Relevance score refers to a rating from 1-10 that measures the quality and level of engagement of Facebook ads. It’s generated by Facebook once an ad receives 500 impressions.
It’s an important metric that not only tells you how well your target audience receives your ad but also determines how much you pay for advertising.
Facebook punishes ads with low relevance scores (4 and below) with higher advertising costs and rewards those with high relevance scores (8 and above) with lower costs. This is meant to discourage advertisers using the platform from showing irrelevant ads to their target audiences.
We’ll show you the steps you can take today to increase your Facebook ads relevance score, but first, let’s look at how relevance score is determined.
How is Facebook Ads Relevance Score Determined?
There are different factors that are used to determine the relevance score of each Facebook ad. These include social proof, ad engagement, etc. However, the most important factor is the feedback an ad receives from its viewers.
Feedback here can either be positive or negative. Positive feedback occurs when your target audience takes your desired action after viewing your ad i.e., clicking on your website link to purchase your product or service, registering for your upcoming event, and so on.
Negative feedback, on the other hand, occurs when your target audience flags or hides your Facebook ads. This mostly happens when you run ads that are either irrelevant or uninteresting to your audience.
So, how does positive or negative feedback affect your Facebook ads’ relevance score? Well, receiving more positive feedback from your ad viewers increases your relevance score, while receiving more negative feedback lowers your relevance score.
And of course, when your ad relevance score decreases, your advertising costs become high. This is why it’s important to pay close attention to your relevance score and know how to keep it high at all times.
How to Increase Your Facebook Ad Relevance Score
#1 Limit the Amount of Text in Your Ad Image
For a long time, Facebook had a 20% rule that required advertisers to use no more than 20% of text in their ad images, and ads that didn’t adhere to this rule were rejected.
While the rule is no longer enforced, using too much text in your ad image can lead to Facebook limiting your ad reach.
Having limited ad reach (the number of people who’ve been exposed to your ad at least once in their newsfeed) reduces the amount of feedback your ad receives, which in turn, lowers your relevance score.
Therefore, if you want to keep your relevance score high, it’s best to limit the amount of text in your ad image to 20% or less.
#2 Run Multiple Ad Variations Simultaneously
Other than limiting your Facebook ad image text, you also need to serve multiple ad variations to your target audience if you want to increase your relevance score.
This is important because people get bored very quickly when they see the same ad over and over again. And when they can’t take it anymore, they’ll either flag or hide your ads, which affects your relevance score negatively.
But, if you create multiple ad variations and serve them simultaneously to your target audience, it can help keep your ads fresh and interesting and prevent ad fatigue.
#3 Shorten Your Retargeting Window
Retargeting is a marketing strategy that involves displaying relevant ads to people who’ve previously interacted with your website but left without making a purchase.
The aim of retargeting is to keep your brand name on top of their minds so that they can return and buy your products or services when they’re finally ready to do so. You can use retargeting ads from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, etc.
Facebook retargeting allows advertisers to target prospective customers who’ve visited their websites in the last 180 days with ads. Though most advertisers use this retargeting window, 6 months is a long time to wait before reaching out to such prospective customers.
So, consider using a shorter retargeting window of say, 30 days or 14 days, if possible. Your Facebook retargeting ads are more likely to receive positive feedback when you use a shorter retargeting window than a long one. And, of course, the more positive feedback your ads receive, the higher your relevance score becomes.
#4 Use Low-Cost Offers to Target Cold Audiences
Cold audiences are audiences who are complete strangers to your business. They’ve never heard about your brand name before and aren’t familiar with your products or services.
Advertising high-value products or services to cold audiences is not advisable because they’re less likely to take the action you’d like them to take. This often leads to more negative feedback on your ads, which affects your relevance score negatively.
This is why you need to target them with low-value products or services to encourage them to make a purchase. More purchases translate to more positive feedback, which increases the relevance score of your ads.
#5 Use Social Proof from Warm Audiences to Qualify New Campaigns
Another proven way to increase your Facebook ads relevance score is by using social proof from warm audiences in your new campaigns.
Warm audiences are audiences who’ve interacted with your brand in some way, whether that’s by visiting your website, liking your Facebook page, consuming your content, buying your products, subscribing to your email list, etc.
Because warm audiences have interacted with your brand before, they’re more likely to engage positively with your ads by liking, leaving positive comments, sharing with their friends, etc.
This is why you need to advertise to them first and get lots of social proof. Once your ad has enough social proof from warm audiences, you’ll certainly get positive feedback when you promote it to cold audiences.
#6 Use a Broader Target Audience
One of the many reasons why advertisers love Facebook so much is because it allows them to choose the specific audience they want to advertise their products or services to.
However, some advertisers make the mistake of narrowing their target audience too much, which negatively affects their ad performance and relevance score.
So, if your relevance score is currently low and your target audience is too narrow, you should consider using a broader audience to help increase your ad reach, and consequently, the positive feedback your ad gets from viewers.
#7 Use Emojis in Your Ad Copy to Boost Engagement
Lastly, emojis have a reputation for being unprofessional, which is why many advertisers avoid them.
But, before doing the same, remember that you need your target audience to take your desired action to improve your Facebook ads relevance score. And the first step in getting them to take action is to grab their attention.
Emojis are highly effective in grabbing people’s attention. Using them in your ad copy will make your ad stand out from the rest, making your target audience want to read your copy, view your ad and take your desired action.
Just be careful not to go overboard with the emojis. Using too many will not only make your copy unreadable but also make Facebook disapprove of your ads.
Relevance score remains one of the most important metrics for Facebook advertisers. Keeping it high helps lower your advertising costs and increase your overall ad success.
