Why Facebook Ads are so expensive in 2022
If you’re a marketer sat there thinking why have Facebook ads gotten so expensive in 2022, then you’ve come to the right place!
The average cost-per-click (CPC) of Facebook ads is only going up with no end in sight. This screams bad news for all digital advertisers and marketers. Suddenly your ad budget isn’t sufficient anymore and growth begins to stagnate.
However, at least you aren’t alone in this complaint. 85% of digital marketers are extremely worried about the rising cost of Facebook ads and 47% of them believe they will be “priced out” of the market if prices continue to go up, according to a LiveIntent survey.
The past year has seen some of the largest increases ever in the cost of Facebook ads and with 3.7 million businesses currently running ad campaigns through Facebook, amounting to $5.5 billion in ad spend, we need a solution to this problem fast.
That’s why in this article we’re going to examine the factors causing this dramatic change and tell you exactly what you can do to combat this increase.
That’s right, we have a solution to the problem of expensive Facebook ads!
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Why are Facebook Ads so Expensive now?
The affordability of Facebook Ads is seriously getting called into question in 2022. CPM increased from around $3.60 in February to over $8.60 in June last year and is still rising. This unsustainable increase in price is hurting marketers around the globe.
Let’s take a look at what’s causing this dramatic problem.
iOS 14
The main reason why Facebook Ad prices are increasing is the dramatic changes that iOS 14 brought about in terms of privacy.
We’ve spoken about the impact of iOS 14 in many articles such as;
- Impact of iOS 14 on Digital Advertising
- Optily Shorts: The post-iOS 14 world of ads
- Optily Shorts: Post-iOS 14 Facebook Attribution Window Changes
- What happens to our ads when the cookies go away?
To summarize the situation, Apple announced changes with iOS 14 that impacted the way in which Facebook is able to receive and process conversion events from tools like the Facebook pixel.
Apple now requires all apps in the App Store to ask the user for permission for the app to track them outside the platform, prohibiting certain data collection and sharing unless users opted in to tracking on iOS 14.
The changes affected any business that advertises on the social media platform or marketers on the wider internet as social media reports were skewed.
Supply and Demand
As with all businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic has played a role in changing the industry. Many businesses went online, which made Facebook Ads a vital part of almost all businesses’ marketing strategies.
With this increased demand for online ads and the same supply as before, the prices of ads were sure to increase. However, with the pandemic slowly becoming a thing of the past we would expect to see the price falling as businesses are allowed to open in person again. This expected fall is not being seen, unfortunately so this doesn’t tell the full story.
What is the Solution to Expensive Facebook Ads?
To find out the most effective way to combat the issue of rising ad prices on Facebook I spoke with Adam Vaira, Client Strategy Consultant, here at Optily.
Adam has hands-on experience with customers just like you and hears the same complaints about Facebook Ads every single day. “Why is my ROAS so low?” and “Why won’t my ad budget cover the cost of Facebook ads anymore?” are common questions he gets, but Adam has a solution.
The Solution to Expensive Facebook Ads
A successful marketing funnel strategy will not only reduce your overall customer acquisition costs, therefore, increasing ROAS, but nurture your customer through a buying journey.
When this journey is built correctly, your customer will have high consumer satisfaction levels leading to positive reviews, and referrals for your business down the line. This will improve your overall marketing efficiency ratio as well as leave your customers happy, it’s a win/win!
There are three main sections of a funnel strategy – Top, Middle, and Bottom of Funnel. Adam gave me some insight into how Optily approaches each of these segments with the impact of iOS in mind.
Top of Funnel
Optily’s focus here is to optimize our customer’s ads for visibility. We recommend the use of short-form video campaigns using conversion events such as video views or reach to cast a wide net at the Top of the Funnel.
This keeps CPM low and allows us to build audiences of people who have engaged with our customer’s business content.
Middle of Funnel
At the middle of the funnel, we optimize for cost-effective traffic. An effective way to do so is by creating traffic campaigns that educate your customer through the use of social proof, testimonials, and user-generated content.
Optily looks for high CTRs and low CPCs to find the audiences that drive affordable traffic with a high likelihood to convert.
Bottom of Funnel
The bottom of the funnel is all about optimizing for revenue.
At this stage, we have already piqued the interest of audiences who have viewed our TOF video content and engaged with our social proof campaigns at MOF. It’s now time to close the sale.
Here, we use conversion-optimized campaigns targeted at these ‘hot audiences’ delivering an ad that creates a sense of urgency, answers the question “Why Now?” and offers a special discount.
How does Optily solve the problem of expensive Facebook Ads?
The issue with relying on Facebook Ads Manager data alone is that it only knows what’s going on within the Meta environment. Optily unifies Facebook and Google Ads data, Google Analytics, and Shopify sales data into a single dashboard.
Now, rather than having to rely mainly on Facebook CBO for your optimization, Optily does the heavy lifting. It instantly evaluates all your campaigns and recommends where to spend at each stage of the funnel for the maximum impact.
Conclusion
Rising ad costs and new privacy updates have made Facebook ads difficult to use effectively for any marketer. Lower ROAS for a higher cost isn’t an attractive offer.
But, as discussed, there is a solution: Optily – A revolution in digital ad spend management.
All indications point toward ad prices continuing to rise on all major platforms. Get ahead of the game and of your competition today. Optily can supercharge your advertising bringing back the ROAS you are used to and growing it far, far beyond.
Join the revolution by clicking the button below.
