Facebook Ads conversion rate: which number to watch, and where it leaks

Conversion rate is the share of people who do what you want after clicking your ad: request a quote, book an appointment, buy. A hundred clicks, three enquiries: a 3% conversion rate.

The formula: conversion rate = conversions ÷ clicks × 100.

One conversion rate per stage

The number Meta shows depends on what you told it to count. For a business that sells to consumers, the real chain has three stages:

1. From click to enquiry. What Meta measures, if tracking is set up properly.
2. From enquiry to appointment. What you measure on the phone.
3. From appointment to signature. What pays your bills.

A 10% rate at the first stage is worth nothing if nobody picks up the phone at the second. That is why I never judge a campaign on the rate Meta displays alone.

What is a good conversion rate?

There is no universal good number. A quote request for an €11,000 kitchen can't be compared with buying a €30 face cream. The rate depends on the offer, the price, and what you ask of the person: a two-field form converts more than a ten-field one, but it also lets in more browsers.

The only good question: at this rate, how much does a customer cost you, and can your margin take it? Customer acquisition cost answers that. The rate on its own doesn't.

The three places where it leaks

1. The page after the click. The ad promises one thing, the page shows another. Or the page is slow, or it talks about everything except what made people click. It is the most common leak, and the least checked. What a landing page should do.

2. The form. Too long, it puts people off. Too short, it lets everyone through. Meta's instant form has its own settings, and its own traps.

3. Tracking. If your pixel only sees part of the enquiries, your conversion rate is wrong, and Meta optimises on incomplete data. The Conversions API is there to fill that gap.

What the kitchen case taught me

In the kitchen fitter case published on this site, enquiries come in from the first month, but no kitchen is signed before the second. The decision cycle lasts six to ten weeks. At thirty days, the conversion rate "all the way to signature" is zero, and it means nothing. You need to know which stage of the chain you are looking at, and when. The full case.

Improve the rate, or improve the customer?

Raising the conversion rate at any cost often means pushing more people into the funnel without looking at what comes out. A shorter form sometimes doubles enquiries and halves appointments. I would rather have fewer enquiries, better qualified, than a nice rate that clogs up your phone.

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Further reading: Why your Facebook ad isn't working and cost per lead.

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