The 3 Most Relevant Metrics for Your Facebook Ad Campaign

by ​Rae Steinbach, Guest Contributor

Facebook is already the best place for the vast majority of businesses to increase their revenue and outreach. Even better, it’s constantly growing with 35% YoY growth in ad revenue in 2017. That means competition is stronger than ever, and Facebook Ads is a worthwhile investment that can help you stand out from other businesses.
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Know which statistics are actually relevant to your business.

The platform also offers a dizzying array of metrics to help you measure your successes and failures, but not all of these are created equal. While a Facebook marketing company may have no problem picking the right metrics to track, it will take a bit of trial and error for a less experienced marketer. Many of the available tools don’t actually represent the profitability of your ad campaign, so it’s extremely important to know which statistics are actually relevant to your business.

What to Ignore
Some of the most prominent metrics are actually less valuable than those that are more hidden—likes, for example, are shown at the top of every Facebook page, but may not be helping you.

Clicks are another deceptive statistic. Many of these are simply a click on your Facebook page or your “See More” button; few actually have anything to do with conversion.

Video views can also fall into this category, as Facebook counts anything over 3 seconds as a view. This means that many so-called “views” are coming from people with little-to-no engagement with your business. While these metrics may be informative in the right circumstances, they have limited effectiveness and are often overvalued by even experienced social media marketers.

3 Metrics to Keep an Eye On
In contrast to those mentioned above, Facebook also provides access to some statistics that can deliver valuable insight into your company’s efficiency. Paying attention to these is a great place to start as you begin to take on more of an active role in your social media marketing.

1. Frequency
One of the most overlooked metrics Facebook offers, frequency, is extremely important to monitor because it can indicate oversaturation. Frequency measures the number of times an average user sees your ad. If the number is too high (think of 3-4 as an upper limit), there’s a good chance you’re getting diminishing returns from the additional views.

2. Cost per Click (CPC)
Cost per click measures the amount of money you’re spending on each time a customer clicks on an ad to access your website. While your target CPC will likely depend on your industry, Facebook ads see an average of 27 cents per click. If your CPC is significantly higher than that, you should consider adjusting your content as well as your ad targeting.

3. Click-through Rate (CTR)
CTR goes along with CPC in measuring your ability to attract customers, and simply represents the percentage of those who see an ad and end up clicking on your website. The average CTR across all industries is 0.90%, but again, your target CTR is heavily dependent on your business. A low CTR and high CPC indicate problems with your outreach.

While these are a few of the metrics that the top professionals focus on, they are still just a piece of the puzzle. Experienced marketers know how to view each statistic while considering the others; one individual metric rarely tells the whole story. Which ones matter to your business will also vary based on your goals.
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Author bio:

Rae is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing (of course).