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Paid social in Canada

Create demand,
then earn the next action.

Paid social is not one channel and it is not only awareness. It can build familiarity, generate leads, retarget visitors, sell products and test creative ideas when the objective, audience and format are aligned.

Compare campaign roles →Meta Ads cost guide
Campaign roles

Choose the job before
choosing the creative.

Different campaign objectives require different creative, calls to action and measurement.

01

Awareness

Introduce the business, category or offer to a relevant audience.

02

Consideration

Give prospects a reason to learn more, compare or engage.

03

Lead generation

Capture an enquiry on-platform or send traffic to a focused landing page.

04

Sales / value

Optimize toward purchases or another downstream commercial outcome where tracking supports it.

Visual creative system

One message rarely fits
every placement.

Feed, Stories, Reels and other placements have different attention patterns. Build a creative system, not one resized graphic.

HookStop the scrollLead with the problem, benefit or visual contrast.
ProofMake it believableShow product, evidence, customer outcome or demonstration.
OfferGive a reason to actClarify what the person gets and why now.
CTAMake the next step obviousShop, book, learn, call, register or request a quote.
Audience strategy

Prospecting and retargeting
should do different work.

The creative and expectation should reflect whether the audience knows the business already.

Prospecting

Create familiarity

  • Explain the problem or category
  • Use broader hooks
  • Test multiple creative concepts
  • Expect colder conversion behaviour
Retargeting

Move known prospects forward

  • Handle objections
  • Use proof, urgency or specific offers
  • Match prior site or content behaviour
  • Watch audience size and fatigue
Measurement

Do not let engagement
replace the business goal.

Reach, video views, clicks and reactions can diagnose creative. They are not automatically the final outcome.

CPM

Cost to reach the audience

Useful for understanding media delivery and competitive pressure.

CTR

Response to the creative

Useful diagnostically, but a high CTR can still send poor-quality traffic.

CPL

Cost to create an enquiry

Pair it with lead quality and close rate.

CAC

Cost to create a customer

Usually more meaningful than platform engagement metrics for performance campaigns.

ROAS

Revenue relative to spend

Useful for ecommerce and attributable sales, but still needs margin context.

Platform guide

Go deeper on Meta costs

The Facebook & Instagram cost guide explains auction, placement and funnel economics in more detail.

Facebook & Instagram Ads Costs Canada →Advertising economics calculators →
Next step

Define the campaign role before judging CPM or CPC.

Then compare the cost per real business result and the quality of customers being acquired.

Meta cost guide →Find providers