How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost, and Do They Have Value?

The Cost of Advertising on Facebook

If you have ever wondered what the best way to advertise on Facebook is, and whether it’s worth putting your time, effort and ad spend into such an endeavour, you are not alone.

Many businesses have questioned how to advertise on Facebook, and wondered how they can be assured that their money is going to be put to good use.

Several other businesses, whether an independent SME that relies on local custom, or a full e-commerce conglomerate, have even questioned whether they should even attempt Facebook advertising at all. Here at Digital Marketing Engine, we’re no strangers to questions you may have surrounding the value in using the social media tool for business purposes. You’re not alone.

Facebook has prospered into something more than just a social networking site. It’s now a scalable, customisable marketing platform that can bring businesses closer to their customers, increase their brand awareness and land sales. Advertising on Facebook, and utilising the power of Facebook ads, can pay dividends for your business.

There’s no denying that there will be costs associated with Facebook advertising campaigns; there always is. But before we delve deeper into Facebook ad costs, it’s important to remember one thing:

Facebook ads are an investment. They are not a cost.

Facebook Ads Cost vs. Investment

If you’re reading this, and hoping that Facebook poses an excellent opportunity for your business to generate leads and sales, then we have good news for you.

You can make Facebook ads work for you and your business. Any Facebook advertising campaign has the possibility of generating value to your business, whether in the form of direct revenue or reaching more people through Facebook lookalike audiences.

The reality is you have to be willing to invest in Facebook ads, otherwise they can be unpredictable. Executing the right campaigns takes patience, time and consistent effort. Throwing a random amount of money into a campaign without studying its purpose, your goals, your targets and your objectives, is unlikely to deliver any tangible results for you.

Are Facebook Ads Worth the Investment?

If you’re convinced that Facebook ads are worth your time, you may be wondering how you can be assured they’re going to work.

The really annoying answer is that there is no universal Facebook advertising cost. Unfortunately, it does depend.

There are lots of things which can affect Facebook advertising costs:

• Click-Through Rates (CTR)

If you’re primarily measuring cost-per-click (CPC). Facebook charges on a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) basis. Therefore, if you generate twice as many clicks from the same amount of impressions, your CPC will be halved.

• Ad relevance score

Once an ad receives 500 impressions, Facebook will generate an ad relevance score. This is a number between 1-10 that shows how well your ads are being received by your target audience. This sends the message that your ad content is what users enjoy, which is what Facebook wants.

• Facebook ad objectives

You want to select the campaign objective that best describes what you’re looking for. These people may not be the cheapest audience to advertise to. CPM and CPC may be higher in some cases, but the cost per conversion may be lower as a result. Ultimately, you should think about where customers are with your Facebook sales funnel. Read more about Facebook advertising objectives here.

• The country you’re advertising in

Facebook CPMs vary between countries. These numbers do not necessarily match a country’s average CPC.

There is no clear answer as to what the ideal Facebook ad spend should be. However, we can help figure that out for you.

Should I Try Advertising on Facebook?

As a Facebook advertising agency, Digital Marketing Engine always strive to deliver advice on executing the right campaigns for your business. We know that sometimes it is tricky to identify all of these at once, instead relying on previous Facebook ad examples that have worked for other businesses, and hope for the best.

Just because an ad campaign works for one business does not mean it will do the same for yours. If you’re prepared to look at Facebook advertising as an investment in your business, rather than a simple cost, then the team here at Digital Marketing Engine can help create those winning campaigns for you.

You may want to consider our Campaign Kickstarter service. We offer a 4-week, no-obligation, short term advertising service which is ideal for companies who don’t want to retain a Facebook ad agency long-term. Your ad spend is included for the period of testing this service out.