Ever wondered how great you’re at targeting new prospects or how relevant your Facebook ads really are? Earlier this year, Facebook launched relevance score which is a rating metric that scores adverts on a scale of 1-10 based on their relevance.
When used correctly, relevance score can guide you to create better ads and lower your marketing spend. When ignored, you’ll see your ad spend increase and your ROI dwindle.
How Does The Facebook Relevance Score Work?
Facebook relevance score decides how appropriate an advert is based on engagement. Relevance score does not take into account the adverts’ copy or imagery, but only the amount of engagement received from the audience targeted.
Here’s an example taken directly from Facebook that shows the same advert served to different target groups, each receiving a different relevance score:
A higher relevance score provides a lower cost per click compared to ads with lower scores. Facebook confirmed that adverts with a higher relevance score are more likely to be served than ads with lower scores aimed at the same audience, even if their maximum bids are lower.
So then, how can you increase the relevance score of your ads?
- Target your audience better
You should never create an advert without laser targeting your audience or learning more about them first. You can do this on Facebook by using:
Relevance score is based on how engaged users are with your ads. To ensure the highest scores (and lowest spend) you should use custom audiences or leverage Facebook’s Audience Insights tool to research their behaviors.
The more relevant your ads are to your audience the better chance they’ll engage.
- Use a call-to-action
Relevance score is decided by user engagement. An engagement can be anything from a like, comment, share or clicking your advert to read more. Your audience may stop and view your ad, but unless they are told to make a specific action, after consuming your advert they’ll carry on scrolling their newsfeed. Reading your ad is not considered an engagement.
Vineyard do a great job of instigating engagement with their Facebook ad by using two call-to-actions in a single post:
All adverts you create on Facebook allow you to use a call-to-action. Do so not only to increase click-through rates but to receive a higher relevance score. Alternatively, if a call-to-action is not appropriate, ask a question or evoke an emotion through creating great headlines.
You don’t create Facebook ads so prospects can consume your content and get back to their newsfeed, you do so hoping they make a desired action. Whatever the action is, make it obvious.
- Test your copy
As users scroll through their newsfeed at record breaking speeds, posts which stop them in their tracks usually contain images. An engaging image is always going to have a greater impact on engagement and relevance score – and it’s why you need to test them.
AdEspresso tested two ads and found that the cleaner image received more engagement and provided a 75% better ROI:
Run at least two adverts that use a different image and headline to see which receives greater engagement. Let them run for 24 hours or place a short lifetime budget of $5-$10.
An advert must be served 1,000 times before Facebook gives it a relevance score. Once you compare the scores, drop the one with the lower score (assuming it has a lower ROI) and increase your budget on the other ad.
How Much Money Can A High Relevance Score On Facebook Save You?
According to Social Code, the cost per click and click-through rate of adverts dramatically rise in alignment with relevance score:
If you’ve created Facebook ads in the past, check their relevance score and see what you can learn from past campaigns moving forward. If you’re unsure how to find your relevance score, here’s a Facebook post showing you how.
Summary
Creating compelling ads and serving them to the right people can be difficult, but there are enough free tools provided by Facebook to get you on the right track.
Make use of custom audiences, Audience Insights and relevance score to gain deeper knowledge on your prospects’ behaviour and interaction habits.
The more information you process, the better ads will perform and the cheaper they will cost.
How are you using relevance score?
Nick Bridges
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