• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • AI Explored Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🌟 AI Society
  • 🗓️ Marketing Conference
  • đź‘‹ About Us
    • Marketing Events
  • Search
  • Embrace AI & MarketingGet Ongoing Training & SupportBEGIN YOUR JOURNEY NOW

    Facebook Ad Relevance Score Updates: What Marketers Need to Know

    by Amanda Robinson / May 20, 2019

    Have you noticed a change in Facebook ad relevance scores? Wondering what the three new Facebook ad relevance diagnostics tell you?

    In this article, you’ll learn how to use Facebook ad relevance diagnostics to improve your advertising campaigns.
    Facebook Ad Relevance Score Updates: What Marketers Need to Know by Amanda Robinson on Social Media Examiner.

    What Changed With Facebook Ad Relevance Metrics?

    Facebook's relevance score is an assessment based on how well your ad is resonating with the audience you're serving it to. Each ad is rated on a scale of 1–10, with 1 being not very relevant and 10 being very relevant to your audience. Ads receive a relevance score when they've generated more than 500 impressions.

    The problem with this metric is that it doesn't give you much direction on how to improve a low score. A low score doesn't tell you if the problem is the ad itself, the audience targeting, or the conversion you're bidding for. There's also a perception that ads with low relevance scores don't get results, which isn't the case. Ads with low relevance scores can still get results; however, a low score may mean there's room to improve your results.

    To help you better assess your ad performance and give you more direction on where to make improvements, Facebook is replacing the relevance score with three ad relevance diagnostics. These metrics assess the quality of the ad, the engagement the ad is receiving, and the ad's expected conversion rate compared to ads competing for the same audience.

    For each of the ad relevance diagnostics, your ads will receive a ranking of Below Average, Average, or Above Average, rather than a single estimate between 1 and 10.

    The new Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics are Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking and Conversion Rate Ranking.

    With the shift from the relevance score to a ranking of how your ads compare to ads competing for the same audience, you can better identify which parts of your ad campaigns need improvement. For instance, a Below Average quality ranking for your ad is a cue to improve the quality of your ad creative or change the audience targeting for that ad to an audience that will better respond to it.

    What if you have a Below Average engagement rate ranking? Your ad is reaching the right people but it may not be compelling or exciting enough to make your audience stop to interact with it. In this case, consider ways to make your ad more eye-catching, or align that ad with an audience that will find it interesting.

    If your conversion rate ranking is Below Average, look at your post-click experience to see if you can make improvements to the customer journey. Keep in mind that conversions may be lower than average but still producing your desired results.

    #1: Find Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics in Ads Manager

    The Facebook ad relevance diagnostics apply only to ads, not to campaigns or ad sets. To access this data, open Ads Manager and click on the campaign you want to examine.

    Locate your Campaign Name in Facebook Ads Manager.

    Next, choose the ad set that contains the ads you want to look at.

    Locate your Ad Set in Facebook Ads Manager.

    AI Business Society

    Ready to Unlock AI Marketing Breakthroughs?

    If you’re like most of us, you are trying to figure out how to use AI in your marketing. Here's the solution: The AI Business Society—a new AI marketing community from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

    The AI Business Society is the place to discover how to apply AI in your work. When you join, you'll boost your productivity, unlock your creativity, and make connections with other marketers on a similar journey.

    I'M READY TO BECOME AN AI-POWERED MARKETER

    Now at the ad level, scroll to the right to see additional columns.

    View Facebook ad performance metrics in Facebook Ads Manager.

    The default columns view in Ads Manager contains the three relevance diagnostics: quality ranking, engagement rate ranking, and conversion rate ranking. If your ad has received more than 500 impressions, Facebook will give you a ranking of Below Average, Average, or Above Average for each of the three metrics.

    Keep in mind that ad relevance diagnostics are gradually rolling out to all Facebook advertising accounts. If you don't yet have access, you'll see a relevance score instead.

    Viewing the new Ad Relevance Diagnostics in Facebook Ads Manager.

    Add Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics to Custom Ads Manager Reports

    You may want to see the ad relevance diagnostics alongside other reporting presets. By default, these metrics are available in the Performance preset. However, you can also choose a different preset and customize your columns to include Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking.

    From the Ads view, choose an alternate Columns preset from the drop-down menu. In this example, I selected the Video Engagement preset. After you choose your preset, choose Customize Columns.

    Customize report columns in Facebook Ads Manager.

    In the Customize Columns window, check the boxes for Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking in the Performance section.

    Adding Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking report columns.

    If you want to save your customized column view, select the Save As Preset check box in the lower-left corner of the window. Then give your custom view a name. When you're done, click the Apply button in the lower-right corner to confirm the change.

    Saving a custom report view in Facebook Ads Manager.

    Your new saved view will appear in the Columns drop-down menu.

    Now scroll to the end of your report and you'll see the ad relevance diagnostics metrics for ads with more than 500 impressions.

    Viewing Ad Relevance Diagnostics for each Facebook ad.

    #2: Explore the Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics

    Here's a closer look at the three new ad relevance diagnostics rankings.

    Discover Proven Marketing Strategies and Tips

    Want to go even deeper with your marketing? Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast! Publishing weekly since 2012, the Social Media Marketing Podcast helps you navigate the constantly changing marketing jungle, with expert interviews from marketing pros.

    But don’t let the name fool you. This show is about a lot more than just social media marketing. With over 600 episodes and millions of downloads each year, this show has been a trusted source for marketers for well over a decade.

