With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms that businesses use for advertising. Similarly, with over 2 billion monthly logged-in users, YouTube has also emerged as a major advertising platform. When it comes to choosing between Facebook ads and YouTube ads, one of the biggest considerations for businesses is cost. In this article, we’ll compare the pricing and cost-effectiveness of Facebook and YouTube ads to help you determine which platform offers more affordable advertising.
Facebook Ads Pricing
Facebook offers a variety of ad formats and placements to choose from. The three main types of Facebook ads are:
- Photo Ads: Single image or collection of images with overlaying text
- Video Ads: Video content up to 240 minutes long
- Carousel Ads: Multiple images or videos that users can horizontally scroll through
You bid for ad placement in an auction against other advertisers. Your bid is the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for your ad to be shown. The minimum bid for Facebook ads is $1 per day. You set a total daily budget which gets distributed across all your ads and ad sets for the day. Facebook bills you based on the actions people take, not impressions. The three common billing events are:
- Cost per impression (CPM): You’re charged each time your ad is shown, regardless of clicks or conversions. CPMs generally range from $0.08 to $0.35.
- Cost per click (CPC): You’re charged each time someone clicks your ad. Average CPCs are $0.50-$2.
- Cost per action (CPA): You’re charged each time someone takes a specific action like signing up, purchasing, etc. CPAs vary based on industry.
In addition to bids and budgets, placement also impacts Facebook ad pricing. Ad placement options on Facebook include:
- News Feed – Appears in the main news feed
- Instagram Feed – Appears in Instagram’s main feed
- Stories – Appears as ads in Facebook and Instagram stories
- Marketplace – Ad is shown on Facebook marketplace
- Right Column – Shows up on the right side of Facebook’s desktop layout
News feed ads tend to have the highest costs due to high visibility and engagement. Instagram feed ads are similarly positioned for reach and engagement. Stories are full screen and attention-grabbing but brief. Marketplace and right column ads are more affordable but get less exposure.
YouTube Ads Pricing
YouTube offers multiple ad formats for video ads on their platform:
- In-stream ads – Appear before, during or after other videos
- Discovery ads – Promoted videos displayed on the YouTube home page sidebar
- Bumper ads – Unskippable 6-second videos
- Outstream ads – Video ads on non-video content, like text pages
- Non-skippable in-stream ads – Forced ad viewing for first 5-30 seconds
As with Facebook, ads compete in an auction for placement and pricing on YouTube. Costs are determined by ad type and placement. In-stream ads tend to have higher CPMs due to forced viewership while discovery ads have lower CPMs. YouTube also charges on a cost per view (CPV) basis which is each time an ad is viewed for at least 30 seconds. Average YouTube CPMs range from $0.10 – $0.30 but can also be charged on a CPV or CPC basis.
Placement impacts YouTube ad pricing as well. There are two major placement options:
- YouTube search – Ads shown based on keyword/topical relevance
- In-stream on YouTube videos – Ads shown on other YouTube videos
In-stream video ads tend to have higher costs because of viewership while search ads can be more affordable if bid strategies are optimized effectively.
Cost Comparison
It’s difficult to directly compare average costs for Facebook ads versus YouTube ads. However, based on industry data, a few general conclusions can be drawn:
- Facebook video ads and YouTube video ads have similar average CPM costs in the $0.10 – $0.30 range
- YouTube discovery/search ads tend to have lower CPMs starting around $0.10
- Facebook feed ads have some of the highest CPMs around $0.30+
- YouTube TrueView in-stream ads charge on a cost per view (CPV) basis
- Facebook charges per impression (CPM), per click (CPC), or per action (CPA)
Here is a comparison of average costs for Facebook versus YouTube ad formats:
| Ad Format | YouTube | |
|---|---|---|
| Video ads | $0.10 – $0.35 CPM | $0.15 – $0.30 CPM |
| Image ads | $0.08 – $0.35 CPM | N/A |
| Carousel ads | $0.08 – $0.35 CPM | N/A |
| Display ads | $0.08 – $0.35 CPM | $0.10 – $0.30 CPM |
| In-stream ads | N/A | $0.10 – $0.30 CPV |
As you can see, video ads and display ads on Facebook and YouTube have comparable CPM and CPV rates on average. However, Facebook offers more ad format options including photos, carousels, and the ability to target the Facebook news feed specifically. This makes Facebook potentially more flexible for certain advertising goals.
Audience Targeting
Beyond just costs, reaching your target audience is crucial for effective advertising. Both Facebook and YouTube offer detailed targeting capabilities to help you reach specific demographics and buyer personas.
Facebook allows you to target by:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Interests and hobbies
- Behaviors
- Connections
- And more
YouTube targeting includes:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Interests and habits
- Remarketing
- Language
- Topic and keyword targeting
Both platforms offer interest, behavioral, geographic, demographic, and custom audience targeting. YouTube provides added options for language, topic, and keyword targeting based on video titles and metadata. Facebook offers more specific options for targeting connections and lookalike audiences.
Ad Creation and Management
How easy is it to create, manage, and optimize ads on Facebook versus YouTube?
Facebook’s self-service Ads Manager provides options to:
- Select objectives like traffic, conversions, or brand awareness
- Create ads with custom images, video, and text
- Set flexible budgets and bidding
- Schedule ads and specify run times
- Monitor performance and optimize targeting
YouTube also has a self-service platform enabling you to:
- Upload and edit video ads
- Target your audience
- Set daily budgets
- Schedule ads
- Review reports on views, clicks, and conversions
Both platforms make it relatively easy for advertisers to set up, manage, and monitor ads through self-serve interfaces without needing to go through sales reps. YouTube specializes in video ad creation while Facebook offers more ad format options. But both are user-friendly for launching and managing campaigns.
Performance Tracking
How well can you track ad performance on each platform?
Facebook provides reports showing:
- Impressions
- Reach
- Clicks and CTR
- Engagement
- Conversions
- Cost per result
Metrics can be broken down across ad sets, ads, and target audiences. Facebook pixel integration also enables deeper conversion tracking.
YouTube analytics report on:
- Impressions
- Views
- Clickthrough rate
- Audience retention
- Traffic sources
- Subscribers and conversions
Data can also be segmented beyond just campaign totals. Both platforms provide robust reporting on performance and conversions to inform optimization.
Conclusion
In summary, while average CPM and CPV rates are fairly comparable between Facebook and YouTube ads, here are some key differences to consider:
- Facebook offers more ad format options like photos, carousels, and display ads.
- YouTube specializes in video advertising.
- Facebook enables more advanced audience targeting like custom and lookalike audiences.
- YouTube offers topic, keyword, and remarketing targeting.
- Facebook feed ads tend to have higher visibility and costs.
- YouTube TrueView in-stream ads charge per completed view.
- Both platforms provide robust self-service ad management and performance analytics.
The right platform for your advertising depends on your campaign goals, target audience, products, and budget considerations. Test different options on both Facebook and YouTube to see which delivers the best results for your business.