Meta Advertising Expectations and the Most Common Phrase

If you’re a Meta advertiser who manages ads for others, it’s important you make this phrase a regular part of your language: “It depends.”

It’s not a copout. It’s not meant to avoid accountability. Instead, it will help you uncover the context that’s necessary to provide a more specific answer.

Let me explain…

The Simplistic Question

Those who are ignorant to the complexity of Meta advertising expect direct and specific answers to simple questions. It just isn’t possible.

What’s a good starting budgetA budget is an amount you're willing to spend on your Facebook campaigns or ad sets on a daily or lifetime basis. More? It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and how much it will cost to get the actions you want.

How many purchases will I get if we spend $100 per day? It depends on the effectiveness of the ad, the cost of the product, the performance of the website, competition in the auctionFacebook uses an ad auction to determine the best ad to show to a person at a given point in time. The winner of the auction is the ad with the highest total value, based on bid, estimated action rates, and ad quality. More, and a whole lot more.

What’s a good cost per lead? It depends on how much information we request and what the offer is. Is a lead someone who is requesting more information about the potential purchase of real estate? Or are they subscribing to a free ebook? What industry is it?

Too many questions about Meta advertising assume an easy answer. This stuff isn’t black and white.

The Many Factors

Your results and what you can expect are reliant on so many different factors. Here are just a few of them…

Your industry
Your product
Price of your product
Reputation of your brand
Size of your audienceThis is the group of people who can potentially see your ads. You help influence this by adjusting age, gender, location, detailed targeting (interests and behaviors), custom audiences, and more. More
Effectiveness of your website
Budget available to spend
Competition
Seasonality
Countries where your customers live
Copy
Creative assets and resources available
Organic efforts
Pixel, events, Conversions APIConversions API provides a direct connection between your conversion results and Meta to be used for ad set optimization and reporting. Examples include both web and offline events. By using a Conversions API, you can send Meta a more complete picture of conversion activity to help improve your results. More, and ability to track
What a lead looks like
Your offer
Length of your commitment to advertising

I hope it’s obvious why each of these factors can drastically impact how you’ll answer very general questions related to Meta advertising expectations.

This list is really just scratching the surface. There are so many factors that impact performance that we may not even know or think about.

Understand that expectations aren’t universal or robotic. These factors are a big reason why.

How to Answer

When I tell advertisers to freely use the phrase “It depends,” many misunderstand what I mean. They assume that I recommend only saying “It depends” and nothing more.

No. This is how you continue the conversation. This phrase will lead to clarifying questions that will help provide a workable structure of what to expect.

What is a good cost per lead?

It depends. First, know that we don’t only want cheap leads, but quality leads. Second, are these leads who will get something in return like a white paper, or are will they be contacted by a salesperson? Third, what is our offer? Have you seen success with this thing before?

You still won’t be able to give exact numbers, but once you get these questions answered you’ll be able to provide a much clearer range of expectations.

“It Depends” Can Help Set Expectations

If you are looking to sign a new client, it may be enticing to give clear answers and expectations to sound more knowledgable and confident. Resist.

This does the opposite. Saying “it depends” shows that you understand the nuance of Meta advertising. You know that there isn’t a simple formula that spits out results.

This also helps you educate the potential client. It allows you the opportunity to show them the various factors that will impact their results. It may help them better understand why a bigger challenge may be ahead.

Not only will this better set expectations, but it can also help you gain trust. You aren’t misleading them with a simplistic answer. They now understand that because of these factors, your timeline or costs may be different.

If you want long-term clients, this is a much smoother approach to take.

Embrace That “It Depends”

You’re a good advertiser, but you aren’t magical. You know that you won’t get the same results with every client. The right client can actually set you up for success.

Many of the factors that impact results are outside of your control. Some will actually be an advantage, while others will put you behind the 8-ball. Recognize them. Communicate them to your clients and potential clients.

Help them understand why “it depends.”