Are Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns A Waste of Time and Money?

Meta recently introduced Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) that uses new machine learning models to streamline and optimize ad delivery. There are fewer options when creating the campaign, making them quick and easy to set up. The machine learning allows advertisers to have a better shot of reaching people who are more likely to purchase their products. Additionally, by creating many variations of creative, ASC can quickly learn which creative combinations resonate best with users.

Meta claims Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns are “the most efficient solution for performance-focused advertisers looking to drive online sales.” Sounds like music to a digital marketer’s ears–so what’s the catch?

There are some downsides to ASC. For one, ASC is not available to all Meta ads accounts. At this time, only eCommerce brands have the ability to implement them. Secondly, these campaigns only allow one objective: conversions. While this may not seem like a downside, it does limit those with objectives other than sales (such as traffic or lead generation). Another disadvantage is the longer learning phase: ASC ads take longer to exit (about 4 weeks), compared to manual campaigns (about 2 weeks).

In our opinion, the greatest disadvantage to ASC is the limited targeting options. Unlike manual shopping ads, ASC doesn’t allow targeting inputs like age or interests. Furthermore, audience exclusions cannot be added, making these campaigns full-funnel by default.

So what is the advantage of Advantage+? It all comes down to machine learning. While we have less control over who is being targeted and which creative appears in these campaigns, we do get to rely on artificial intelligence to optimize placement and creative. From what we have experienced with Advantage+ in our clients’ accounts, this has produced favorable results! 

When we first started running Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, we used them as an A/B test against manual campaigns, specifically bottom-of-funnel (BOF) and top-of-funnel (TOF) campaigns. We compared the data across all campaigns for the first four weeks of the Advantage+ campaign: ASC produced a ROAS 40% higher than TOF and 13% higher than BOF. The truth is in the data!

So, NO, Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns are not a waste of time or money. In fact, we would argue that they are a much more efficient use of time and money!

Here is what we understand to be the best practices for Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns:

  • Only use when the goal is sales conversions.

  • Budget around $150 (or more) per day for the campaign.

  • Include at least 10 different creative assets, including a mix of product catalog ads, static images, videos, and carousels.

  • Expect a longer time period (about 4 weeks) to exit the learning phase; don’t make any changes in the meantime!

  • Under Ad Settings, add the custom audience “180 Day Purchasers” for more detailed reporting

  • Always A/B test first with manual campaigns!


Have you tried ASC yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

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