Do you want to know how much it will cost you to take on a Facebook advertising project?
Are you still in the planning and research phase of your Facebook marketing plan?
The Average Cost of Facebook Ads: A Detailed Guide
Knowing the average cost of Facebook ads will help you from the get-go. If you need a platform to reach a wide target audience, Facebook advertising is one of the best platforms to do it.
In the third quarter of 2020, Facebook ads reached 45 million users more. This brings its advertising audience up to 2.14 billion users.
However, having access to the power and reach of the social media platform doesn’t come at a low cost.
In our guide below, we’ll give you an idea of how much it’ll cost you to advertise on Facebook. We’ve also included the factors that can influence your budget and Facebook ads’ cost.
What Is the Average Cost of Facebook Ads?
You want to advertise your brand or business on Facebook. The question now is how much you need in a Facebook advertising campaign budget. In 2021, the average cost of Facebook ads across all industries is $1.72.
Don’t take that as the typical cost of all Facebook ads. There are still many factors that influence the cost of a typical Facebook ad. For example, industries and audiences can add more to the cost of your Facebook ads.
Before you can create ads, it helps to gather information. Know your audience and understand what they need from your brand. You should also know your competition and what lengths they’ll go to outbid you.
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Below, we’ll discuss those factors further.
What Factors Affect the Cost of a Facebook Ad?
Before you jump ahead and start calculating your budget, you need to know this. Remember, Facebook ads will have varying prices.
The causes of those variations depend on a handful of factors, which are:
- Ad budget
- Audience
- Ad bid
- Ad objective
- Ad placement
- Ad quality
- Industry
- Season
Audience
The demography of your ad audience can increase or decrease the costs of your ads.
For example, a female audience can increase your CPC by $0.55. Age, interests, and other groupings are other factors that affect your ad prices.
Ad Objective
Facebook offers three main ad objectives when you’re in the ad creation phase.
These are Awareness, Consideration, and Conversions. Under each objective, you get to pick specific goals, like brand awareness and traffic.
Certain goals, like product purchases and store visits, are more valuable than others.
Because of their higher values, these ad goals can increase the cost of Facebook ads. Also, goals under Awareness and Consideration cost less than Conversion goals.
Ad Placement
Your Facebook ad can appear in a variety of spaces on Facebook and Instagram.
These include Instagram and the Instagram stories feature. These are more expensive, but they can reach a large number of audiences with ease.
If you want more traditional ad placements, you can opt for Facebook’s newsfeed and right side column. The only problem here is that your ads will get saturated by other ads opting for the same placement.
You also have the Facebook Messenger option. This allows you to target its 1.3 billion users with your ads. You also use Facebook’s Audience Network for ad placement.
Ads that appear on the Audience Network are less costly but still costlier than ads on Facebook. You can decide where you want the ad to appear or use the Automatic Placements feature.
Ad Quality
If you make ads with a high engagement and relevance score, you’ll get more out of your money.
Ads with lower scores cost less, but relevant and engaging ads are more effective. Facebook determines the score of your ad based on performance, engagement, and user interaction.
Industry
Creating ads for certain industries costs more than others.
For example, the finance and insurance industry costs an average CPC of $3.77. Meanwhile, ads in retail cost an average CPC of $0.70. More competitive industries have higher ad costs.
Season
Peak shopping seasons like Black Friday and Christmas can lead to higher ad costs. The reason is that demand for ad space creates a competitive marketplace. Thus, the cost of Facebook advertising also becomes competitive.
How Your Ad Bid and Budget Affects the Cost of Your Facebook Ads
Did you know that 52% of consumers discover new businesses on Facebook? It’s the main channel through which people can find your business, followed by Google Reviews and Yelp. However, advertising a business on Facebook isn’t easy. You need to win the auction first.
Before you do, the first step is to set a budget for your Facebook advertising. It can cost as little as $200 per month or even $1000 per month.
The key thing to note here is that the higher your ad budget, the more flexibility you get.
Your ad budget will also determine how much you’re willing to bid. If you’re not bidding at a competitive rate, your ad will have performance limitations.
As a result, you’ll likely see a low number of impressions and clicks.
The budget you set will affect your ad bid in turn. Remember, you “buy” ads by bidding on them. The highest bidder gets the chance to buy the ad real estate on the platform and place their ads there.
One strategy in bidding is a low-cost bid strategy. Your business will get the lowest possible cost per click. It’s a decent strategy to start with if you’re on a limited budget or new to Facebook advertising.
The other strategy is the target cost bid strategy or manual bidding. This is the strategy to use if you’re looking to convert. However, it can cost you more since you’re actively trying to outbid other businesses.
Improve Your Facebook Advertising Strategy Today
Knowing the average cost of Facebook ads is the best way to prepare your business for your marketing campaign. Learn all about the cost and the different factors that affect it above to ensure an efficient and effective ad campaign today!
Do you want to keep learning about Facebook advertising?
Check out our other guides now for more content on how you can optimize your Facebook ads. We also have other content focused on Facebook marketing, marketing strategies, and more.
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