Facebook announced that they would be refining their Ad Metrics starting April 30, 2019. The new metrics will now offer far more granular details so that brands can better understand their Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). The revised metrics will now also address demands from marketers for more actionable data. 

The new holistic Purchase ROAS metric is garnering the most attention from marketers and advertisers. According to CMSWire.com, an online publication trusted by over 2.7 million influential digital and marketing executives, this new Purchase ROAS metric is specifically designed to satisfy marketers requests for improved cross-channel metrics, a top priority. 

CMSWire.com reports:

The demand among marketers for cross-channel metrics is high. A recent eMarketer report found cross-channel attribution and cross-channel audience identification [are] the top priorities for marketers in their strategies and their budgets. Simplifying the measured elements of an ad campaign performance ranks among Facebook’s best bets to address that interest. 

So what is the new Purchase ROAS and how does it measure cross-channel conversions? The new metric measures how audiences engage with ads across channels--desktops, mobile, web, Facebook--holistically. Previously, Facebook kept the results of these channels more separate. The new metric weaves the effects of ads across all channels, tracing the path of the user from ad to conversion with better specificity.       

The new metric will allow advertisers to better allot ad spend to their campaigns, tailoring their budget to the most effective channels. With this more actionable data, brands can better gauge the impact of their ads. Another motivation for Facebook's updates is competition with Google and other platforms. Advertisers report those platforms offer better statistics for decision makers among cross-channel marketing efforts.

Here are the specific updates from Facebook:

Offers Saved and Cost Per Offers Saved

We are removing Offers Saved and Cost per Offers Saved metric and introducing a new Post Saves that will serve as a more inclusive metric for measuring when ads are being saved. We learned that marketers wanted more visibility into when all their ads were being saved, beyond just Offer Ads. The new Post Saves metric will measure the number of times your ad was saved, including all Offer Ad saves. The Post Saves metric will be introduced gradually starting from March 12, 2019, and will count the post saves that occurred on or after February 4, 2019.

Relevance Score

We're replacing Relevance Score metric and replacing that with a new set of ad relevance diagnostics that are clearer and more actionable. Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking can help you better diagnose whether the ads you ran were relevant to the audience you reached. The metrics are best used together, and we've provided additional guidance to help you interpret and act on different results. Ad relevance diagnostics will be introduced gradually and will reflect your ad’s performance in ad auctions that ran on or after March 19, 2019.

Messaging Replies and Cost per Messaging Reply

We are removing Messaging Replies and Cost per Messaging Reply and replacing it with New Messaging Connections and Messaging Conversations Started. Replies can measure replies within new or existing conversations that are attributed to your ad. However we heard feedback that Messaging Replies were not as valuable because marketers are more interested in the NEW conversations that began with people who had never messaged with their business before OR messaging conversations that started after a period of inactivity. New Messaging Connections only measures new conversations, excluding conversations with people who have sent a message to your business in the past. Messaging Conversations Started measures the number of times people started messaging your business after at least 7 days of inactivity.

Mobile App Purchase ROAS and Web Purchase ROAS

Our ROAS metrics will now be aggregated across channels. ROAS metrics allow you to understand the Return On Ad Spend of your ads. Previously, our ROAS metrics were channel specific (i.e. Mobile, Web, On-Facebook). Since the customer's path to purchase is increasingly omni-channel, we need to look at ROAS across channels and consolidate channel specific ROAS metrics into one, holistic Purchase ROAS metric.

Contact Cote Media for a diagnostic check of your Facebook ad campaigns to make sure they are optimized to utilize these shifts.