The most exciting of all of the Facebook features for marketers today is undoubtedly Facebook Ads. However, are you properly measuring your Facebook ads metrics effectiveness?
If you’re using Facebook advertising to connect with your audience then you should also be measuring how effective those ads are. Measuring success is a vital part of running effective ad campaigns, and though measurement may be more difficult on social media than other channels, it is still essential if you want to ensure that you are spending your ad budget wisely.
If you aren’t currently measuring Facebook advertising effectiveness or you’re feeling a bit lost in the process, you are not alone. In fact, research shows that only 8% of companies report they are able to determine ROI from their social media spending. The key to determining whether or not your Facebook ads are reaching the intended audience and inspiring them to take the desired actions is monitoring the right metrics and adjusting your strategy accordingly.
4 Steps for Measuring Facebook Ad Effectiveness
While some social media newbies may be tempted to report effectiveness based on the number of clicks or impressions, measuring Facebook ads is not a one-size fits all process. Below are a few important steps you need to take to determine whether or not your ads are working for you:
1. Determine goals for your Facebook ad campaign.
Businesses create Facebook ads for different reasons. Some want to increase social media engagement, while others want to promote sales directly or encourage app downloads. No matter what your goals are, you must keep them in mind as you begin to determine which metrics you will monitor for each campaign.
As you develop a Facebook ads strategy, consider what you are trying to achieve with your advertising. When you begin to create your Facebook ad campaigns, you will need to choose an objective. What actions do you want your audience to take? These specific goals will not only help you create compelling ad content, but they will also be vital in determining which metrics you use to measure success.
2. Choose metrics that make sense.
Now that you have your goals clearly defined, you need to choose the metrics that allow you to measure what is most important. Though there are many metrics that you can measure to determine campaign effectiveness, use the following as a guide to get started based on content goals:
- Generating Leads – impressions, cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM), frequency, amount spent, click-through rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), leads, cost per lead
- Generating Sales – impressions, CPM, frequency, amount spent, CTR, link clicks, CPC, checkouts, cost per checkout
- Creating Content Awareness – impressions, CPM, frequency, amount spent, CTR, link clicks, CPC, leads, cost-per-lead
3. Monitor these metrics and create a report.
Once you have chosen the appropriate metrics for your Facebook ad goals, it is time to start measuring and monitoring. You can use Facebook Ads Manager to monitor a number of metrics or you might opt to use a third-party tool that creates reports for you based on the metrics you’ve outlined.
Once you have developed an initial report, you can use this as a baseline for future reporting. Consider how your progress compares to your expectations as well as how it might compare to your competitors’ campaigns. As time goes on and you collect more data, you will be able to gain important insights that will help you become successful in future campaigns.
When it comes to the actual report, you want to include benchmarks and other information that makes it clear what the figures mean and how this campaign contributes to your overall advertising goals. Graphs and other visual data is also helpful. This helps you justify ad spend.
4. Adjust your measurement strategy over time.
Once you have created a measurement strategy, you will need to review this periodically to ensure that it is still effective. If you feel that you are missing important data or including data in your reporting that is unnecessary, it may be time to review your campaign goals and look for new metrics that may be able to address these goals.
Developing a successful measurement strategy takes time. After you have adjusted your strategy to account for missing or extra information, revise your reporting process to make sure that your analytics are consistent.
Using Facebook Ads Manager
Are you ready to see how your ads are performing? Facebook Ads Manager allows you to view important campaign data and make changes to your ads. This dashboard shows you an overview of all of your campaigns including ad spending. If you want to see how each is performing, the “Performance” button has a number of categories that you can view for each set of ads. In Ads Manager you can also make changes to your ad by updating content or adjusting the targeting features.
After you have determined what metrics you will measure and you’ve begun to compile your data, you can begin to optimize your ads to better meet your business objectives. Testing is an important part of ensuring that you are running your Facebook ad campaigns efficiently and getting the most bang for your buck. Consider using tools like Conversion Lift to test your ads and find which advertising approaches work best in achieving their unique ad goals.
Which ways do you use to measure your Facebook ad effectiveness as part of your Facebook marketing efforts?
Looking for more Facebook Ads advice? Check out these posts:
- Facebook Ad Text Limit Rule Change: What You Should Know
- Ways to Overcome the 20% Text Rule for Facebook Ads
Author Bio
Sarah Jane Burt is an expert on Facebook Ads who enjoys helping brands tell their stories online. She uses her experience as a marketing content creator and social media manager to connect companies to their customers through dynamic content. When she’s not writing copy (or writing about writing copy), she also teaches university freshmen how to write in complete sentences.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Facebook Ads Metrics FAQs
Metrics in Facebook Ads are measurements that advertisers can use to track the performance of their campaigns and adjust them as needed. They help an advertiser’s goals by providing insights into who is responding to their ads, what content is proving to be most effective, and where they should focus efforts to maximize conversions and ROI. By monitoring metrics, marketers can sharpen their targeting methods and differentiate what works versus what doesn’t.
Facebook keeps a log of impressions, clicks, and actions taken on an ad campaign page to provide an overview of performance. The metrics generated offer businesses the ability to assess the success of a campaign by looking at the total number of users reached, likes obtained, frequency of posts, fan base growth, and the cost per click for each advertisement.
Good metrics for Facebook include looking at user numbers; the platform’s reach, measured by how many people use it, who uses it, and for what purpose; user engagement statistics, such as time spent on Facebook, likes, shares, and comments; website traffic data; revenue from advertising; customer sentiment ratings; customer reviews from external sites like Yelp; and revenue from any other services offered.
Facebook is an important platform for many businesses and advertisers, so it makes sense to measure the performance of their ads. To measure the success of campaigns, it is crucial to look at the 3 key metrics that Facebook uses – Quality Ranking, Relevance Score, and Conversion Rate.
There are four basic metrics used to analyze performance and measure results:
1. Impressions – measure the number of times a link or advertisement has been seen on a website or in search results.
2. Clicks – provide insight into user engagement with an ad, content piece, or link; they help determine how effective the creative was in captivating the viewer’s attention and inspiring action.
3. Conversions – measure successful outcomes such as leads generated, forms filled out, customers acquired or sales completed.
4. Cost – what marketers use to optimize their budget by tracking how much it costs to generate higher impression click through rates (CTR), conversion rates, cost per click (CPC) and cost per acquisition (CPA).
