Facebook Ads Guide 2021: CPMs, Retargeting & More
From the average CPM on Facebook to the best retargeting techniques, here’s your Facebook ads guide for 2021.
Advertising on Facebook in 2021 is not the same as it was just one year ago. Like social lives IRL, the social ad landscape has shifted. New data privacy norms, heightened competition, and a change in what metrics we prioritize are just some of the ways Facebook ads have changed.
If anyone gets it, it’s Lightning AI. Here’s our Facebook ads guide for 2021, so you can do right by your business.
The Facebook advertising situation in 2021
Facebook sure knows how to hold its footing in an ever-changing social media market. With many of the 2.7 billion active users logging in at least 14 times each day, this notion is clear. Even with its sustainability, the platform continues to update and adjust the advertising part of their business — like decreasing the cost of ads by 4% or optimizing mobile for the 94% of Facebook ad revenue that comes from phones.
This year, Facebook is saying goodbye to Facebook Analytics (the platform will be unavailable after June 30, 2021). Instead, they’re focusing on Facebook Business Suite, Ads Manager and Events Manager.
They’re also working against data privacy measures, like Apple’s iOS 14 update that invites users to choose whether or not they’d like to allow tracking on the Facebook app. With Google Chrome also eliminating third-party cookies on their browser, things are bound to change.
Other changes include (but are totally not limited to):
- Event limits: A limit of 8 conversion events per domain
- Removal of 28-day attribution window: From 28 days to a seven-day click and one-day view window
- More groups: Don’t sleep on Facebook Group Ads
In short, Facebook advertisers ought to stay caught up or they risk losing their grip on Facebook’s new functionality.
How to prepare for a successful Facebook ad campaign
Not every business thrives on Facebook, and that boils down to one simple reason: Not everyone’s target audience is on Facebook to begin with. However, most people can find opportunities for audience expansion through this ever-growing platform.
If you want your Facebook ad campaign to be successful, ask yourself a few key questions:
- After defining your target audience(s), find out: Are they on Facebook?
- After honing your business plan: What’s your monthly budget for Facebook ads? (Feel free to start small here and grow as your campaign expands.)
- What are your business goals, and how will you measure them (aka what are your KPIs)?
- Who’s at the helm for your Facebook advertising efforts (aka who’s in charge)?
Why you should focus on your Facebook CPM
Cost-per-mille or cost-per thousand (CPM) = Your cost per thousand impressions.
An impression occurs when a user looks at your ad on Facebook (or another social or search platform).
What is a typical CPM rate?
As of April 2021, the average Facebook cost-per-thousand impressions (or CPM for short) is $11.70. That’s up 1% from the previous month, and it’s pretty high overall. The average CPM shot up in Q4 2020, mostly due to increased competition during the holiday season. At the start of January, rates went way down, but they’re steadily creeping back upward.
What is a good CPM on Facebook?
A typical CPM doesn’t necessarily equate to a good CPM. So what is a good CPM on Facebook? It depends on your industry, how much ad competition you have and the quality of your campaigns.
For example, the telecommunications, publishing, retail, entertainment and health and beauty industries will see a good CPM sit at $0.78–$1.75. That’s a lot lower than the overall average, so it’s important to take your own business circumstances into consideration. An overpriced CPM can cause you to run through your budget without delivering the results you need.
Without considering industry, a good CPM sits around the current average of $11.70.
Why is your CPM so high on Facebook, and how can you manage it?
An overpriced CPM often traces back to poorly targeted audiences. Fortunately, we know how to fix this.
If you want to reduce your CPM, the best way to do so is honing in on your target audiences. You can do this by testing ads with different audiences, creating lookalike audiences, creating custom audiences (i.e. retargeting), optimizing your timing and working on your relevancy scores. Using automation to do this is super efficient and effective.
Manage your CPM on the Facebook Ads Manager under the “Ads” tab. Specify the duration you want to view (like a particular week or month), then click “Performance and Clicks” under the columns tab. Your CPM will be listed here.
How retargeting fits today
Let’s talk a bit more about retargeting (aka remarketing). What does it mean? You’re targeting an ad based on people who have already interacted with your business in some way. Maybe they clicked through an ad previously or they viewed your content.
Targeting this type of warm audience can be much more effective than sticking solely to cold audiences who have never heard of your brand. It’s a way to nurture users, whatever stage of the funnel they may be in. (And yes, nurturing is necessary, evidenced by the fact that 75% of cart contents are abandoned.)
Retargeting continues to be relevant in 2021. Dynamic Ads can help you do this, but you’ll also want input from automated software that helps you find new audiences based on the most useful data. Now, there’s also Dynamic Ads for Streaming (example below) that adds to the existing options.
Facebook is clearly responding to the wants and needs of users.
Your Facebook ads checklist
Feeling ready to launch your Facebook ad campaign this 2021? Make sure you’re prepared before diving in:
- Select your campaign goal (base it off of those questions you answered about your business earlier — see above!).
- Define your audiences. We made this plural for a reason, because new audiences mean new opportunities!
- Prioritize the creative process. Don’t skimp on good design and copy.
- Use A/B testing and continue to update and optimize your ad as necessary.
Facebook ads in 2021: New terrain
Lightning AI lives and breathes Facebook. We help businesses use automation to their advantage. That means automated bidding, ad testing, audience targeting and metric reports (with Facebook analytics on its way out, those metric reports are super helpful).
Want to pick our brain more? Check out our best practices for running Facebook ads in 2021 to hone your skills and reel in results.
