Facebook Advertising Cost and Bidding Strategies

Facebook Advertising Cost and Bidding Strategies

Over the previous articles, we have tried as much as possible to simplify the basic concepts related to Facebook ads. In terms of the different bidding strategies and calculation methods that Facebook uses in calculating the cost of advertising on Facebook. Perhaps this is the hardest part for everyone, because it relates to the methods of accounting. The part that everyone dreads, but in the following we will try to simplify and clarify these concepts in a simple and practical way, in steps that are easy to apply.

The cost of advertising on Facebook

To find out the cost of advertising on Facebook, first of all, before entering into those details. Let’s read some of the statistics we have for advertising of the type of message ads. We want to know how much the message cost to how many individuals. All these statistics are in front of us as we can see:

Note that although it is an advertisement of messages, but here it is billing you by “Impressions” or the number of hits and not by the message. Meaning that for every 1,000 people the ad delivers to, it will be what they cost. When reading the screen shown above we will find that data. The columns in order that give us a clear view of what the advertisement has achieved are as follows:

• “Delivery”: The first column in the statistics shows us whether the advertisement is active or not.
• “Bid Strateg”: a column that shows you the bidding strategy used in the advertisement. Here in our example, “Lowest cost.”
• Budget: It shows you the daily advertising budget that you have previously set.
• “Results”: Here it shows you the results achieved by the advertisement. In the case of announcing messages, you know the number of messages that have been achieved.
• Reach: This ad shows you how many people have reached.
• Impressions: In the event that you want to know the cost of access per 1000 people, you can add a new criterion, it shows you this result, which is “cpm.” You can add this column or criterion from the ad page from a field called columns as we see:

• We choose the option called “Customize columns” as we can see:

• A screen appears. We choose the column we want to add to the results statistics, and let it be here that we want to add the “CPM” we tick it and then click “Apply” as we see:

• You will find that he has already added the column called “CPM” as you specified in the results of the statistics for the advertisement, which knows the cost of every 1000 impressions of the advertisement as we see:

• You can add any other criteria in the same way as described above
• “Cost per Result”: This column shows the cost that each message took, and this cost is the result of dividing the number of hits by the access or the “impressions” by the “reach”
• Amount Spent: This column specifies the total cost spent on advertising. The original is that I do the calculation through “Impressions”.
• “Ends”
• Any statement or information you need to know about the advertisement you made, you will find it available in those columns

In this part, we have developed the basic concepts by which the cost of advertising on Facebook is calculated. How do you get data and statistics for each advertisement you made. We turn to another, no less important part, which is the relationship of the optimization strategy and the bed strategy. All this will be clarified through our example. First, we choose the “Traffic” advertisement, for example.

• Through the “AD Set” page of the advertisement, at the bottom of the page we find the option “Optimization & delivery”, and from there we choose the sub-target on which the advertisement will be improved, as we see:

• What is important to me now is the “Landing page views”, and accordingly, Facebook will participate in auctions that target the audience that enters the sites. How much will be paid in auctions?
• In the event that you left the “Cost control” field. Empty Without limitation, Facebook will enter the auctions, and try to win them at the lowest possible value, as we can see:

• But in the case of specifying a value in the “Cost control” box, let it be, for example 1. This means that I am requesting from Facebook that it enters auctions and improves the advertisement with a value of 1 EGP. as we see:

• You will also find an error message. It shows you that the value you have entered to improve the ad is very little and is not enough to enter auctions, as we see:

• Because the number you type in the “Cost control” field is supposed to be the number through which you will get the result you want, which is one pound, and this number for “Landing page views” is a very small number.
• In the case of choosing another sub-goal to improve the advertisement, such as “Link clicks”, the specified amount of 1 EGP is very sufficient. Does this mean that you are charged for the value of the advertisement, whether by “landing page views” or by “link clicks”? No, because the accounting here is in “Impressions”. But Facebook tries to target ads to people and gets results with the value you specify. In the sense that you ask Facebook that the click or “click” be in a fairy, but the basic accounting system is the number of hits or 1000 “impressions” as we see:

• You should note that the numbers you put are not random or exaggerated numbers. Because if we put 1 EGP for the “Landing page views” sub-goal, you will never get results, and as we saw, Facebook gave us an error and refused to enter bids.
• Even in the case of choosing the “Link clicks”, Facebook can accept a few numbers, let it be 5 piasters, for example. But it will not give you results and will not deliver the ad to anyone. The conclusion is that the numbers you enter are not random. Ads must start with a “lowest cost” strategy. After knowing the “lowest cost” and with experience, you will be able to determine your average and this comes with experience and expertise in your own field.
• It is very important to know that whatever type of “optimization” you use or the bidding strategies you select, and whatever number you select, the accounting system is at 1000 “Impressions”. Here we have come to the end of the section on determining the cost of advertising on Facebook. And here there is a question that arises, are there other ways to calculate? Yes, there are other ways that we will address below.

Other ways to calculate the cost of advertising on Facebook

As we learned in the previous lines, the cost of advertising on Facebook is calculated by “CPM” or the 1000 “Impressions” or the number of accesses. This is the basic calculation method that is done inside all ads. But there are other methods of calculation that we can use, which are 5 methods of calculation, we must know that these methods are variable, but now at the present time there are already 5 methods. How can I use these methods, this is what we will learn about now.

