Top Facebook Ads Metrics You Need To Track To Improve Results

Not sure what Facebook Ads metrics to track?

We break down the top 12 most important metrics when running Facebook (and/or Instagram) campaigns.

There is no need to get overwhelmed by all the data.

Understand what is important to focus on. That way you can diagnose where issues are popping up in your sales funnel and make the necessary fixes to improve your results.

Here is exactly what we track with our campaigns

FACEBOOK ADS METRICS TO TRACK

Impressions

An impression is the number of times your ad is shown to your audience.

Reach

The amount of people in your audience that saw your ad at least once. 

Frequency

The average number of times someone in your audience saw your ad.

Frequency is calculated by dividing the number of impressions by your reach.

Cluster these three metrics above.

Compare your reach to the total audience size that you’re targeting. You can find your total audience size at the ad set level of each campaign.

Let’s look at an example.

If your audience has one million people and your ads are only getting shown to twenty thousand people, Meta is choosing to show your ads to the same twenty thousand people multiple times. The number of times each user has seen your ad can be found by looking at the frequency.

If your reach is low, this means your audience isn’t engaged enough. Either you’re targeting the wrong audience, or your creative isn’t resonating.

In contrast, if your ads were getting shown to two hundred thousand people in your audience of one million, then it’s clear your creative is resonating with your audience.

If your frequency is increasing but not much of your audience is getting reached, this is a sign you need more engaging creative or to target a more aligned audience.

CPM

Average cost per 1000 impressions generated.

It is very difficult to benchmark your CPM because this figure comes down to what you’re advertising and when. Instead benchmark this number against your own campaigns.

If one campaign has a higher CPM over another, this means your targeting or creative for this campaign isn’t as good. You’re not reaching the right people because they aren’t as engaged or the creative isn’t speaking to your selected audience. For this reason, Meta is charging your more.

Link Clicks

The number of clicks on links within the ad that led to advertiser-specified destinations, on or off Meta itself e.g., to your website.

Landing Page Views

The number of times a click on an ad resulted in the successful loading of a destination website page, Instant Experience or Meta Shop.

Analyse your link clicks in conjunction with your landing page views.

Look at the number of link clicks your ads got and then what percentage made it through to landing page views.

You want these numbers to be very close.

If the number of link clicks far exceeds the landing page views it could be for a number of reasons such as your website is taking too long to load so the users are leave.

Another culprit could be the placement of your ads. If you’re advertising to the audience network, often people accidently click on these ads. Check the clicks to landing page views for these placements. Remove some of the lower quality placements if the issue resides here.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

The average cost for each link click.

Cost Per Landing Page Views

The average cost for each landing page view.

Compare these two metrics above against other campaigns in your ads manager.

If the clicks, views or CTR are higher in one campaign over another, it’s because the targeting or creative is better.

Link Click Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of impressions that received a link click out of the total number of impressions.

This metric gives us an indication of how good your ads are at initially convincing your audience to take the action you want them to take such as head to your website.

The average CTR for every industry will differ but we recommend aiming for a 1% CTR.

If the figure is lower than 1%, look at the ad creative and messaging and see what improvements you could make. The audience you selected may not be the best fit either.

Conversions (Lead or Sale)

The number of leads or sales you are getting from your campaigns.

This will depend on what type of campaign you are running and what you sell.

Overall, if you’re getting lots of clicks but not leads or sales, consider why those you are advertising to aren’t converting.

Is it what you’re selling? Is it the sales or website page, the messaging or the email follow-up sequence? On average two out of every 100 people that visit your website take an action like book or buy. If you aren’t hitting this number, there is a break-down on the page you’re sending them to.

If you are an ecommerce store, also look at your number of Adds to Cart. If you are getting a lot of people Add to Cart but not Purchase, consider whether your shipping rates are too high or if there is an issue in the checkout process.

Cost Per Result

The average cost per result from your ads.

This metric is based on what you have optimised your campaign for e.g., leads, sales etc.

Your Cost Per Result is an important metric to track because it determines the profitability and therefore success of your campaign. We use this metric to decide what ad sets and ads to leave on (or turn off).

To determine if your campaign is profitable, you need to understand what you can afford to acquire a lead or sale. The average is around 30% of the lifetime value of the customer to your business.

Return On Ad Spend ROAS

The total Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) from purchases.

Essentially, it’s how much you made back from every dollar you spent on advertising.

Meta will say the average is three here, but we aim for 10 plus.

CUSTOMISE YOUR ADS MANAGER VIEW

Now that you know what metrics to track, it’s time to set-up these columns in your Facebook Ads Manager.

To customise your Ads Manager view, select the ‘Columns’ button to the top-right of the Ads Manager table. Select all the metrics we mentioned above.

Don’t forget to tick the ‘Save as a column preset’ before hitting the blue ‘Apply’ button.

Stick to following these metrics to avoid overwhelm and improve the performance of your ads.

Any questions, send us a DM.

GET YOUR BRAND READY FOR FACEBOOK ADS?

If you aren’t sure if you’re ready for Facebook Ads, we have created a Starter Checklist so you can determine your brand’s readiness before investing a cent. Download your free copy here.

Ready to get started with Facebook Ads? We offer a range of services from low-cost workshops to done-for-you management, to cater for all business stages. Find out more here.