What is the relevance score in Facebook Ads and how is it calculated?

The Relevance Score was a metric used by Facebook to gauge how well your ad resonates with your target audience. It has been replaced by a more comprehensive set of metrics under the "Ad Relevance Diagnostics" umbrella, which includes **Quality Ranking**, **Engagement Rate Ranking**, and **Conversion Rate Ranking**. Here's a detailed explanation of the relevance score and how it was calculated, along with the new metrics you should be aware of:

### **Relevance Score (Historical Context)**

**Definition**:
The Relevance Score was a score from 1 to 10 that indicated how relevant your ad was to the audience it was shown to. A higher score suggested that your ad was well-targeted and engaging, while a lower score indicated potential issues with relevance.

**Calculation**:
The Relevance Score was based on several factors, including:

1. **Ad Feedback**: User interactions such as likes, shares, comments, and clicks.
2. **Negative Feedback**: Instances where users hid the ad or marked it as irrelevant.
3. **Engagement Metrics**: Click-through rate (CTR) and other engagement rates.
4. **Ad Performance**: Metrics such as conversion rates and the quality of the landing page.

**Implications**:
- **High Relevance Score**: Generally led to lower costs and better ad delivery due to the ad's perceived relevance.
- **Low Relevance Score**: Resulted in higher costs and potentially lower ad delivery as Facebook's algorithm deemed the ad less relevant.

### **Ad Relevance Diagnostics (Current Metrics)**

With the phasing out of the Relevance Score, Facebook now uses a set of diagnostic metrics to provide more granular insights into ad relevance:

1. **Quality Ranking**:
   - **Definition**: Measures the perceived quality of your ad compared to other ads targeting the same audience.
   - **Factors**: Includes feedback from users, ad content quality, and the user experience on the landing page.
   - **Ranking**: Ranked as Above Average, Average, or Below Average.

2. **Engagement Rate Ranking**:
   - **Definition**: Indicates how your ad's engagement rate compares to other ads targeting the same audience.
   - **Factors**: Measures how well your ad is engaging users through interactions such as clicks, likes, comments, and shares.
   - **Ranking**: Ranked as Above Average, Average, or Below Average.

3. **Conversion Rate Ranking**:
   - **Definition**: Compares your ad's conversion rate to other ads targeting the same audience.
   - **Factors**: Takes into account the rate at which users who interacted with your ad complete the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up.
   - **Ranking**: Ranked as Above Average, Average, or Below Average.

### **How to Use Ad Relevance Diagnostics**

1. **Monitor Performance**:
   - Regularly check the Ad Relevance Diagnostics in Ads Manager to understand how your ad is performing relative to competitors.

2. **Optimize Quality**:
   - Improve ad quality by ensuring that your ad content is relevant, engaging, and aligns well with the target audience's interests and behaviors.

3. **Enhance Engagement**:
   - Increase engagement by using compelling visuals, strong calls-to-action, and personalized content that resonates with your audience.

4. **Improve Conversion Rates**:
   - Optimize your landing page and conversion funnel to make it easy for users to complete the desired actions after interacting with your ad.

5. **Adjust Targeting**:
   - Refine your audience targeting based on the diagnostic metrics to ensure that your ads reach users who are more likely to engage and convert.

### **Accessing Ad Relevance Diagnostics**

- **Ads Manager**: You can view Ad Relevance Diagnostics in Ads Manager by selecting the relevant ad or ad set and then accessing the "Performance" or "Columns" settings to include the diagnostics metrics in your reports.
- **Reports**: Customize your reports to include Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking to track ad performance.

### **Summary**

While the Relevance Score was a single metric evaluating ad relevance, Facebook now uses Ad Relevance Diagnostics, which includes Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking. These metrics provide a more detailed understanding of how well your ad is performing in terms of quality, engagement, and conversions relative to other ads targeting the same audience. Monitoring and optimizing based on these diagnostics can help improve your ad effectiveness and overall campaign performance.