Marketers who have been working with Facebook ads for a while, understand the importance of relevance very well. While factors like CTR, CPC, and ROAS are crucial to optimize high-performing ad campaigns, they don’t give the whole picture why some ads perform better than others with similar spending. The factor you really need to care about is Facebook ad relevance.
The name suggests what this actually means. The relevance score used to be a scale from 1-10. The higher the score was, the more relevant was the ad. Now Meta has replaced the scale with a new system, a more detailed one. However, the key concept is still the same. If Meta says your ad is more relevant, it will perform better and get cheaper.
This guide will talk about every single detail you need to know about the relevance score of Facebook ads. We will cover what this is, why it matters, and most importantly, how you should improve your ads to increase the relevance score and run better ad campaigns.
What Is Facebook Ad Relevance Score?
Before the explanation of the relevance score, you need to understand how people react to the ads they see on Facebook. When an ad matches the interest of the audience, they are more likely to interact with it. Facebook also checks how closely your ad serves the interest of the audience you have selected. If it's highly relevant, you’ll get much better results.
The original relevance score was simple: a single number from 1 to 10 for every ad. This number indicated how well Facebook believed your ad matched your audience’s interests, based on early engagement and feedback.
Although Meta retired the single score in 2019, the system evolved into a three-part Ad Relevance Diagnostics framework. Instead of one overall grade, advertisers now see three separate rankings that give more insight into why an ad is underperforming.
The Three Components of Ad Relevance
Ad relevance diagnostics show how well your ads resonate with the audience you reached. If your campaigns aren’t achieving their goals, these insights can help identify whether changes to your creatives, landing page experience, or audience targeting could boost performance.
1. Quality Ranking
This measures how your ad’s perceived quality compares to other ads competing for the same audience.
Key factors include:
- Positive vs. negative feedback (comments, hides, spam reports)
- Use of high-quality imagery or video
- Proper grammar and readability
- Avoiding “engagement bait” or clickbait tactics
A low-quality ranking usually means users find your ad spammy, irrelevant, or untrustworthy.
2. Engagement Rate Ranking
This estimates how much engagement (likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks) your ad is expected to generate relative to similar ads in your niche.
It’s not about absolute numbers but rather how your ad stacks up against the competition. If your ad generates 200 likes, but competing ads for the same audience get 500 likes, your ranking will still be low.
3. Conversion Rate Ranking
This predicts how likely people are to complete your objective (purchase, lead form, signup) after engaging with your ad.
Again, it’s benchmarked against competing ads targeting the same audience with the same objective. If your CTR is strong but conversions are weak, the issue may be with your landing page, offer, or funnel alignment.
Where to Find Relevance Diagnostics in Ads Manager
Unlike more hidden metrics such as the Facebook HiVA score, Ad Relevance rankings are actually very easy to find and have clear rankings. To check these metrics, you need to include ad relevance metrics in your columns in Ads Manager. Ad relevance diagnostics are default columns in the Performance column preset, but must be added manually to custom column presets. To add ad relevance diagnostics to your columns:
- Go to Ads Manager.
- Navigate to Campaign > Ad Set > Customize Columns
- Click Customize Columns. Then look for and add:
- Quality Ranking
- Engagement Rate Ranking
- Conversion Rate Ranking
- Click Apply.
What Your Ad Relevance Ranking Means
Knowing how to monitor your Ad Relevance Ranking is just the first part. In order to ensure that your ads are keeping up, it is important to interpret what each ranking means for your ads. Your Ad Relevance rankings in each category determine how well or poorly you are performing in that matter. Each score can have 3 possible rankings:
- Above Average
- Average
- Below Average (Bottom 35%, 20%, or 10%)
These rankings give clear direction on where to optimize. If an ad falls short of your objectives, use relevance diagnostics to assess whether updates to your creative, landing page experience, or targeting could help. Reviewing all three diagnostics together provides deeper insights than analyzing them individually.
Performance Matters More Than Relevance
While high ad relevance often aligns with strong performance, it isn’t the sole driver of results. Think of ad relevance diagnostics as a tool for troubleshooting underperforming ads, not as a metric to optimize when your campaigns are already meeting objectives. High diagnostic rankings shouldn’t be your end goal, as they don’t guarantee better outcomes.
If your ad is already achieving its goals, you don’t need to focus on ad relevance diagnostics. In some cases, well-performing ads may still show below-average rankings. However, that’s perfectly fine. Always prioritize optimizing for your core advertising objectives, not just for quality, engagement, or conversion rankings.
How Facebook Calculates Ad Relevance (Behind the Scenes)
Facebook wants people to see ads that feel useful and interesting, not annoying or irrelevant. To make this happen, the system looks at how people respond to your ad. Whether they click, engage, or hide it, and how well it matches the promise of your landing page. These signals help Facebook decide which ads to show more often and at what cost. Facebook’s machine learning algorithm considers multiple signals:
- CTR and engagement (likes, shares, comments, video views)
- Negative signals (hides, spam reports, “I don’t want to see this”)
- Landing page experience (loading speed, alignment with ad promise)
- Freshness (creative fatigue lowers relevance over time)
- Competitive landscape (your ad is judged against others targeting the same audience)
The most important point is that relevance is relative. Even if your ad looks great, if your competitors are doing better, your rankings will drop.
Why Ad Relevance Matters
Ad relevance is one of the most important factors that determine how your ad will perform. While there are multiple factors that help with ad performance, ad relevance doesn’t simply show you how good the ad is or if it maintains compliance metrics. Ad relevance directly impacts the amount of money you may spend for your campaign. Ads that resonate with the audience are rewarded by Facebook’s algorithm, and highly irrelevant ads are somewhat penalized by not giving you a positive return on your investment.
