Social Media Ad Metrics & Formulas: A Helpful Cheat Sheet
Here’s a helpful cheat sheet for common social media ad metrics and the formulas used to derive them so you can successfully measure your social media ad efforts.
Social Media Ad Metrics
See these words and terms in your ad reports, but don’t know exactly what they mean? Still unsure of the difference between “reach” and “impressions”? Have you always wondered how Facebook or Twitter or whichever channel you’re on is calculating the engagement rate for your posts? Read on!
Understanding these will help you understand the ROI of your social media ads.
Reach
The unique number of people who saw your ad.
Impressions
The total number of times your ad was seen. If the 1000 people reached were each displayed the ad 5 times, then the total impressions would be 5000.
Cost Per Click
How much you paid for each click. This metric is often associated with website click ads. If you spend $100 and receive 500 clicks, the cost per click is $0.20.
Formula: ad spend ÷ clicks
Cost Per Engagement
How much your paid for each engagement. This metric is associated with promoted posts and sponsored updates. If you spend $100 and get 50 interactions, the cost per engagement is $2.00.
Formula: ad spend ÷ engagements
Cost Per Like/Follow
How much each new fan/follower cost. This metric is associated with new fan/follower ads. If you spend $100 and receive 100 new followers, the fan acquisition cost is $1.00.
Formula: ad spend ÷ new fans/followers
Click Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. This metric is associated with website click ads. If 1000 people see your ad and 50 click on it, the CTR is 5%.
Formula: clicks ÷ reach
Conversion Rate (CR)
The percentage of people who like/follow you after seeing your ad. This metric is associated with new fan/follower ads. If 1000 people see your ad and 500 follow you, the CR is 50%.
Formula: new fans/followers ÷ reach
Engagement Rate (ER)
The percentage of people who engage with your content after seeing it. This metric is often associated with promoted posts. If 1000 people see your post and 5 interact, the ER is 0.5%.
Formula: people engaged ÷ reach
And now you know!