Whether you are a new digital marketer or an experienced one, understanding these key metrics is essential. These metrics help you evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and make appropriate adjustments.
1. Why you need to pay attention to metrics when running Facebook ads
To measure the effectiveness of your Facebook ad campaign, keep in mind to ignore the results from the first 2-3 days. This period is when Facebook completes learning user behavior. After this phase, the metric results will be more accurate.
Having a clear understanding of the metrics and knowing how to analyze important data will help you evaluate the effectiveness of each campaign in detail. You will be able to identify which campaigns are performing well and which ones are not delivering satisfactory results. You will know which factors to optimize to improve engagement. Additionally, you will understand which areas to adjust in your campaign objectives to save budget while still ensuring good results.
If you don’t understand the metrics when running Facebook ads, your ads won’t reach many target customers. You will spend more money but fail to achieve the expected results. Poor-quality ads can even harm your brand and services.
2. Important metrics when running Facebook ads
Facebook offers various types of ad campaigns. Depending on the needs and goals, each digital marketer will choose different options. Consequently, different campaigns may focus on different metrics. However, there are some key metrics that every campaign should pay special attention to:
CTR – Click-Through Rate
CTR is calculated:
CTR = Number of clicks / Number of ad impressions
This metric is used to evaluate the effectiveness of Facebook ad campaigns. The higher the CTR, the more interesting and appealing the ad is, and the better it is reaching the right potential target audience. Conversely, if CTR is low, you need to create a new ad with more attractive images and content. Compare the new ad with the old one to track changes and make suitable adjustments.
CTR is important not only for Facebook ads but also for advertising on other social media platforms. To improve a low CTR, advertisers can:
- Create fresh, unique ads that follow trends and suit the product/service
- Craft attractive and engaging headlines
- Produce diverse content formats
- For image ads, test different image sizes according to Facebook’s standard formats
CPM – Cost Per Mille (Cost per 1,000 Impressions)
The lower the cost per 1,000 impressions, the more effective the ad is. This means the ad content attracts and engages the targeted audience well. At the same time, advertisers save budget by paying less for effective campaigns.
The factor affecting the CPM metric is the content of the advertising campaign (including text content, videos, and images). The more attractive, high-quality, and relevant the content is to the target audience, the lower the cost per 1,000 impressions will be. Additionally, other factors such as the ad scheduling and customer demand also need to be carefully analyzed and studied if you want to optimize your CPM.
Frequency
Facebook ad frequency refers to the average number of times an ad is shown to each user.
- For example, a frequency of 1 means each user sees the ad once on average.
- A frequency of 1.2 means each potential user sees the ad about 1.2 times on average.
According to some Facebook advertising experts, you should try to keep the frequency of each campaign below 1.3. If the frequency is too high, users may feel spammed, become annoyed, and might even block the ads.
To improve ad frequency, you can try broadening your targeting criteria such as age, gender, location, occupation, or interests. Alternatively, you can change the ad content.
The cost per result
It depends on the objective of your Facebook ad campaign. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, the cost per result refers to the cost for each customer interaction. If your goal is to generate messages, then the cost per result means the cost for each message received.
Of course, the cheaper the cost, the better it is compared to a higher cost. To optimize this metric, advertisers need to create a variety of content, continuously test different ads, and select the one that delivers the best results. Additionally, the cost per result can vary depending on timing and market demand at different periods.
Quality Score
Your ad’s quality score should be above average. Many factors affect this score.
To accurately assess ad quality, ask yourself:
- Is the ad content truly attractive and engaging?
- Does your ad hold the viewer’s attention long enough to click and watch fully?
- Does it keep viewers engaged during the first few seconds of a video ad?
- Is the ad too long, causing viewers to lose interest?
- Are the language and images compliant with Facebook’s standards and free from offensive content?
If the answers are yes, your ad will have a high-quality score. Otherwise, review and improve your ad as soon as possible. Higher quality ads have a better chance of reaching diverse customer segments.
Action Metrics
Action metrics indicate the number of people who have interacted with the business after seeing the advertisement. These metrics include post engagements, comments on posts, shares, clicks on links, and more. Note that shares are valued higher than likes and comments because shares signal to Facebook that your ad is reaching the right audience and is of genuine interest to users.
The higher the action metrics, the more attractive and engaging your ad is, reflecting better campaign performance. If these metrics are low, you should review your ad content and check whether you have included a clear call-to-action (CTA). Improving these metrics will help increase your chances of making sales.
In summary, these are important metrics that advertisers need to focus on when running Facebook Ads. To achieve good action metrics, you need to create compelling ad content and target the right audience. To do this effectively, advertisers must have a thorough understanding of the products or services their business offers.