With digital advertising spend set to surpass traditional ad spend, it’s clear digital advertising isn’t going anywhere. But with the demand for digital ad space increasing, it follows that the cost to purchase these ads will also increase.
So, how do you ensure you’re getting the best bang for your hard-earned buck?
Well, platforms have now created metrics that allow you to objectively determine if your ads are reaching the right people with the right message at the right time.
Google has its AdWords Quality Score. The score is made up of three defined components – ad relevance, expected click-through rate, and landing page experience. This score essentially acts as a series of checks and balances that allows Google to make money, your ads to be in front of your targeted audience, and your brand to scale budget.
Facebook has something similar…but unfortunately, it’s not as simple as its Google counterpart.
What is a Facebook Relevance Score?
The Facebook Relevance Score is a metric in Facebook’s ads manager. The scores are calculated based on the positive and negative feedback an ad is expected to receive on Facebook and Instagram. This makes it slightly more subjective than Google’s Quality Score since it’s based on expected, not actual, outcomes. After your ad has been served at least 500 times, it is assigned a Relevance Score.
These scores are on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely bad (like “throw it in the garbage, set it on fire” bad) and 10 being fantastic. A good score is considered anything that’s 7 or above.
However, Facebook Relevance Scores aren’t static. The score is updated daily and varies based on how users in a target audience respond and react to your ad. More positive reactions will generate a higher score; more negative reactions will lead to a lower score.
That’s Cool, But Why Should I care?
Glad you asked.
Do you like saving money while reaching as many customers as possible? Us too. And that’s where your Relevance Score comes into play.
Improved delivery can lead to more traffic and sales at a lower cost.
Your Facebook Relevance Score determines how often your ad is shown and how much it’s going to cost you to get Facebook to continue to show it. Just like Google’s AdWord Quality Score, the better Relevance Score you have, the less you’ll need to pay to get your ad shown to people.
It’s all about the user experience for Facebook. If your ad is relevant to its target audience and elicits a positive reaction, Facebook is willing to charge you less.
One of three factors in Facebook’s ad auction.
Similar to Google’s AdWord Quality Score, your Facebook Relevance Score is one of three factors in Facebook’s ad auction. By generating a stronger Relevance Score, you can improve your ad’s delivery (which lowers your CPM) and reach more users at a lower cost.
Develop insights into your target audience.
Your Relevance Score can help you understand how different demographics and cohorts respond and engage with different messages, visual aesthetics, and calls to action. It can also be a good indicator of whether or not you are targeting the right audience on Facebook.
While a high relevance score does not necessarily translate to higher conversion rates or returns, it can be an early indication that you are reaching the right users who are engaged and interested in consuming your product or service. A high relevance score that is maintained over a long period of time can indicate that you are reaching the right users at the right time and you can continue to nurture them down the e-commerce funnel.
Using different calls to action, messages, and value propositions, you can then generate conversion in both the short-run and long-run, depending on your offering, product, or service.
Got It. But How Can I Increase My Relevance Score?
Relevance Scores are all about…you guessed it…relevance. So, to have a good Relevance Score, your ad must be relevant and appealing to your targeted demographic.
Follow these three steps to ensure every Facebook ad you put out scores highly.
1. Target an audience based on relevant attributes that you feel your target customer contains.
The first step in figuring out these relevant attributes is to create buyer personas. To construct a great buyer persona, you need to figure out who your buyers are in demographic detail. This includes things like gender, age, interests, and location.
With a solid image of your ideal consumer in mind, you’ll be able to better target your ads to Facebook audiences who actually want to see them. Facebook allows you to hyper-target audiences based on interests, so make sure to take advantage of that! By doing so, you’ll be able to make ads that are targeting the specific needs of a specific group.
2. Develop messaging and ad copy this audience will find appealing.
With your new knowledge of who you want to target, figure out why they should want your product and what your product can do to make their lives easier.
Identify their pain points. Then craft your ad around them and incorporate those pain points into strong, unique value props. Remember that each of your ads can and should be specifically designed to meet the needs of each segment of your target audience.
This is not the time for a one-size-fits-all solution. Your ad copy needs to be specific to every audience segment’s pain points.
3. Produce high-quality assets that appeal to your target audience.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are not the only business to think of running ads on Facebook. Everybody is doing it, which means that competition for audience attention is steep. Users have become accustomed to scrolling blindly and either consciously or unconsciously ignoring ads.
That means you and your ad need to do something to stick out from the crowd.
Produce high-quality creative that is undoubtedly attention-grabbing and clearly describes your brand. It also needs to detail the benefits of your product and demonstrate how those benefits correspond with what your target audience finds appealing. Be sure to play into human emotions – humor, happiness, nostalgia, intrigue, etc. These tend to generate a positive response and studies have shown that emotions can influence purchasing behaviors.
Stay Relevant, Pony Boy
While Relevance Scores may seem a little tricky to navigate at first, it really comes down whether or not your ad is doing its job – attracting the attention of your desired consumer in an aesthetically pleasing way and providing a unique value proposition.
As long as you take the time to research your consumers, curate converting ad copy, and tie it all together with quality creative – you and your Facebook ads will be just fine.
If you still have questions, the media buying team at Hawke is always happy to answer questions, share their knowledge, and point business owners in the right direction.
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