• From the “Campaigns” page, we choose a campaign, for example, “Traffic”.
• Then we go to the “Ad Set” of the campaign at the bottom of the page, you will find the “Optimization & delivery” box at the end written “Show more option” by clicking on it, these options will appear for you as we see:

• And here you are asked? When you get charged, we find in the image shown above that the choice is on “Impressions”.
• In the event that you want to change the system for calculating the cost of advertising on Facebook, you must pay attention to the fact that the accounting system varies from one campaign to another and according to “Optimization & delivery”.
• That is, in the event that you choose the optimization that it is “Landing page views”, this means that the only accounting system or accounting method that is in line with this sub-goal is “Impressions” without the possibility of interfering and changing it as we see:

• But if you choose another “Optimization”, let it be “Link clicks”, you can modify the calculation method as we see:

• We find the second option here shown in the image above is the “Link clicks” and here Facebook will charge you by calculating each click on the advertisement.
• The conclusion in this part and what you need to understand well is that every “optimization” is a different calculation method. First you define the sub-goal that you want to improve through and accordingly you will determine the method of calculation.
• You must also know that Facebook has the intelligence to detect any manipulation. For example, you cannot put the calculation method through the “Link clicks” to announce that you know that he will not get many clicks for a lower cost. Simply Facebook will detect this manipulation and stop the advertisement immediately.
• We assume that you have chosen the method of calculation by clicking or by “Link clicks”. How is CPC calculated? Or in other words, what is the cost per click? The cost per click here is determined based on the bidding strategy you selected before if you left the “Cost control” field. As we can see, he will assume that the bidding strategy is the “lowest cost” and accordingly he will get me the lowest value for one click.

• But in the event that you wanted to specify the value of “cost control”, for example, 1 pound, here what is meant is that the maximum value for one click is 1 pound. You find that the calculation method or “When you get charged” has changed and becomes “Impressions”.
• But if you want to be charged with “Link clicks” in addition to setting the value of one click at 1 EGP, you must change the whole strategy instead of “cost cap” to “Bid cap”.

Conclusion

• Your first priority in the cost of advertising on Facebook is “Optimization”. In the sense that you wanted your sub-goal to be “Landing page views”, so choose it first and most importantly, and you will find that the only accounting method that is suitable for this purpose is “Impressions”, and there is no other method of accounting that goes with this purpose.
• But if you want your goal to be “Link clicks”, choose it. Are there other ways to calculate “Link clicks”? Yes, you will find the choice of “CPC”, which means that you will be billed by clicking.
• In the event that you want to set the price of the click, for example, 1 EGP, specify the value you want and write it in “Cost control” and then choose the “Link clicks”, but in this case the bidding strategy will change to “Bid cap” as we see:

Here, we have learned about two ways to calculate the cost of advertising on Facebook:

• Link clicks.
• “Impressions”.
• Now we will learn about the rest of the calculation methods. First we will go to the campaigns page.
• We choose the video ads, or the “Video views” click on “Continue”.
• Then we go to the “Ad Set” page, and at the bottom of the page we find the “Optimization for ad delivery” page, from which we choose the “Thru play”. It means that you target your ad to people who watch 10 seconds of the ad’s video as we can see:

Scrolling down to see the method of calculation, we find that there are two methods of accounting:

• The “Impressions”
• Thru play, we will choose Thru play, which means that you will be charged for people who watch 15 seconds of the video.
• If you want to specify a single view, let it be 5 piasters, write the value in “Cost control”. When determining the value, you will find that the accounting system has become automatic with “Impressions” as we see:

• In the event that you want to set the viewing value and at the same time calculate with “Thru play” and not “Impressions”, specify the value and choose the “Thru play” system, but in this case you will change the strategy to “Bid cap” as we see:

• If you want to change the “Optimization” and choose the “2Second continuous video views” as we can see:

• We see that the possible calculation methods are two methods, the first with “Impressions”
• The second “2-Second Continuous Video View” means that you will be charged for people who watch two consecutive seconds of the video.
• In the same way as before, if the “Cost control” field is left blank, you leave him to dispose of the lowest cost of viewing.
• In the event that we want to specify the cost per view, we will write a value in the “Cost control” field, let it be 5 piasters.
• Then we change the strategy for “Bid cap”.
• After that change the accounting method to “2-Second Continuous Video View” as we can see:

Here, we have known two other types of methods for calculating the cost of advertising on Facebook:

• Thru play.
• 2-Second Continuous Video View.
• We will now know the last type of account methods on Facebook. By opening the “engagement” campaign, you will find in the “engagement” campaign several options, as we can see:

• In the case of choosing the type called “Page likes” in the “Engagement” campaign, which is to get the page liked.
• When we move to the “Ad Set” page of the advertisement, we will find that the accounting system here is in two ways: “Impressions” or “Page like”.
• You can also bill through the “Page like” by setting the price of the “like”, for example, 00.5 piasters and then change the strategy to Pid cap as we see:

Thus, we have linked “Optimization” to “Bid Control” and the five accounting methods, which are:

• “Impressions”.
• Link clicks.
• Thru play.
• 2-Second Continuous Video View.
• Page likes, which are the methods for calculating the cost of advertising on Facebook.

With this, we may have finished knowing all about the cost of advertising on Facebook and bidding strategies, and we will learn together in the following article about the budget and schedule.