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When it comes to proving ad performance on Facebook, there are many details that will “make or break” your creative testing. One of the most important metrics is your click-through rate (CTR).

What Does CTR Mean?

In simple terms – It’s the percentage of people who viewed your ad and end up clicking with the intention of making the next action after seeing your ad. 

What is a Good Facebook Ad CTR?

The word “good” can vary across industries and products being promoted, however, there are a few baselines that advertisers can be guided by. 

CTR varies based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to:

  • Industry
  • Target audience
  • Ad copy 
  • Visual design

According to a recent study, the average click-through rate of Facebook Ads across all industries is .90%. 

Yes, It’s less than one percent. 

But remember, you’re not striving for average. You’re striving for an above average, industry-leading CTR. And that’s possible with the right approach (please keep reading!)

In the same study, the CTR data was broken down by industry.

Facebook CTR

Click-through rates are highest in the legal industry at 1.61%, followed closely by retail at 1.59% and apparel at 1.24%.

Conversely, some industries have a lower average CTR, such as employment and job training (.47%) and finance and insurance (.56%).

Now that you have a basic idea of what a good Facebook CTR looks like, let’s review some tips for beating the averages detailed above. 

How do I Increase CTR on Facebook Ads?

1. Match Your Offer to Your Target Audience

Rule number one: don’t assume that everyone on Facebook will fall in love with your product or service. It’ll never happen. 

By matching your offer to your target audience, you immediately give yourself an advantage. You know you’re putting your ad in front of people who have a genuine interest, and therefore more likely to not only click but convert. 

Learn as much as you can about creating custom audiences and exploring niche interest targets related to your target audience. It takes some trial and error to get it right, but with each tweak, you’re inching closer to your end goal.

Tip: while you’re at it, become better acquainted with Lookalike Audiences on Facebook. This allows you to reach a target audience based on the profile of your best existing customers. 

2. Make Your Ad Copy Standout

It’s simple: if you don’t give people a reason to click on your ad, they won’t. And that’s why it’s critical to perfect your ad copy. 

Carefully choose and review every word in your ad. 

Is it necessary? Does it engage your audience? Is it in the right spot?

There’s no right or wrong way to create standout ad copy, but here are some tips that’ll get you in the right frame of mind:

  • Hook your audience in the first line
  • Align your copy with your visual
  • Include a strong call to action
  • Keep it short and sweet

And just the same as every other aspect of your Facebook Ads, test the copy to see what generates the best CTR. 

3. Write to Your Target Audience

This goes along with point #1 above. Once you know your target audience, it’s easier to write with them in mind.

Don’t take a one size fits all approach with your ad copy. Every audience is different, so your ad copy should change accordingly.

This can mean many different things, such as choosing the right tone of voice and knowing what will make them click.

You can create killer ad copy, but it’ll fall flat if you don’t write to your target audience. 

4. Set a Goal

It’s something that many people overlook. It’s also something that can affect who you target and the way you create headlines and ad copy.

Generally speaking, everyone has the same goal when advertising on Facebook. They want people to click on their ads and convert. 

But that’s not good enough. You need a more specific, clear goal. 

Do you simply want to drive traffic to your homepage? Are you sending your audience to a product-specific landing page with the hopes of making a purchase? Do you want them to sign up for a monthly subscription or email list?

You get the point. There’s no shortage of goals. Once you pin down your primary goal, you can create ad copy that pushes your readers toward converting.

5. Test Multiple Headlines

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but approximately 80% of your Facebook ad audience won’t read a single word past your headline. 

Imagine that. You spend all that time creating killer ad copy (see number two above) and many people never even read it.

But that’s okay. You still have the chance to win them over with an eye-catching headline.

In a similar fashion as ad copy, testing multiple headlines is essential to your success. Don’t expect to get things right the first time around.

Here are five simple tips to implement when writing Facebook Ad headlines:

  • Choose the right number of words (five is a good jumping-off point)
  • Ask a question (but make sure it’s an interesting one)
  • Use words that convey emotion (such as best, essential, great, killer, mindblowing, success, ultimate, and valuable)
  • Don’t shy away from negative headlines
  • Include numbers and/or percentages (5 best, 3 reasons, 99%, etc.)

The next time you create a Facebook Ad, create five headlines to go along with it. 

Write each with one of the tips above in mind. From there, compare the results for a better understanding of what excites your audience. 

6. Experiment with Your Creative

Creative is the primary aspect of your ad that will make it stand out. While audience expansion will help scale your efforts, your biggest opportunity for growth is your creative. And most importantly how you approach creative testing. 

Similar to ad copy testing, you can’t expect that every new creative will beat out your control. With that in mind (and we can’t emphasize enough) you must test. And retest. And continue to test. 

Here are some tips for effective creative testing:

  • Test all different creative formats. Even if video has always been a top-performer, continue to extract your learnings from what has worked in video and apply this to other formats i.e. carousels, collection ads, static images. 
  • Be ahead of creative fatigue. After your control creative has been running for a while but is still performing well, brainstorm ways to iterate off of this control so that you are prepared to launch new creative right as (or even right before!) your control starts to lose traction. 
  • Don’t give up entirely on creative that came close to, but did not exceed the performance of your control. Instead, do an analysis to identify small tweaks that can be made to potentially improve performance. 
  • Iterate off of what works but also look for new, ‘out of the box’ ways to market your product through your creative. Do plenty of competitive analysis and see how you can discover popular trends that could be translated into your own brand’s creative voice.
  • Similar to testing different creative ad formats – it is equally important to test different concepts often. Has branded, short videos always worked well for you? Then try a longer form UGC video with subtitles. You never want your audience to get bored with your ads so it’s imperative to keep things fresh and to have a variety that will appeal to the masses. 

And finally, once again: Always. Be. Testing. 

 Final Thoughts on Facebook Ad Click-Through Rate

With an average click-through rate of roughly one percent, you may not be convinced that Facebook Ads are right for you and your business.

However, as you can see in the sections above, there are many ways to increase CTR on Facebook Ads. 

Experiment with each of these tips, track your results, and tweak your campaigns accordingly. 

What is your average Facebook Ads CTR? Are you satisfied or seeking ways to improve? Share your favorite tricks and tips in the comment section below. 

Paid Media Team
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