Creatives play a major role in the effectiveness of an ad on Facebook or Instagram, as they are the first element to catch the user's eye. If you want to learn more about Meta Ads, click here.
But how do you analyze their performance? What are the key KPIs to monitor? That's exactly what we'll cover here.
Awareness KPIs
Impressions
First, it's important to look at the number of impressions your creatives are generating. This metric tells you how many times your ad has been served on the platform. It's important not to confuse this with "reach," which tells you how many unique people saw your ad.
- Impressions: number of times an ad appears on a screen
- Reach: number of unique people who saw the ad
Frequency
To put the previous metric into context, it's important to check the frequency of your ad, which tells you how many times, on average, the ad was shown to the same person. Make sure frequency isn't too high to avoid ad fatigue. Recommended frequency benchmarks are as follows:
- For acquisition campaigns: between 1 and 2
- For retargeting campaigns: between 4 and 6
Link Clicks
Next, you can look at the number of link clicks. This metric is the best one to evaluate performance rather than the "clicks" or "outbound clicks" metrics, as it gives you the number of clicks that redirected users to specified destinations, on or off Meta's technologies. This number should also be as high as possible for you to consider the creative to have performed well.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
Also known as the "click-through rate," this metric lets you know the ratio between the number of clicks and the number of impressions. A high CTR means your ad is effective, because the user was sufficiently impacted by the ad to click on it. This is arguably the most important metric if your campaign objective is traffic or awareness.
Engagement
This metric is particularly useful for seeing whether your audience is engaged, but it can also demonstrate whether a creative is performing well or poorly. The number of engagements includes clicks on the ad, likes, shares, and comments. A good engagement rate for an audience is generally considered to be between 5% and 7%.
CPM (Cost Per Thousand)
On Meta, advertisers pay per impression (unlike Google, which charges per click), and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is a useful way to gauge the cost of your ads. This metric helps you see whether your ad is being delivered effectively relative to your budget. CPM on Meta depends on several factors:
- The quality of the targeted audience (acquisition will be less expensive than retargeting)
- The product or service the brand is selling
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Conversion and Performance KPIs
Purchases
It's worth looking at which creatives are recording the highest number of purchases, and then understanding what elements on the visual helped remove the final barriers to purchase. It may also be the format of the creative or the copy used. As with all the previous metrics, it's important to step back from the numbers and cross-reference them with each other, rather than fixating on a type of creative that seems to be working.
Cost Per Purchase (CPA)
Cost Per Purchase tells you the average amount you spent to trigger a conversion. This metric is very useful for putting the results from ROAS and revenue into perspective, and for seeing whether the ad is as effective and profitable as it appears. A high revenue figure paired with a high CPA is not very attractive for an advertiser focused on profitability.
ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)
ROAS is a key digital marketing metric. It's calculated by dividing the revenue generated by a campaign, ad set, or ad by the amount spent on it. It tells you whether the ad campaign is profitable, and helps you identify which creatives are compelling and driving users to convert.
Revenue
Finally, revenue is arguably one of the most important metrics to track to know whether your business objectives are being met. On Meta, you'll find it under the name "purchase conversion value." The goal is obviously to achieve the highest revenue possible, but as mentioned earlier, it's important to put this figure into context alongside other metrics like amount spent or cost per purchase.
Conclusion
When analyzing your Meta campaigns, what matters most is always maintaining a big-picture view of your accounts and stepping back from the numbers in front of you. Cross-reference your metrics to understand what's truly working and get the best possible results.
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FAQ
How do you create strong visuals for social media?
There are several best practices to follow when creating high-performing visuals on Meta. Today, the platform is increasingly pushing video content, which is a dynamic and engaging format for users. Check out our 5 creative best practices for paid social.
How do you test your creatives on Meta Ads?
The Advantage Shopping Campaign+ campaign type requires many creatives to perform well. It's therefore an excellent opportunity to test multiple visuals at the same time.
Do Reels perform well on Meta Ads?
30% of time spent on Meta is dedicated to the Reels format, making it an excellent format for driving conversions. Video is a format that performs very well on social media today, and that's especially true for Reels.
Want support with your digital marketing strategy? Don't hesitate to reach out!
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