Here’s why focusing on ad relevance is critical:
Lower Costs (CPM and CPC)
To keep it simple, if your ad is highly relevant to your audience, you are definitely going to get lower CPM and CPC. Apart from making money from ads, Facebook also wants to keep the experience good for its users. Weak relevance of ads hamper this experience, and that’s why Facebook doesn’t reward these types of ads.
Better Ad Delivery
Ads with higher relevance scores are more likely to be prioritized for delivery. Even if your bid is high, an ad with low relevance may lose in the auction. High relevance ensures your ad reaches the right audience more efficiently. Facebook’s auction system doesn’t just reward the highest bidder. Instead, delivery depends on:
Bid × Estimated Action Rate × Ad Quality
Even a big budget won’t guarantee success if relevance is low. A smaller advertiser with highly relevant ads can beat out higher-budget competitors by offering a better experience.
Increased Engagement
If your ad resnotes better with your audience, you will receive more likes, shares, comments, and most importantly, clicks. Facebook algorithm will then mark your ad as helpful for its users, which will result in even better costs.
Improved User Experience
People simply don’t like to see intrusive ads. If a user sees an ad that has absolutely no relation to their interests, they will most likely ignore it, hide it, or even report it. This will hamper your future ad campaigns too. That’s why improved user experience is key.
Higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
If your ads have lower acquisition cost with strong engagement, your campaign is guaranteed to perform better. For every penny you spend, the return on your investment will be much higher. This, in particular, is more important for small to mid-size businesses. They often don’t have thousands to spend, so taking full advantage of the relevance score is a must.
Ad relevance is the hidden metric that can make your ad campaign successful on Facebook. Even if you have great creatives, advanced targeting skills, and super-engaging copy, your ads can massively underperform due to not having a good relevance score. This can be the difference between ensuring higher returns, or simply wasting money.
How to Improve Facebook Ad Relevance
Improving ad relevance is not about guessing what might work. It’s about understanding your audience, refining your creative, and aligning your message with their expectations. By focusing on relevance, you can increase engagement, lower costs, and drive better results for your campaigns.
Improving Quality Ranking
Your Quality Ranking measures how your ad’s perceived quality compares to other ads competing for the same audience. A low score usually means your ad feels spammy, low-effort, or misleading.
- Use high-resolution visuals or professionally edited videos.
- Ensure your ad copy is clear, polished, and free of errors.
- Avoid spammy formats like excessive emojis or all-caps.
- Deliver a smooth landing page experience that matches the ad promise.
Improving Engagement Rate Ranking
Engagement Rate Ranking predicts how likely your audience is to interact with your ad (likes, comments, shares, or clicks) relative to similar ads. Low engagement can signal that your creative isn’t resonating.
- Write headlines with a clear hook that grabs attention.
- Ask questions or use conversational language.
- Showcase social proof (testimonials, UGC, influencer content).
- Refresh creatives every 7–10 days to avoid fatigue.
Improving Conversion Rate Ranking
Conversion Rate Ranking estimates the likelihood that your ad will drive the desired action, like a purchase or lead submission. Even with good engagement, a low conversion score may indicate misalignment between your ad and your offer.
- Optimize landing pages for speed and usability.
- Use strong CTAs and offers tailored to audience intent.
- Add trust signals (reviews, security badges, guarantees).
- Ensure ad copy and landing page align perfectly to avoid bounce.
A good all-in-one solution to improving your Ad Performance overall may be using high performance agency accounts from services like Uproas. These accounts offer better limits and more flexibility during advertising. Higher flexibility means you get to try more ideas to see which stick and which have a low relevance score. This may be the game changer you are looking for to improve your ad relevance scores.
Real-World Example of Low Ad Relevance
Understanding ad relevance diagnostics is easier with a real-world example. Let’s say you’re running an e-commerce campaign, and your ad shows the following scores:
- Quality Ranking: Below Average
- Engagement Rate Ranking: Average
- Conversion Rate Ranking: Bottom 20%
Here’s what these scores tell you:
- Quality Ranking – Below Average: Users perceive the ad as low-quality. This could be due to blurry images, misleading copy, or an unpolished design.
- Engagement Rate Ranking – Average: The ad is getting some clicks, likes, or shares, so it’s not entirely failing to capture attention.
- Conversion Rate Ranking – Bottom 20%: Despite some engagement, users aren’t completing the desired action (purchase, signup, or lead form). This indicates a problem after the click, often related to the landing page or offer.
Likely Causes
- Misleading or unclear ad copy that doesn’t match the landing page.
- Poor landing page design or slow load time.
- Weak offer or pricing that doesn’t appeal to the target audience.
How to Fix It
- Improve the landing page experience: Ensure it loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, and clearly reflects the ad promise.
- Align ad copy with your offer: Avoid exaggeration or vague messaging.
- Enhance creative quality: Use sharper images, clear messaging, and professional design.
- Test targeting: Make sure the audience is highly relevant and likely to convert.
After applying these adjustments, you can rerun the ad and monitor improvements in the Quality, Engagement, and Conversion rankings. Over time, these changes should lead to better performance and a higher return on ad spend.
Conclusion
The classic Facebook relevance score may be gone, but ad relevance is more important than ever. By paying attention to Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking, advertisers gain actionable insights into why campaigns succeed or fail.
Instead of throwing more budget at underperforming ads, focus on improving your creative, messaging, and landing page experience. Try using agency ad accounts from services like Uproas to increase your options and try different ad sets. Relevance is the silent multiplier behind every successful Facebook campaign.
