Solved: Low Facebook Ads CTR Despite High Impressions

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your Facebook ads. I had a look at your message and it's a super common situation to be in, so don't worry. A lot of people fall into the same traps when they're starting out.

The short answer is that getting more clicks by switching to a 'Traffic' campaign feels like a win, but it's almost certainly sending you down the wrong path and will end up costing you more money for fewer results in the long run. We need to fix the reason *why* people weren't clicking in the first place, not just get cheaper, lower-quality clicks.

Let's unpack what's likely going on and how to sort it out properly.

You've fallen into the 'Traffic Objective' trap...

Okay, first things first. I know it feels great to see 30 clicks roll in after only getting 3, but you've just told Facebook's algorithm to do something you don't actually want it to do. This is probably the single biggest (and most costly) mistake I see new advertisers make.

Think of the Facebook algorithm as an incredibly powerful but very literal employee. You give it a single instruction, and it will do *exactly* that, as efficiently as possible.

• When you set your objective to 'Traffic', you're telling it: "Go find me the people inside my audience who are most likely to click a link, for the cheapest price possible."
• When you set your objective to 'Sales' or 'Leads' (a conversion objective), you're telling it: "Go find me the people inside my audience who are most likely to actually buy something or fill out my form, even if they cost a bit more to reach."

These are two completely different groups of people. The algorithm knows who the impulsive clickers are, the people who click on anything and everything but rarely follow through or make a purchase. It also knows who the buyers are. By choosing 'Traffic', you are actively paying Facebook to find you the worst possible audience for your product. You're optimising for an action that doesn't make you any money.

You'll get a load of cheap clicks, your CTR will look amazing, but your bounce rate will be sky-high and your sales or leads will be close to zero. It's a classic vanity metric trap. Here's a way to visualise the difference in the user journey you're creating:

You MUST switch your campiagn objective back to one that reflects your business goal. If you want sales, choose 'Sales'. If you want leads, choose 'Leads'. This is non-negotiable for a succesful campaign.

So, what was the real problem?

Your original problem wasn't the objective, it was an extremely low Click-Through Rate (CTR). Getting only 3 clicks from 6,000 impressions is a CTR of 0.05%. A healthy CTR is usually somewhere between 1-3% or even higher. A CTR that low is a massive red flag telling you that something is fundamentally wrong with the ad itself. People were seeing it, but it gave them absolutely no reason to click.

This usually boils down to one of three things: a weak offer, ineffective creative, or the wrong targeting.

I'd say you need to diagnose your offer first...

This is the number one reason campaigns fail. Before you spend another pound on ads, you have to be brutally honest with yourself: is what you're offering genuinely compelling to the person you're trying to reach?

Too many businesses create ads that talk about themselves and their product's features. Nobody cares. Your customers only care about their own problems. Your offer needs to be a clear, urgent solution to a painful problem they're experiencing right now.

Forget demographics like "women aged 25-40 who like yoga". You need to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by their nightmare. What keeps them up at night? What's a frustrating, expensive, or career-threatening problem they're facing?

• For a B2B software, the nightmare isn't 'needing a project management tool'. It's 'the CEO is furious because another major deadline was missed, and my job is on the line'.
• For an e-commerce brand selling skincare, the nightmare isn't 'needing moisturiser'. It's 'I have a big event this weekend and I'm terrified a flare-up is going to ruin my confidence'.

Once you know the nightmare, your entire ad, from the first word of the copy to the call-to-action, must be framed as the cure for that specific nightmare. If your offer isn't positioned as a direct solution to a real pain point, no amount of clever ad-buying can save it.

You probably should re-evaluate your creative...

Now, this brings us to your videos. You said the one with worse lighting and audio got more clicks. This doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, it's a huge clue.

On social media, slick, highly-produced ads often get ignored because they *look like ads*. People have become incredibly good at filtering out anything that feels like corporate marketing. The video with rougher edges likely performed better because it felt more authentic, more real, more like something a normal person would post. This is the power of User-Generated Content (UGC) style creative.

It stops the scroll because it blends in with the native content on the platform. It builds trust because it doesn't feel like a faceless corporation is trying to sell you something. It feels like a recommendation from a real person. I remember one campaign we worked on for a medical job matching SaaS client; their Cost Per User Acquisition dropped from £100 down to just £7 when we switched from polished brand videos to simple, authentic UGC-style ads.

So, the lesson here isn't to make bad quality videos. It's to make videos that feel *human* and *authentic*. Your message needs to be sharp and speak directly to their pain. A great framework for this is Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS).

1. Problem: Hit them with the pain point immediately. "Tired of your ads getting thousands of impressions but no clicks?"
2. Agitate: Twist the knife. Make them feel the frustration. "It feels like you're just burning cash, watching your budget disappear with nothing to show for it while your competitors seem to be getting all the customers."
3. Solve: Introduce your offer as the clear, simple solution. "What if you could understand the exact reason your ads are failing and implement a proven framework to get clicks from people who actually want to buy? That's what we do."

This structure works because it hooks them with a problem they recognise, makes the pain of not solving it feel real, and then presents your offer as the logical next step. It's about empathy, not features.

You'll need to focus on the numbers that matter...

Since you're moving away from vanity metrics like clicks, you need a new way to measure success. The question isn't "How low can I get my cost per click?" but rather "How much can I afford to pay to acquire a customer and still be profitable?"

This is where understanding two key concepts comes in: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). LTV is the total profit you'll make from an average customer over the entire time they do business with you. CAC is what you spend on marketing and sales to get that one customer.

A healthy business aims for an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3:1. Meaning, for every £1 you spend to get a customer, you should get at least £3 back in profit over their lifetime.

Let's calculate a rough LTV. You'll need:

• Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): What's the average amount a customer pays you per month?
• Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue?
• Monthly Churn Rate %: What percentage of customers do you lose each month?

The formula is: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate %

Once you know your LTV, you know what you can afford for your CAC. Suddenly, a £50 lead doesn't seem so expensive if it leads to a customer worth £5,000.

Here’s an interactive calculator to play around with these numbers. It should give you a much better sense of what your targets should be.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This all might feel like a lot, but you can break it down into a clear action plan. Here's what I would suggest you do, in order, to get your ads back on track.

Getting paid advertising right is a process of systematic testing and optimisation. It’s not about finding one magic bullet, but about building a solid foundation based on a deep understanding of your customer, and then letting the data guide your decisions. It can be complex, and the platforms change all the time.

If you feel like you'd benefit from an expert eye on your account to get this set up correctly from the start, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy consultation. We can jump on a quick call, look through your account together, and build out a specific, actionable plan for you. It often helps to have someone who does this day-in, day-out to point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh