The Relevance Score is more important than you think

Relevance is defined as the quality of beeing closely connected or appropriate. This is one of the key aspects for a successful marketing campaign and can make or brake a product.

It’s only natural that relevance became a factor in Facebook Ads Campaigns. This happened back in early 2015 and ever since, things stopped being about who had the bigger bugdet.  This one is trully a case where size doesn’ matter!

Or does it?

Well, in theory you could overrun a well put together campaign with just sheer financial power, but Facebook made it so easy to design a relevant ad, that it isn’t worth it to overspend.

But it still happens. I’ve seen countless ads running at a crawling pace because of a poor relevance score. People tend to look at interests or bidding and ignore this metric.

 

 

It’s proportional

Relevance can be a number between 1 and 10. And as Facebook says it,  the score is calculated based on the negative feedback the ad is expected to receive from it’s audience.  So what does this mean?

Well it means that a relevance score of 5 can result in an almost double CPR (Cost Per Result) than an 8. While your ads will still get delivered, Facebook will charge you extra.

How you can stay relevant

This should go without saying, but there still are advertisers  out there who like to cut corners. So if you advertise for cars, don’t use an ad copy of a half naked woman just to catch the attention of the male audience. A far more relevant ad copy would be someone driving that car and not someone posing on it’s hood.

The usage of text is also important. The length, the usage of keywords or capitalization will add or substract from the relevance score.

And don’t forget: the landing page also matters! Don’t send people interested in shoes on the homepage of a clothing store. Ad Campaigns should be about a fluid experience from the ad copy, till the checkout form.

 

 

Yes, AdWords has it too

Now, while in Google’s advertising platform it’s called Quality Score, the principles are the same: a good score gets you lower CPC’s and higher positions in SERPs.

But it’s a bit more complicated with AdWords. Here text will matter more. The usage of keywords, audience variables and custom descriptions is essential.

Don’t obsess

Whatever you do, rember that relevance score is just one of many factors that can make or brake your Facebook Ads Campaign. An 8 is good, but it won’t compensate for a poorly targeted audience, so don’t obsess about this metric.

You need to pay attention to every step of the setup. And if you need help, just leave a comment.

Good luck!