In late February, Facebook announced changes to their ad metrics based on feedback from businesses. The social network is aiming to make ad metrics more transparent while eliminating approximately 20 ad metrics that marketers don’t believe are helpful.
In their quest for transparency, Facebook introduced two labels in their Ads Manager tool to provide insight to marketers on how certain ad metrics are calculated and how they should be used.
The New Ad Metric Labels
Facebook is now labeling some ad metrics with “estimated” or “in development” to help marketers understand the how certain metrics should be used.
Metrics that are estimated are based on sampling or modeling, according to Facebook. In a statement, the company said that estimated metrics can provide guidance to marketers for outcomes that are hard to quantify in an exact manner.
“They can provide guidance for outcomes that are hard to precisely quantify, and we may update our measurement methodologies as we gather more data and improve our signals,” Facebook said. “When we provide real-time results, we often use sampling methods that allow us to instantly model metrics at scale. By labeling metrics as estimated, you will now know when these methods are used.”
Metrics that are labeled as still in development are subject to continuing experimentation and testing, and may be tweaked or changed as Facebook finds ways to improve them.
“When we launch new ad features, they require metrics that we must test to determine how to provide the best insights. Because the metrics may change as products evolve or as we get more feedback from businesses, we’re indicating these are still in development and subject to change,” the company said.
The two new labels are displayed both in Facebook’s Ads Manager reporting table and the customize column selector for ads that run across Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network.
So What Is Facebook Removing?
Also announced in Facebook’s Feb. 22 statement is the planned elimination of approximately 20 ad metrics that marketers have told Facebook are redundant, outdated, infrequently used or not actionable.
Metrics removed include Button Clicks, Page Mentions, Social Reach and Social Impressions.
Facebook said that social metrics, such as the social reach and social impressions metrics, are “outdated” and that the Page Mentions metric does not differentiate positive and negative feelings toward a brand.
Facebook believes that removing the 20 or so metrics from their site will allow marketers to better measure performance on the social network.
“Removing these metrics will make it easier to identify those metrics that are best suited for measuring business outcomes or providing actionable insights on creative, audience and optimization strategies,” they said.
With growth and change being an ever-present component of social media and digital landscapes, more changes to Facebook’s ad metrics are more likely to take place than not in the near future. For help navigating through the complicated world of social media advertising, Strunk Media Group will be here to provide you with the latest information and quality service as you continue to market your business on social media platforms.