The Benchmarks & Forecast section in Lebesgue helps you measure your ad performance against industry standards, providing clear insights into what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. By leveraging these insights, you can refine your ad strategy, allocate budgets more effectively, and maximize your return on investment.
However, the insights available differ based on whether you’re analyzing Facebook Ads or Google Ads. Below, we’ll explore the key differences and how each feature can be used to optimize ad performance.
Benchmarks: Comparing Your Performance to the Market
The Benchmarks tab is a powerful tool that allows you to compare your ad performance against market trends to ensure your campaigns are competitive.
Market Trends: Identifying Strengths & Weaknesses
With Market Trends, you can track how your key performance indicators (KPIs) evolve over time and benchmark them against industry averages.
For Facebook Ads, you can analyze:
Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Measures how engaging your ads are.
Conversion Rate (CR) – Shows how many clicks turn into actual sales.
Cost Per Mille (CPM) – The cost per 1,000 impressions.
For Google Ads, you can analyze:
Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Measures engagement with search ads.
Conversion Rate (CR) – Percentage of clicks that result in a conversion.
Cost Per Click (CPC) – The amount paid per ad click instead of per 1,000 impressions.
Why This Matters:
Knowing where you stand compared to the industry average helps identify gaps in performance. If your CTR is lower than the industry benchmark, it may indicate that your ad creatives or targeting need improvement. If your CPC is higher than average in Google Ads, you might be overpaying for traffic, signaling a need for better keyword optimization or bidding strategies.
Key Difference:
Facebook Ads uses CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), while Google Ads uses CPC (cost per individual click). This means that Facebook advertisers focus on visibility and engagement, while Google advertisers focus on direct click costs.
Campaign & Ad set Breakdown: Google vs. Facebook
To understand where your ad budget is being spent and how different strategies perform, Lebesgue breaks down campaign performance differently for Facebook Ads and Google Ads.
For Facebook Ads, you can filter benchmarks by Adset Target:
Prospecting – Reaching new audiences and expanding brand awareness.
Retargeting – Targeting users who have already engaged with your brand.
For Google Ads, you can filter benchmarks by Campaign Type:
Performance Max (PMax) – AI-driven ads across Google’s entire network.
Search – Keyword-based search ads appearing on Google.
Shopping – Product listing ads designed for eCommerce.
How to Use This Data:
If your Facebook prospecting campaigns have a low CTR but high CPM, it may indicate that your ad creatives need optimization to be more engaging. If your retargeting campaigns have a high CAC, it may be time to rethink audience segmentation.
For Google Ads, understanding campaign-type performance allows you to allocate budgets more effectively. For instance, if Shopping ads have a high conversion rate but Search ads have a higher CTR, you may want to invest more in Shopping to drive actual purchases.
Key Difference:
Facebook Ads uses "Adset Target" (Prospecting & Retargeting), while Google Ads categorizes performance by "Campaign Type" (PMax, Search, Shopping). This reflects the different audience-targeting strategies used on each platform.
Campaign Overview & KPI Breakdown
Each campaign type (Google) or adset (Facebook) is broken down by key KPIs, helping advertisers pinpoint what’s driving success and what’s causing inefficiencies.
For Facebook Ads:
CTR (Click-Through Rate) – How often users click your ad.
CR (Conversion Rate) – The percentage of users who converted.
CPM (Cost Per Mille) – How much you pay per 1,000 impressions.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – The cost of acquiring a customer.
For Google Ads:
CTR (Click-Through Rate) – How often users click on your search ad.
CR (Conversion Rate) – The percentage of users who completed an action.
CPC (Cost Per Click) – How much you pay per ad click.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – The cost of acquiring a customer.
Why This Matters:
If your Facebook CPM is increasing but CTR is dropping, this could indicate that your audience is becoming fatigued with your ads, requiring a creative refresh.
If your Google Ads CPC is too high but your conversion rate is low, you may be bidding on overly competitive keywords or need to optimize your landing pages.
Key Difference:
Facebook Ads focuses on CPM (impressions-based pricing), while Google Ads focuses on CPC (click-based pricing). Understanding these differences allows for better budget allocation between the two platforms.
The Funnel Report: Facebook-Specific Feature
The Funnel Report is available only for Facebook Ads and helps advertisers analyze how users progress through the conversion funnel. This is crucial for optimizing ad spend and improving conversion rates.
What It Tracks:
Add to Cart Rate – The percentage of users who added a product to their cart.
Initiate Checkout Rate – The percentage of users who started checkout.
Conversion Rate – The percentage of users who completed a purchase.
Why This Matters:
If your Add to Cart Rate is high but your Checkout Rate is low, this might indicate friction in your checkout process. If your Checkout Rate is high but your overall Conversion Rate is low, you might need better retargeting strategies.
Key Difference:
The Funnel Report is only available for Facebook Ads and is not included in the Google Ads tab. This is because Google Ads generally focuses on direct intent-driven actions, whereas Facebook requires nurturing users through multiple engagement steps.
Forecast: Exclusive to Facebook Ads
The Forecast tab is an advanced feature that is available only for Facebook Ads. It uses historical performance data to help predict future trends and optimize ad strategy.
What You Can Learn:
Predict Future Performance – Understand how your CTR, CPM, and CAC are expected to change.
Optimize Budget Allocation – Allocate spending efficiently to maximize ROAS.
Prepare for Seasonality – Plan ahead for sales events like Black Friday or holiday promotions.
Why This Matters:
If your forecast predicts that CPM will rise due to increased competition, you can adjust your budget in advance to avoid inefficient spending. If CTR is predicted to drop, it may signal the need for new creatives.
Key Difference:
Forecasting is not available for Google Ads. It is exclusive to Facebook Ads. This is because Facebook’s ad environment is more volatile and audience-based, requiring long-term trend analysis to maximize effectiveness.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Facebook & Google Ads
Feature | Facebook Ads | Google Ads |
Market Trends | CTR, CR, CPM | CTR, CR, CPC |
Campaign Breakdown | By Adset Target (Prospecting, Retargeting) | By Campaign Type (Search, Shopping, PMax) |
KPI Breakdown | CTR, CR, CPM, CAC | CTR, CR, CPC, CAC |
Funnel Report | ✅ Available | ❌ Not Available |
Forecasting | ✅ Available | ❌ Not Available |
By using Benchmarks & Forecast, advertisers gain platform-specific insights that help optimize performance, cut unnecessary costs, and increase profitability.
Would you like help interpreting your results? Reach out to our team for a personalized analysis!
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