Aitarget examines how a “new relevance score” can be used to diagnose issues with ads, and find a cure for poor performance

In 2019, Facebook has replaced Relevance Score with three new metrics: rankings of Quality, Engagement Rate, and Conversion Rate. If your ads fail to spend estimated budget, or aren’t performing as expected, this trio can be used to diagnose the reasons why.

What are the new metrics?

The new diagnostics reflect users’ reactions to your ads, compared to other ads they see.

1. Quality ranking: this metric reflects any negative user experiences. The Facebook algorithm checks if your creative contains poor content like clickbait, calls for likes or comments, or low-quality images or videos. It also considers negative responses to your ad (for example, users clicking “Hide Ad”).
2. Engagement Rate ranking: this shows how often users interact with your ad.
3. Conversion Rate ranking: this shows the effectiveness of your ad.

How do I find them?

The new metrics are available to view in the Ads level in Ads Manager. Select a standard set of columns in the “Performance” section.

You can also add them through columns settings.

How can I interpret the diagnostics?

Each metric delivers a percentile ranking that reflects your ad’s position among other ads on Facebook that your targeted audience sees. The higher your number, the greater percentage of ads that are considered less effective or lower performing than your ad.

You will see the relevant diagnostics once your ad gets 500 impressions.

• Above average (55% – 100%): your ad performs better than more than half of all ads on Facebook.
• Average (35% – 55%): more than a third of Facebook ads perform worse than your ad, but almost half of all ads (or more) perform better.
• Below average (35% or less): your ad is effectively in the bottom third of all ads. This category is also split for 35%, 20%, and 10% categories. If your ad falls into this final ranking it means that at least 9 out of every 10 ads on Facebook are better.

 

Engagement Rate and Conversion Rate measures won’t be available if you have optimised for reach, impressions, ad recall lift, custom conversions, or value.

How does this help me?

The new metrics are particularly relevant for the times when your ads aren’t delivering on your ad campaign goals. When your ads are falling short and things aren’t going the way you’d like, it’s important to know what is happening, so you can work out why, and cure it.

Different combinations of these diagnostics can help determine reasons for inefficiency or poor performance. Let’s take a look at some of the most common examples.

The quality of an ad is questionable

A low Quality ranking can mean users are frequently rejecting your ad; not only skimming past it or ignoring it, but actively clicking ‘Hide Ad’ because they don’t want to see it.

If this is happening, check that you have an appropriate amount of text on your ad image, and that the graphic elements you use aren’t likely to offend users.

These combinations of rankings can also occur if your ad doesn’t match your product, or if it contains clickbait or engagement bait (provocative wording or images aimed at driving up clicks and reactions). Such methods reduce ad value at auction or can even violate Facebook advertising policy. Consequently, your ads get less impressions or could be entirely blocked.

The Cure: Learn how to improve ads quality with Facebook’s recommendations.

The offer is irrelevant

If you’re getting a good conversion rate but poor quality and engagement rankings, this is likely to mean that the overwhelming majority of users reached are not interested in what you’re promoting. Your targeting isn’t working or you’re not attracting the right attention.

The Cure: review your targeting settings and work to attract user attention according to these Facebook recommendations.

Lack of conversions

If your ad had a high-quality rating and engagement rate but conversions are low, this could be a sign that there are post-click issues for users.

The Cure: check how fast your website is loading and whether it is optimised for mobile. Reduce the number of blockages on the user’s journey to purchase (number of clicks required, length and complexity of lead forms, pop-up windows).

Also, ensure you analyse your call to action. Does it give a clear understanding of what happens after a user who is engaged by your ad, clicks on it?

Unconvincing

If your ad has a high-quality rating but low engagement and conversion, this is likely to mean that is just isn’t persuasive enough. Users aren’t compelled to make a target action.

Further ad health checks

You can find other possible combinations of the diagnostics in Facebook’s Ads Help Centre. For complex diagnostics, use the ads delivery and optimisation guide.

To use an Instagram profile for promoting your brand with Ads Manager, you should add it to the business page of the advertised brand on Facebook.

To do this, the page administrator should open the brand page, go to Settings – Instagram and log in to the Instagram account:

An Instagram account can only be connected with one page. Likewise, a page can only have one Instagram account linked to it.

