Improving Facebook Ads Relevance Diagnostics: Fixing 'Below Average' Quality

Your ads are expensive because Facebook hates them. Harsh? Yes. True? Also yes. Facebook uses Relevance Diagnostics to grade your ads. If you score "Below Average," Facebook charges you a "Tax" (higher CPMs) to show your ads. If you score "Above Average," you get a "Discount." Most advertisers ignore these metrics. The top 1% use them to lower costs by 30-50%.

In this guide, we decode the Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking trio.

The Three Horsemen of Relevance

Facebook breaks relevance down into three specific metrics. You must optimize them separately.

1. Quality Ranking

What it is: How the user perceives the quality of your ad. The Signals:

• Negative: Hiding the ad, reporting the ad, "See fewer ads like this."
• Positive: Slow scroll, image zoom, expanding "See More." The Fix for "Below Average":
• Stop using Clickbait: If you promise "Free Money" and deliver a "Webinar Sign Up," users feel tricked.
• Refresh Creative: Ad fatigue leads to "Hide Ad" clicks.
• Visual Polish: Low-res images or ugly typrography trigger low quality signals.

2. Engagement Rate Ranking

What it is: The probability of a user clicking, reacting, or commenting. The Signals: Likes, Comments, Shares, Clicks (Link Clicks, Profile Clicks). The Fix for "Below Average":

• The "Hook": Your first 3 seconds (video) or headline (image) are boring. Spice it up.
• Controversy/Curiosity: Ask a polarizing question. "Is SEO Dead?" gets more comments than "SEO Services."
• Native Feel: Does your ad look like a TikTok? Or does it look like a corporate banner? Native content gets more engagement.

3. Conversion Rate Ranking

What it is: The probability of a user completing your desired action (Purchase, Lead) compared to competitors. The Signals: Pixel events (Purchase, Lead, Complete Registration). The Fix for "Below Average":

• Offer Quality: Your ad is great, but your product is $100 and competitors are $50.
• Landing Page Speed: If your site takes 5 seconds to load, users bounce. Facebook knows.
• Friction: Do you ask for 10 fields on a lead form? Competitors ask for 3.

The Debugging Matrix

How to interpret the combinations:

| Quality | Engagement | Conversion | Diagnosis | Action | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Below | Below | Below | The Trash Fire. Everything is wrong. | Kill the ad. Start over with new creative and offer. | | Average | Below | Average | Boring Hook. People buy, but few click. | Test new headlines or thumbnails to stop the scroll. | | Average | Average | Below | Landing Page Issue. Traffic is good, sales are bad. | Improve your landing page CRO (Speed, Offer, Trust). | | Below | Average | Above | The Clickbait King. Users hate it, but they buy. | Tread carefully. You risk an ad account ban if quality stays low. |

Strategy: The "Relevance Reset"

If your account is plagued by high CPMs ($50+), you might be in a "Low Quality" bucket.

1. Launch "Engagement" Objectives: Run a campaign just to get Likes/Comments on your best creative.
2. Build Social Proof: Take that post ID and use it in your Conversion campaigns.
3. The Halo Effect: The high engagement score helps offset a lower conversion score, lowering your overall CPM.
4. Creative Refresh: Rotate ads every 2 weeks to prevent "Ad Fatigue" (which tanks Quality Ranking).

Checking Your Score

1. Go to Ads Manager.
2. Select "Ads" tab.
3. Columns → Customize Columns.
4. Search for "Ranking."
5. Select all three: Quality, Engagement, Conversion.
6. Note: These only appear after ~500 impressions.

Summary

Relevance Diagnostics are not vanity metrics. They are Diagnostic Tools.

• Low Quality? Fix the visuals/messaging.
• Low Engagement? Fix the Hook.
• Low Conversion? Fix the Offer/Landing Page.

Stop bidding against the algorithm. Align with it, and your CPAs will drop.