Facebook Ads: 3 Metrics You Should Track

January 13, 2016

In the last 2 years, Facebook has become one of the most –if not THE most– powerful digital platforms for lead generation. Tracking Facebook Advertising Metrics will provide you with a significant amount of insight and further advertising opportunities.

We’ve compiled our top 3 metrics to demonstrate how you can better gauge the performance of a campaign. Find out how to best track and utilise Facebook Advertising Metrics for effective Lead Generation campaigns.

 

1 – Click-through Rate

The click-through rate measures the percentage of unique clicks relative to the amount people reached by that ad. Put simply, it represents all the people who were exposed to your ad across the duration of the campaign. The click-through rate is the percentage that clicked.

Where you can find it

Facebook Ads Manager > Columns: Performance and Clicks

Why it’s significant

Although a high click-through rate does not necessarily have an effect on the conversion rate of a landing page, it does give a solid indication of how the Ad is performing.

When conducting A/B split tests across creative elements such as copy and imagery, use the click-through rate to ascertain which of the two is performing better.

When you should take note of it

The click-through rate is an important metric to note throughout a campaign, particularly for optimising your campaign. Keeping a close eye on how your creative is faring day to day provides a great indication of how you can improve your results.

How can you apply this more?

If you have a considerably high click-through rate but you’re seeing a high bounce rate or extremely short time on site, take another look at your messaging.

Having an obvious disconnect between your Facebook Ad and Landing Page can cause a lot of people to leave your site right away. Consider the way your ads are positioned and how they relate to the landing page.

Avoid writing Ads that could be perceived as click-bait.  Always ensure that the copy and imagery of your ads and landing page flow together well.

 

2 – Website Clicks

This is another Facebook Advertising metric that matters as it refers to the number of clicks on an Ad directly to the landing page.  Also known as ‘Link Click’, these are the clicks used to calculate the click-through rate.

Where you can find it

Facebook Ads Manager > Columns: Performance and Clicks

Why it’s significant

Apart from driving traffic to your landing page and website, website clicks are a great way to gauge an Ad’s success in relation to other metrics.

For example, while 250 likes on your ad can seem like a good way to assess engagement, an Ad with 250 likes but only one website click can mean otherwise. As such, website clicks serve as a great comparative metric when considering its proportion of the other metrics on the Ads Manager dashboard.

When you should take note of it

Unlike the click-through rate, website clicks as a stand-alone metric are a lesser indicator of whether a specific Ad is performing well. This means they do not necessarily play a part in optimising your campaign. However, much like the click-through rate, website clicks can be monitored day by day against other metrics.

This will help you better understand how users are interacting with your ads, and what is likely most appealing to them.

You should also take note of the website clicks throughout a campaign so that you are aware of when it reaches a certain amount. This is because some retargeting platforms only allow you to do so when your traffic surpasses a threshold. See more on retargeting below.

How can you apply this more?

Now, this is the exciting part where we can take advantage of all our missed opportunities.

Prior to your initiating your campaign, you can place a Facebook pixel on your landing page. This will collect information regarding conversions.

For the people who don’t convert, the pixel places a cookie on the user. You can utilise this information to retarget an audience who has already shown interest in your product offering.

 

3 – Frequency

The average times that each member of your audience has been exposed to a particular advertisement.

Where you can find it

Facebook Ads Manager > Columns: Delivery

Why it’s significant

In one respect, a high frequency can indicate more impressions on a particular user and mean more brand awareness. However, this is not necessarily a positive outcome. Whether it’s because you’ve annoyed users or they become immune to it, repetitive creative can become ineffective in enticing clicks.

As the messaging becomes more and more redundant, you begin wasting more and more of your budget on overused ads.

When you should take note of it

Particularly if you plan to continue your Facebook Advertising campaign over a few months, it’s crucial to keep an eye on the frequency. This way, you can make changes if results start turning south.

Up to a certain frequency, you will see this affect other metrics. According to AdEspresso, click-through rate can decrease by almost 30% and cost per click can increase by almost 100% by the time your frequency reaches 5.

How can you apply this more?

If you’re finding that you reach high frequencies very quickly in your campaign, you could be putting too much budget towards too small of an audience. Take this as an opportunity to try to new ways of creating your audiences.

Consider how else you can break-down your ideal buyer, and what implications result.

For example, the owner-occupiers for your apartment building could be broken down into newlyweds and empty nesters. Each of these groups has different motivations, pain points and demographics.

Try building buyer personas to form a more in-depth view of the people who make up your target market.

Let these Facebook Advertising Metrics make the difference!

Closely tracking and analysing these metrics can be a game-changing move for a successful and effective lead generation campaign.

These 3 metrics, in particular, can help you better piece together results as your campaign pans out, as well as tying together all of the other metrics that are available.

 

Do you focus on any metrics in particular? How does that inform the rest of your campaign? Tell us your experience through your Facebook Ads campaign!