When the link between the page and the Instagram account is successfully created, you will see the account data in this section:

The tool that can help you to solve this problem is called Facebook Auto Splitting. This tool can automate the process of ad sets creation when launching A/B testing for different audiences. Despite the fact that the basic principles of splitting are actually quite simple, they still require a lot of time and effort to initiate. This includes:

1. Manual creation of a large number of ad sets.

2. Generating several creative combinations for each ad set (for example, four images and two texts come out with 2*4=8 combinations)

3. Continuous results tracking (ideally, every hour)

You can automate Step 1 and Step 2 using targeting splitting in ad sets:

To create this number of Ad Sets you need to turn on any parameter combination for splitting in the Split By section on Step 3: Gender, Age, Country, Device. The instrument will create a copy of adverts for each audience, which you will create on Step 4.

Important: When choosing the split option, the budget is distributed among the ad sets equally:

An example of final ad sets split by gender:

Instagram ads are available to everyone in Aitarget Tool and Facebook Ads Manager. To run ads on Instagram, you need a Facebook Page.

You can add an Instagram account to any Facebook Page which you are administrating or editing. Adding an Instagram account to your Page allows you to create Instagram ads in Ads Manager without needing to connect your Instagram account to a Business Manager.

To add an Instagram account to your Facebook Page:

1. Go to your Facebook Page.
2. Click Settings in the top-right of your Page.

3. Choose Instagram from the list on your left.

4. Click Log In.

Now add an existing Instagram account to your Page. To do this еnter your Instagram account’s username, phone number or email and your account password, then click Log In.

That’s it! You have an Instagram account connected to your Facebook Page. From now on, whenever using your Facebook Page to create ads that run on Facebook, you can also use your Instagram account to show those same ads on the platform.

You should register your Mobile App on the developers’ website.

Get the latest guidelines from Facebook: App Setup

1. Log in to your personal Facebook account.
2. Create a developer account on Facebook for Developers. Skip this step if you already have one.

3. Create a new app. Go to “My Apps” section in the navigation bar and select Add New App.

4. Specify a name for your app and a valid email address.

The form of your app card will be filled in automatically with this data. You can change it further if you need to.

5. Select a Scenario for your app to get help on creating a specific type of product. If you have already planned your project and are ready to roll it out, you can skip this step.

No turning back: you got your App ID

You can use it at any moment, e.g. while setting up SDK. The ID is available in the dashboard. The dashboard is where you can finish setting up your app and where you can make changes to your app’s settings, such as editing your email, app icon, and adding or deleting ad accounts that can run ads for your app.

6. Set up the security – the App Secret.

Facebook generates the Secret automatically and attributes it to your app. The Secret authenticates app requests to the Facebook API. The Secret is similar to a password.

7. Choose a category.

The category allows users to search for your app, among apps related to the topics of interest.

8. Fill in the Data Protection Officer Contact Information (optional).

This is a requirement of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for some companies operating in the EU. If people have questions about the use of their data, they can contact the Protection Officer. Contact information and information about your app will be available to users on Facebook.

9. Select the platform to run the app (iOS or Android).

If you have several apps, you can add the others later.

10. Specify the system information about the app by filling out the form. It will vary for iOS and Android.

11. Complete the Quick Start.

Quick Start is a type of training. It will help you to set up the app for the selected platform. You can return to this step later (e.g. to add a new platform or continue to set up the app).

12. Set up advanced settings (optional).

This section allows you to manage the app restrictions, security, and its connection to Business Manager and advertising accounts.

• Indicate whether your app is suitable for PC and set the limits for the users.

• Configure authentication and access for the app.

• Create the App Page and link it to your Business Manager or advertising account.

13. Add the product to the App Center.

• Click on “+” in the “Products” section;
• Select the “App Center” among other options;
• Click on “Details” and fill in all the necessary data. You can also upload an icon here.

• Make sure all materials meet the requirements.

14. Disable the developer mode.

After your app is registered, you can switch from developer mode to a user mode.

Finally, you can send the app for a review.

To track statistics on Facebook you need to install the SDK. You can also use the services of one of the marketing partners.