Facebook Ad CTR Study– Newsfeed v Display: From The Wolfgang Lab

What’s a good Facebook Ad Click Through Rate (CTR)?

It’s difficult to know as Facebook doesn’t publish its average CTRs. Last summer the Wolfgang crew noticed Facebook newsfeed Ads were becoming more prominent in the Facebook newsfeed and yielding fantastic CTRs. Because this is a new development there is very little published research on newsfeed ad CTRs. So to kick off 2014, we thought it would be great idea to collate all our Facebook ad data from the last 7 months to get conclusive CTR figures for Facebook display ads, Facebook newsfeed ads and get an insight into their comparative performance.

The Study

We’ve analysed 3 million Facebook impressions, the vast majority of which (92%) occurred in Ireland, over the 7 month period between June 2013 to Jan 2014. Here’s what we’ve found:

1. The average CTR for a Facebook display ad is 0.04%, which is about half the average CTR for display ads across the web.
2. The average CTR for a Facebook newsfeed ad is a mighty impressive 2.09%; this is the type of CTR you can expect from Google AdWords which is arguably the world’s best direct response advertising medium.
3. This means your newsfeed ads are a whopping 51 times more likely to generate clicks for you than an identically targeted display ad on Facebook.

CTR is a key consideration for Irish Facebook advertisers due to what I call “The Facebook Paradox”, i.e. although more than half the country is on Facebook (2.4 million users in Ireland), well-targeted ads often suffer from low reach. Consequently, if you have a small target audience for your ads, it is of critical importance that you choose an advertising format that generates a strong response rate.

Raw Data:

• Number of impressions: 3,273,957
• Number of clicks: 53,260
• Number of campaigns: 247
• Timespan: June 13 - Jan 14
• Geography: 92% of impressions in Ireland, 8% international
• Newsfeed Impresions: 2,528,592
• Newsfeed clicks: 52,952 Newsfeed CTR: 2.09%
• Display Impressions: 745,365 Display Clicks: 308
• Avg Display CTR: 0.04%
• Comparative Performance: Newsfeed ads have a 51 times higher CTR than display ads on Facebook

Similar Study - Similar Findings

AdRoll conducted a similar US-centric study last year. They measured Facebook CTRs on retargeted ads via the newsfeed compared to retargeted Facebook display ads. Although they don’t give actual CTRs, they do conclude that newsfeed ads are 49 times more likely to generate a click than display. The AdRoll figure is remarkably close to our 51 times multiple, meaning both studies serve to reinforce each others findings.

Conclusion:

Facebook users across the world have voted with their clicks. With CTRs of 2.09% compared to 0.04%, it's a landslide victory for Facebook newsfeed ads over display ads.