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Facebook CTR goes WAY down when switching to manual CPM bid??

by Peace2
11 replies
I had an ad with 0.685% CTR, running the default "Get more likes" program. The problem was, it was way too expensive: average CPM of .53 - average CPL of .36

I got the sense FB was over-charging me, because I used their automatic ad bidding.

So I tried switching the EXACT same ad to the recommended manual CPM of .14 (the range was .06-.14)

Ran $5 worth today. Got 0 "Likes" and a .007% CTR.

What is going on?? Why is the same ad failing with a lower manual CPM, if the audience is exactly the same?
#bid #cpm #ctr #facebook #manual #switching
  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    The problem is not that Facebook is over charging you. The bid is just that a bid. Facebook automatically adjusts your amount so you can compete with what other people are bidding.

    The problem IS with your ad. You need to change up your ad copy and/or image. Facebook will show a low quality ad if you agree to pay more for it. You ad is likely low quality so then Facebook is only showing the ad if you pay more. When you went to manual Facebook was no longer able to raise the CPM to a level as to where it is worth it to them to show this low quality ad.

    As I said what you need to do is adjust your ad. Also are you only running one ad? You should be running several 8-12 to see which ones work best then focus your budget on only the productive ones.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peace2
    But it DID run the manual ad - it spent all the budget and reached 117,000 people, but got 0 likes. Again, why would an ad with a .6 CTR suddenly become .007 CTR?

    What changed, if I did not change anything? .6 CTR says to me that the problem was not with the ad.
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    • Profile picture of the author Wendy Hearn
      I think what you're saying is that you started with oCPM (optimized CPM) then switched to CPM (bidding manually) ?

      If so, oCPM (optimized CPM) means that facebook will optimize the campaign to show the ad to people who are more likely to take the action that you want (likes in this case).

      But when you switched to CPM (bidding manually) this doesn't happen.

      Might be why you didn't see any likes when you changed to CPM.

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    • Profile picture of the author brutecky
      Originally Posted by Peace2 View Post

      But it DID run the manual ad - it spent all the budget and reached 117,000 people, but got 0 likes. Again, why would an ad with a .6 CTR suddenly become .007 CTR?

      What changed, if I did not change anything? .6 CTR says to me that the problem was not with the ad.
      Im sorry but your ad was seen by 117,000 people and you got 0 likes, there is something wrong with your ad. Im also confused you say you got a .6 CTR but 0 likes. So your telling me 702 people clicked your ad but no one liked you? Where did you direct them?

      Finally as I said when your setting a low CPC that your willing to pay the ad will be seen by less people. A smaller sample can lead to a lower CTR, it can actually lead to a higher CTR as well but looks like you where unlucky. Think if it this way .. if I ask 500,000 people do you like Coke or Pepsi than Ill get an accurate fairly accurate answer. But if I only ask 500 people the answer is likely to be skewed one way or the other, because with a low sample its more likely that Im going to get mostly people who like on or the other. Same here, when you lower the CPC your willing to pay you get a lower sample of people viewing your ad so the CTR is more likely to be skewed on way or the other way vrs the normalized results you got with a large sample.
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  • Profile picture of the author markhimeb
    For this CTR it is obvious that you have to re-make your ad. I would split test four versions of the same ad:
    1 as it is now
    1 with a different image, but the same text
    1 with a different text, but the same image
    1 with a different text and image

    Do these and keep the ad with the best CTR and CPC or CPL (c-p-like).

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vector Graphics
    I have also had the same thing happen to me before on more than one occasion. I think one thing optimized CPM does is that it shows your sponsored ad higher in the newsfeed than if it was just manual CPM.
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  • Profile picture of the author ppcmanager
    It is fairly normal to have low CTR & low # of likes from an ad running low manual CPM bid. Based on my experience, this is so because Facebook has a massive inventory of "impressions" or users who do not take actions on ads (click/like/convert) etc. So when bidding on CPM basis, most of the impressions comes from such audience base.

    If experimenting with the Ad Copy does not works (which happens a lot in such cases), you would have to either raise the bid or switch back to oCPM model.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kushranada
      Originally Posted by ppcmanager View Post

      It is fairly normal to have low CTR & low # of likes from an ad running low manual CPM bid. Based on my experience, this is so because Facebook has a massive inventory of "impressions" or users who do not take actions on ads (click/like/convert) etc. So when bidding on CPM basis, most of the impressions comes from such audience base.

      If experimenting with the Ad Copy does not works (which happens a lot in such cases), you would have to either raise the bid or switch back to oCPM model.
      This is definitely the answer you needed here. If you were still able to convert a decent amount of people with the oCPM model, then your ad should be fine when you run it again. Be vary wary of the manual CPM model.

      Now, if you want to lower some of the oCPM parts, you can use the Power Editor on your ads to lower the cost of clicks, reach, actions, etc. Search on the forum for some of banwork's threads.
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  • Profile picture of the author LuckyLuke
    I have the same problem. My audience is super-targeted. 3500 people.

    I set the manual CPM, the highest amount they suggest.

    I got 10% CTR, 100 views, and paid only $0.20 for all that, 0.02 per action.

    But then FB suddenly stopped showing my ad, my bid still at the highest, so I thought:
    Let's try optimized CPM and see what happens.

    Well suddenly the ad reach went up again, but I paid insane amounts for actions, like $2.00

    That resulted in all my campaigns maxing out!

    Boooom, $350 bucks gone

    Weird system isn't it?
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  • Profile picture of the author junkdna
    Interesting discussion. Has anybody managed to beat oCPM with manual CPC or CPM? I haven't ;-)
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    • Profile picture of the author LuckyLuke
      Originally Posted by junkdna View Post

      Interesting discussion. Has anybody managed to beat oCPM with manual CPC or CPM? I haven't ;-)
      Yeh, but it looks like FB is not letting you tap those cheap clicks for long. Check my post above. The system is rigged (if you ask me)!
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