    CHECK OUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PODCAST NOW

    Quality Ranking

    Facebook's quality ranking is an assessment of your ad's perceived quality. It's measured using feedback received on your ads and the post-click experience. Your ad is ranked against ads that competed for the same audience.

    Ad quality takes into account how impactful and eye-catching your images/videos are and how compelling the ad copy (text), headlines, and call to action (CTA) are.

    To illustrate, a Facebook ad targeted to residents of Toronto may be considered higher quality if the ad photo shows the iconic CN Tower rather than a generic city skyline. The CN Tower image makes the ad instantly more relevant to the audience it's being served to.

    Facebook ad examples.

    Engagement Rate Ranking

    Facebook's engagement rate ranking measures your ad's expected engagement rate. Your ad is ranked against ads that competed for the same audience. Engagement includes all of the likes, reactions, comments, shares, and clicks (including link clicks and clicks anywhere else on the ad). Ads that spur conversation in the comments from more than one user are an indication of higher engagement than ads with several likes but no comments.

    Conversion Rate Ranking

    The conversion rate ranking is an assessment of your ad's expected conversion rate. Your ad is ranked against ads with the same optimization goal and competing for the same audience. Conversions are the desired action for which you're optimizing your campaign. To visualize this, if you're optimizing your campaign for purchase conversions, an ad compelling more people to complete the purchase instead of abandoning the site at the checkout page will rank higher.

    #3: How to Use Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics to Improve Your Facebook Ads

    Now let's look at how to use these diagnostics to improve your ads. For the most impact, Facebook recommends that you work on improving low rankings rather than trying to achieve perfection:

    “It's more impactful to move a ranking from low to average than it is to move a ranking from average to above average, so focus on improving low rankings rather than on improving average rankings.”

    In other words, your ads just need to be good enough relative to the audience they're competing for.

    Assessing Quality Ranking for Facebook ads.

    Facebook provides a detailed chart with recommendations (as shown below) to help you diagnose and improve your ads based on the ad relevance diagnostics rankings they received.

    For instance, if your ad received a quality ranking of Below Average, but the engagement rate and conversion rate rankings are Average or Above Average, these assessments suggest the ad itself isn't resonating as well as it could with your target audience and chosen objective. To make improvements in this scenario, Facebook recommends that you tweak your ad image or copy.

    Facebook Ad Relevance Diagnostics analysis grid.

    If your ad received an engagement rate ranking of Below Average, but the quality and conversion rate rankings are Average or Above Average, look for ways to make your ad more appealing or eye-catching to your target audience, or redefine your targeting to reach an audience that's more likely to engage with your ad.

    If the conversion rate ranking of your ad is Below Average, but the quality and engagement rate rankings are Average or Above Average, Facebook suggests focusing on improving the ad's CTA or post-click experience, or adjusting your targeting.

    Access Your Original Relevance Score in Ads Manager

    For Facebook advertisers who have regularly used the relevance score metric, switching to the three ad relevance diagnostics can be an adjustment. And some advertisers may prefer to use all of the relevance metrics together.

    The traditional relevance score metric is still available, but it's not part of Ads Manager's default reporting view. You need to customize the columns to add it to your reports. To do this, open the Ads tab in Ads Manager, click the Columns drop-down menu, and choose the Customize Columns option.

    Customizing Facebook Ads Manager to customize the columns.

    In the Customize Columns window that opens, select the Relevance Score checkbox under Performance. Then click the Apply button in the lower-right corner to confirm and save this change.

    Add Relevance Score to your Facebook Ads Manager reporting columns.

    Now scroll to the far right of your columns to see the Relevance Score column. Remember that you need more than 500 impressions to receive a relevance score on your ads, and this metric is available only on the Ads tab, not on the Campaign or Ad Sets tabs.

    Viewing Relevance Score in Facebook Ads Manager.

    Conclusion

    The Facebook ad relevance diagnostics will give you a more granular look at where bottlenecks may be occurring in your ad campaigns. This data helps you understand how your ads are performing compared to ads that are competing for the same audience. If your ads aren't performing as expected, you'll know where to focus on making improvements to achieve the best possible ad costs and results.

    Keep in mind that the relevance diagnostics rankings are estimates, so use them only as a guide. They can be very useful in helping you improve the overall quality of your ads for the audiences you're serving them to.

    What do you think? How will the Facebook ad relevance diagnostics help you improve your campaigns? Will you still look at the traditional relevance score? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

    More articles on Facebook ads:

    • Find four ways to generate clicks, leads, and conversions using Facebook ads.
    • Discover the most common mistakes made with Facebook ads and how to resolve them from top Facebook advertising experts.
    • Learn how to use Facebook's automated rules to save time managing Facebook ad performance.

     

    AI EXPLORED

    Curious About How to Use AI?

    Our newest show, AI Explored, might be just what you're looking for. It's for marketers, creators, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use AI in their business.

    It's hosted by Michael Stelzner and explores this exciting new frontier in easy-to-understand terms.

    Pull up your favorite podcast app and search for AI Explored. Or click the button below for more information.

    I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AI

    Tags: Facebook, Facebook Ads, Facebook Ads Manager

    About the authorAmanda Robinson

    Facebook Ads | Chatbots | Analytics - TheDigitalGal.com
    Other posts by Amanda Robinson »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (43 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    AI

    Next Frontier Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 17th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 385,000 marketers!

    Simply click the button below to get the free report:

    Footer

    Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle
    Copyright © 2025 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our social media marketing industry report
    • Our generative AI marketing industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS