across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta shares | The sum of organic shares + paid shares across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta engagements | The sum of Meta reactions + meta comments + Meta shares. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta interactions | Instagram does not support clicks for organic metrics, so Meta interactions will show the same number as Meta engagements. |
Meta user follows | The sum of organic user follows + paid user follows across all Meta platforms. Estimated from Measure. |
Meta Organic vs. Paid Performance dashboard template
Measure now offers the Meta Organic vs. Paid (Beta) dashboard template to provide the new Meta organic vs. paid model metrics in an accessible and comprehensive format.
The dashboard template offers the following widgets:
Top-Performing Organic Content: Analyze the performance of your highest-performing organic posts.
Top-Performing Boosted Content by Engagements, Views, and Engagement Rate: Compare boosted posts by their organic and paid metrics to understand the impact of amplification.
Top-Performing Ad Content: Review how your ads are performing across Meta platforms using key paid performance indicators.
Engagements, Views, and Engagement Rate by Network: Breaks down engagements, views, and engagement rate by organic, paid, and performance across all Meta platforms.