To be successful in business, you need to know about your competition. While some information about your competition is public others are private.
Knowing how much your competitors may be spending on Facebook ads or general marketing budget can help you understand the dynamics of your business.
There is no direct way to find out how much is your competitor spending on Facebook Ads but you can get some idea if you dig deep.
The more data you collect the better insights you can get and read between the lines to get the indication that you can’t get otherwise. Get help from a Facebook Ads consultant if this is too much for you to understand.
Let’s talk about these strategies in detail.
First – Understand Facebook Ads cost
You just need to set a daily budget to run your Facebook Ads. One of the most attractive features is the flexibility it offers in terms of budget. Businesses can get started with a modest budget, making it accessible to startups and small businesses. There is no contract and you can stop at any time.
You can specify your daily Facebook Ads budget at the campaign or ad set level and the Facebook algorithm will try to get you the best outcome based on your specified budget. This means you can fine-tune your budget allocation, aligning it precisely with your advertising objectives. Whether you’re looking to boost brand awareness, increase website traffic, or drive sales, Facebook Ads can be tailored to meet your goals.
We have a detailed page on Facebook Ads cost with a calculator.
Review your competitor’s ad quality
Quality ad creative is often a strong indicator of a business’s commitment to investing effectively in advertisements to yield better conversions. It’s no secret that engaging and compelling ad creatives play a vital role in driving the success of Facebook Ads. But how do you determine the quality of your competitors’ ad creative, and why is it important?
How to judge quality creative?
Quality creative, in the context of Facebook Ads, refers to the use of high-quality images and videos in advertisements. It’s the secret sauce that transforms ordinary ad campaigns into compelling, attention-grabbing experiences for the audience. When businesses choose to focus on quality ad creativity, they invest in the core building blocks of their ad campaigns, ensuring they make a memorable impact on potential customers.
The definition of quality creativity isn’t limited to using high-resolution images and professional video production. It also extends to crafting persuasive ad copy and crafting messages that resonate with the target audience. Some businesses achieve this with in-house creative teams, while others may partner with creative agencies to produce the essential marketing materials.
Assessing Your Competitors’ Ad Creativity
One of the most effective ways to gain insights into your competitors’ ad creatives is by closely examining the images and videos they use in their Facebook Ads. Here’s how you can go about it:
- Facebook Ads Library: The Facebook Ads Library is a goldmine of information for advertisers. You can access it by visiting facebook.com/ads/library. Once there, you can initiate a simple search by typing in your niche or your competitor’s name. This search will reveal a tonne of ads related to your query. You can analyse these ads to understand the strategies and creatives your competitors are using.
- Check Their Live Ads – Show Interest: An effective way to understand your competitors’ ad strategies is to interact with their digital presence. Regularly visiting their website, Facebook page, and Instagram account can offer you a real-time view of their ad campaigns. You’ll notice their retargeting ads and other general advertisements that they employ to engage with their audience.
Monitor their Facebook Ads frequency
Ad frequency on Facebook is a metric that quantifies how often a specific ad is shown to an individual user. A high ad frequency indicates that the same ad is being shown repeatedly to the same user over a short time span. In the context of your competitors, a higher ad frequency can be a revealing signal.
- A Sign of Commitment: A consistently high ad frequency throughout the day implies that they are focused on maintaining a strong and constant online presence, actively reaching out to their target audience. This commitment is crucial for businesses looking to make a lasting impression and engage effectively with potential customers.
- Budget Allocation: To achieve a high ad frequency, advertisers generally allocate a decent advertising budget to the campaign. Each time an ad is displayed, it incurs a cost. As a result, running ads with a high frequency can be financially demanding. This cost varies depending on factors like audience size, bidding strategy, and competition within your niche.
Possible costs associated with high ad frequency
The costs associated with maintaining a high ad frequency primarily stem from the increased number of impressions and clicks. While the exact cost can vary widely based on numerous factors, here are some key considerations:
- Increased Ad Spend: Running ads with a high frequency will naturally consume a larger portion of the advertising budget. Advertisers should be prepared to allocate more funds to support such campaigns effectively.
