What is ‘Frequency’ and how is it used in Facebook advertising?

The Facebook Frequency metric is one of the harder-to-master aspects of social media advertising: it’s the average number of times that each person saw an advert.

How is it calculated:

Frequency is calculated by using sample data, sampling is an approach that uses a portion of data instead of analysing an entire set of data. Even though all the data isn’t analysed, the portion of data that is analysed provides a good representation of the larger population.

Impressions divided by Reach equals Frequency. Facebook ad frequency is an overall average, as we mentioned above the data taken is a portion of a larger number and some people in the audience might have been reached many times, and others might have been reached only once.

How is it used:

Frequency helps to remind and build awareness by showing an ad to people in your target audience multiple times. It’s vital to monitor your ad’s frequency closely so you can make sure your ads aren’t being seen by the same people too often.

When is high Facebook Frequency a problem?

If your frequency numbers rise and at the same time your ad performance drops, then your audience might be experiencing ad fatigue. Sometimes ads continue to deliver great results even if the frequency numbers are high, but this needs to be checked daily.

It’s hard to pinpoint the ideal frequency number but if your ads have stopped performing, make sure your frequency isn’t higher than 2.0- 2.5. This number depends on the size of your Facebook ad budget and the size of your target audience.

The smaller your audience is the faster your Facebook ad frequency will increase so if for example you are ONLY targeting people that visited your page the last 30 days and the size of your audience is just a few thousand people then your ad will be shown to that small audience over and over again.

As a result, the audience will see your ad way too many times, which can be annoying, and your frequency will go up. On the other hand, if you have an ad that has been running for 5 months and the frequency is only now rising above 2.0, then you can keep the ad running for longer by keeping an eye on the frequency regularly.

Here is a helpful chart of Facebook’s Frequency Factors:

If you have seen a decrease in conversions and need help overcoming high frequency, we can help! Get in touch if you want to learn more about Facebook advertising by using our contact form here.