CTR (click-through rate) is a key performance indicator widely used in SEO. It measures the percentage of people who ‘click through’ an ad, prompt, etc. If only one person out of a hundred clicks on an ad displayed on Facebook, that ad has a 1% CTR. If 10 people clicked on the ad out of a hundred, that ad has a 10% CTR.

CTR is not only an essential metric many businesses use to measure their performance, but it is also used by ad serving companies like Google and Facebook to assess the quality of ads.

Accompany’s ads having low CTR on Facebook has a few very negative effects on ad campaigns:

1. Higher costs: Facebook is ultimately an ad-serving business that wants to maximize its profits. Low CTR ads make the platform less appealing and make Facebook make less from the ads it displays. That’s why Facebook’s ad auction system specifically takes CTR into account when determining costs. That means your ads will cost more simply by having a low CTR.
2. Fewer impressions: Not only do Facebook’s algorithms penalize low CTR ads by charging more for displaying them, but they also display them less. Again, these ads are perceived as low quality, and Facebook keeps the quality of the experience on its platform in mind.
3. Less successful ad campaigns: given the two preceding negative effects, this one shouldn’t come as a surprise. Higher costs and fewer impressions mean a less successful ad campaign with smaller profit margins. Many businesses lose money if their Facebook campaign has too many low-CTR ads.

These should show how important high CTR is for a successful ad campaign on Facebook. There’s a silver lining, however: there are easy, practical, and straightforward steps you can take to improve your ads’ CTR in a relatively short amount. In this article, we’ll go over some of them.

1. Create a Compelling Ad Copy

The ad copy is where you communicate with your target audience. Imagine you’re in charge of a financial company, which one of these two ad copies do you think will do better?

• An ad copy that succinctly talks about your services, mentions what does a pay stub look like and what makes your offer stand out, and ends it with a call to action.
• An ad copy that is unfocused and meanders without presenting any value propositions to the reader. One that overstays its welcome and doesn’t end with a call to action.

The answer isn’t difficult, and this illustrates the power of a good ad copy. It can substantially improve CTR.

Sadly, creating a great ad copy requires experience and expertise, and there are no clear guidelines that you can follow to ensure an ad copy will be great. Thankfully, however, there are some common tips you can follow that markedly improve your ad copies:

• Always keep the audience in mind: write a copy that is compelling to the ad’s target audience.
• Make sure the ad is pithy and packed with content: people have short attention spans on Facebook. No one has time to read paragraphs of ad copy. Your ad needs to be concise and straightforward.
• End with a call to action: this is one of the most common ad copywriting tips you’ll hear, and that’s because it works. Make sure you end ad copies with a call to action.

2. Create a Compelling Ad Design

The content of the ad isn’t the only thing that matters, how it is presented has a profound impact on CTR as well. Many marketing agencies endlessly deliberate on the type of images, infographics, videos, etc. they should create to go along with their ads, and this is for very good reason:

• Ads with no images or videos have the lowest click-through rates. This is the reason why Facebook forced all ads on its platform to only contain 20% text up until very recently.
• Adding relevant images to ads generally improves CTR. Dedicating resources to use them in a Facebook ad campaign has great ROI. This is because photos/images are inexpensive to produce and have a measurable impact on a Facebook ad campaign’s success.
• Most marketing experts agree that videos perform best on Facebook, and most data puts the increase in CTR at 20-30% over ads with images. This is a substantial increase. But, you have to remember that videos are far more expensive to produce than images, and they might not have the best ROI. Most businesses create videos for their 2-3 top ads to get the most value out of their investment, and this strategy works.

It is important to keep in mind that we’ve only broadly touched on various types of media you can use in your ads. Ad design is so much more than that: a stylish, relevant image will be far more effective than a rushed, unprofessional video. There’s only one guideline here: make sure the ads look appealing on sight.

3. Target Specific Audiences

Why would people click on an ad? This question might appear basic, but it is a cornerstone of good ad design. Many businesses get lost in the newest trends, ‘power words’ and various other tips and tricks when building their ad campaign, but this is a fundamentally flawed approach. No amount of “power words” will make your ad attractive if the ad doesn’t target the right audience or have a clear value proposition.

So, when designing your ads, make sure you have a clear audience in mind. Who are you writing the ad for? A middle-aged housewife who might need a new hobby? A young businesswoman in her early twenties? By keeping your audience in mind and writing your ads specifically to them, your ads will have value for that demographic. This raises click-through rates substantially.

Thankfully, Facebook gives you very fine control over who your ads target. Do you want to target people in a small geographic location? Do you want to target a specific age group? Do you want to target people with a specific hobby? Do you want to target a combination of all three? All of this and far more is possible with Facebook Audience Insights.