- Competition: In a highly competitive niche, where multiple businesses are vying for the same audience’s attention, the cost per click (CPC) can be higher. This means that achieving a high ad frequency in a competitive market may require a more substantial budget.
- Audience Size: The size of your target audience can influence ad costs. A larger audience might require a higher budget to maintain a consistent ad frequency, particularly if you want to reach a substantial portion of that audience.
- Bidding Strategy: Your competitors’ bidding strategy also plays a significant role. An aggressive bidding approach can increase the cost per click and necessitate a larger budget to sustain a high ad frequency.
Review their overall social presence & engagement
A clue to competitors’ marketing budget
Understanding the Facebook marketing budget of your competition can be a challenging endeavour. While it’s not always possible to access their marketing spend, there are indirect ways to gain insights into their commitment and investments in advertising. One of the most revealing methods is reviewing their overall social presence and the level of engagement across various platforms.
Unlocking Insights from Facebook
Facebook is often a starting point for competitor analysis, given its widespread use in digital marketing. A close examination of your competitors’ Facebook presence can offer valuable clues about their marketing budget. Here’s how you can leverage this platform for insights:
- Organic Posts: Begin by examining the organic posts on your competitors’ Facebook pages. Frequent, well-constructed posts indicate a commitment to engaging with their audience. A high volume of organic content creation often suggests a marketing strategy that focuses on building and maintaining an online presence.
- Creative Quality: As discussed above, the quality of creatives used in their Facebook posts can also be indicative of their marketing budget. High-quality images, videos, and well-crafted ad copies often require more substantial investments. It’s a sign that your competitors are willing to allocate resources for creating engaging content.
- Engagement Levels: The level of engagement on their Facebook posts is perhaps the most telling indicator of their marketing budget. A higher number of likes, comments, and shares signifies a more engaged audience and a successful advertising strategy. It suggests that your competitors are investing in content that resonates with their target audience.
Exploring Beyond Facebook
To gain a comprehensive view of your competitors’ marketing budget and strategy, don’t limit your analysis to Facebook alone. Explore their presence on other platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Here’s why this matters:
Video and Visual Content
Platforms like YouTube and TikTok emphasize video content, which can be more resource-intensive to produce than text-based content. If your competitors have a thriving video presence on these platforms, it indicates that they are investing in the creation of engaging videos, another sign of a substantial marketing budget.
Finally – Calculating your competitor’s Facebook Ads cost
By now you must have a significant amount of information about your competition with key signals like Ad creatives, frequency, overall social presence & engagements.
Calculate Your Baseline
Before diving into the estimation, let’s establish a baseline. Consider the amount you are currently spending on your Facebook Ads and the number of conversions it generates. This is your reference point.
Let’s imagine that you are spending $4,500 per month on your Facebook Ads and getting x number of conversions. As you have done the general analysis of your competition, you can compare each parameter of your campaign vs your competitors.
Signal-Based Comparison
Now, it’s time to compare your campaign with your competitors’ based on various key signals. These signals are vital for gauging their ad effectiveness and, subsequently, their ad spend:
- Image creative quality
- Video creative quality
- Ad Frequency
- Ad duration
- Facebook organic engagement
- Overall social presence
- Presences beyond Facebook
Assigning Values
Now, assign a numerical value to each parameter for both your campaign and your competitors. For instance, rate your image and video quality, ad frequency, ad duration, and other signals. Use a simple rating system, such as a scale of 1 to 10, to quantify each element.
Estimating Ad Spend
Finally, combine the values for each parameter in your campaign and your competitors’ campaigns. By comparing these values, you can arrive at an estimate of your competitors’ Facebook ad spend. The more significant the difference between your scores, the more likely it is that your competitor is allocating a larger budget to their advertising efforts.
Need help?
If you need Facebook Advertising in Melbourne or anywhere in Australia then get in touch. Here at webapex, we build holistic marketing campaigns for our clients.
