Understanding Advert and Advertiser Scores on Facebook and Instagram
At Gambit Nash we work with our clients to promote their social media accounts. Sometimes we take full control, create the posts, promote them, follow the metrics, manage the growing community.
In other cases, we work differently. The client will provide the messaging, the creatives, the images, and we do the promotion and community management.
However we work, the issues we run up against with META remain constant, and sometimes infuriating.
We’ve mentioned in the past that META want to drive most businesses to advertise to gain sales and brand awareness on their platform. Gradually decreasing the natural reach of even the most beautifully constructed posts and images to encourage the page owners to press the dreaded “Boost” button
[Hint – never just press the Boost button. Without setting up the back end properly, it is most likely money down the drain]
Alongside this push to commercialise, META also change their rules often. Major changes to the rules advertisers and creatives need to follow occur almost weekly.
Some of these changes are in response to government legislation. Typically, new data safety laws require META to alter their work practice – and in turn, as advertisers, we need to alter ours.
Other times rules change to discourage spam marketing or to remove certain topics that are seen as sensitive.
META has a lot of rules.
But what happens if you break them? What is a bad post, or a bad advertisement, and how can Gambit Nash help you to avoid getting “slapped” by a META ban?
How META Advertising Works
META’s advertising platform, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and other properties, is one of the most powerful tools for businesses to reach highly targeted audiences. However, with great power comes great responsibility. When advertisers fail to properly target their demographics or present unclear or irrelevant messaging, it can result in poor performance and even penalties from META itself. Understanding how poorly targeted ads affect your advert score and advertiser score can help you avoid costly mistakes, such as a suspended ad or even a violation notice.
What Are Advert and Advertiser Scores on META?
META uses sophisticated metrics, such as advert and advertiser scores, to assess the quality of ads running on its platform. These scores are crucial for ad performance and play a significant role in determining the cost of your ads, reach, and overall effectiveness.
Advert Score: This is primarily based on how relevant an ad is to the audience it’s targeted toward. An ad with high engagement (likes, comments, shares) signals to META that it is relevant and valuable to users. Conversely, if an ad has low engagement or receives negative feedback (such as being hidden by users), its advert score will decrease.
Advertiser Score: META also evaluates the overall reputation of the advertiser. If an advertiser regularly produces poor quality or misleading ads, receives many complaints, or violates community standards, their advertiser score will drop. This can lead to restrictions or penalties, such as higher ad costs, limited reach, or account suspension.
The Consequences of Poorly Targeted Ads
Low Engagement Rates and Negative Feedback
When ads are poorly targeted, they are unlikely to resonate with the audience. This can lead to lower clickthrough rates (CTR) and engagement, both of which lower your advert score. Furthermore, poorly targeted ads may result in users marking them as irrelevant or even reporting them, leading to negative feedback. META closely monitors this feedback, and consistent negative reactions can result in ad penalties, such as decreased impressions or higher costs to run the ad.
Wasted Budget
Poor targeting leads to showing ads to people who are uninterested in your product or service. Not only does this reduce the effectiveness of the campaign, but it also wastes your budget. With META’s auction system, advertisers are competing for limited ad space, and having poorly targeted ads results in higher costs for fewer results.
Inappropriate or Mismatched Messaging
Even if the audience targeting is correct, the wrong messaging can also lead to low advert scores. If your ad’s message does not match the expectations or needs of the target audience, it can confuse or alienate them. This disconnect can further contribute to a poor user experience, driving users to hide or report the ad.
Violation of META’s Advertising Policies
Badly targeted ads with improper messaging can also violate META’s advertising policies. For example, ads that are misleading, offensive, or promote restricted content can lead to more serious consequences. This includes receiving a violation notice, which could mean temporary or permanent ad account suspension. The platform has strict guidelines, and even if the violation is unintentional, it can have a lasting impact on the advertiser score.
How Poor Targeting Leads to Policy Violations and Suspensions
When ads fail to align with user expectations or demographic preferences, they run the risk of being flagged as spam, misleading, or irrelevant by users or META’s internal algorithms. Here’s how poor targeting can snowball into more significant issues:
- Excessive Negative Feedback and Reports
Ads that consistently receive negative feedback are flagged by META’s system. A high number of reports for spam, misleading content, or irrelevance may lead to the suspension of the ad. If the issue is recurring, META could suspend the advertiser’s entire account or issue a violation notice.
- Violation of Community Standards
META has a detailed set of community standards that ads must follow. If ads include offensive or prohibited content, or are misleading in their targeting, they are subject to removal. Worse, repeated violations can lead to the permanent suspension of an advertiser’s account.
- Suspension of Advert Account
Advertisers who continually deliver low quality ads risk receiving penalties, including reduced reach, increased costs per result, and ultimately, the suspension of their ad accounts. These penalties hurt long term campaigns, making it more difficult to regain a good standing within META’s advertising ecosystem.
Best Practice on META
At Gambit Nash we follow best practice to ensure your message reaches the largest and most appropriate audience at the best cost. With total cost transparency every step of the way.
To achieve this, we follow these rules (and a few more)
Audience Research and Segmentation
Gambit Nash ensure your audience targeting is precise. Take the time to research and segment your audience based on interests, behaviour, and demographics. Meta’s targeting tools are highly granular, so use them to your advantage to ensure your ads are being shown to people who are most likely to engage with them.
A/B Testing
We experiment with different creatives, headlines, and ad copy to see what resonates most with your target audience. A/B testing can help you finetune your messaging and ensure it’s appropriate for your audience. This will lead to better engagement rates, lower costs, and higher advert scores.
Monitor Engagement and Feedback
We keep an eye on how your ads are performing. If you notice a trend of negative feedback or low engagement, pivot quickly. Poor performance in these areas is a sign that your targeting or messaging is off. By adjusting these variables, you can recover your advert score before it leads to more significant problems.
Comply with META’s Policies
We spend a lot of time using advertising platforms. They are all a little different from one another. Keeping up with the rules is (almost) a full-time job. We regularly review META’s advertising guidelines to ensure that your content is in compliance. Even small policy violations can result in big consequences, so stay informed and be proactive in ensuring your ads meet META’s standards.
Gambit Nash. Your Social Media in Safe Hands
Advertising on META offers incredible reach and precision, but it also comes with the responsibility of ensuring high quality, well targeted ads. Poorly defined demographic targeting, and bad messaging can not only hurt your performance but can also lead to account suspension and policy violation notices. By prioritising your advert and advertiser scores, you can maximise the success of your campaigns and maintain a strong presence on the platform.