A Guide to Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns on Facebook

Unlock the power of Meta Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, an AI-driven tool that simplifies ad management, and delivers better, more efficient results for Facebook advertisers.

Since its rollout in 2023, Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns have quickly become one of Facebook's most powerful advertising tools. Leveraging advanced AI and machine learning, digital marketers can now more effectively deliver top-performing ads to their target audiences.

Here's what you can expect from Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns:

  • More efficient targeting of highly specific audiences
  • Streamlined ad campaign creation with minimal manual input
  • Automated targeting, placements, and budgeting
  • AI-driven testing of up to 150 creative combinations to optimise performance

Advertisers who have embraced this tool are already seeing remarkable results. Early adopters like Hollister and Wolverine Boots, for example, increased their return on ad spend (ROAS) by 17% and 57%, respectively, while reducing cost per acquisition (CPA).

In this guide, we'll explain everything you need to know about Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns and how to harness their power for your business.

How to Set Up an Advantage+ Shopping Campaign

Before we dive in, here are a few key points to keep in mind:

  • The campaign objective is fixed to Sales.
  • Dynamic Creative cannot be enabled.
  • Placements are locked to Advantage+ Placements, with a minor adjustment option discussed later.
  • Targeting is limited to audiences aged 18 and up by default.

Additionally, make sure your Meta pixel is set up and, if applicable, your product catalogue is synced with Facebook. Once you’ve got these in place, follow these steps:

1. Go to Meta's 'Ads Manager' and create a new campaign.

2. Select 'Sales' as your objective.

3. Click on ‘Advantage+ Shopping campaign.’

4. Name your campaign and pick your Conversion Location: Website or Website and App.

5. Create a catalogue:

eCommerce stores can create a catalogue under "Advantage+ catalog ads" to automatically advertise relevant products or services based on people's unique interests, intent, and actions.

6. Select your Pixel and Conversion Event.

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7. Set your attribution window

‍Click on 'Show More Options' to select your preferred attribution window, which could be a 1-day click or 7-day click, to track and attribute conversions to your campaign.

8. Choose your target country or countries:

Remember that detailed targeting, like interest-targeting and custom or lookalike audiences, is unavailable. Instead, Meta's machine learning determines targeting based on your performance goals, pixel data, and prior conversions. As such, a well-performing pixel and historical conversion data are crucial for success with Advantage+ campaigns.

9. Fine-tune your audience:

If you still need to, go to 'Audiences' and create a custom audience. Within the Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns section, you can define the following audience segments: Existing Customers and Engaged Audience.

10. Set Up Your Budgeting:

Meta recently removed the 'Existing customer budget cap' feature from Advantage+ Shopping campaigns. Instead, set a daily or lifetime budget, and a campaign run time.

Use the 'Budget scheduling' feature: Schedule budget increases during high-demand periods to maximise sales and exposure to potential customers.

  1. Add your Creatives: Import live ads from the 'Suggested ads' section. 
  1. Alternatively, select 'Next' to manually upload your ad creatives, and select the ad format.
  1. Publish: Review your creatives and click on 'Publish.' Your Advantage+ campaign will then launch and start delivering to your target audience.

Reporting in Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns

Once your Advantage+ Shopping Campaign is live, you can use its reporting feature to gain deeper insights into your audience segments, especially Existing Customers and Engaged Audiences. Here’s how to access it in Meta Ads Manager:

  1. Go to your Ads Manager.
  2. Select the “Breakdown” tab and click on “Delivery”.
  3. Choose “Audience Type” to view your results segmented into three groups: New Customers, Existing Customers, and Engaged Audience.

Given the limited targeting options, this feature ensures your ads reach people who are already connected to your business. With these insights, you can fine-tune future campaigns to better target your existing customers and craft more effective messaging for engaged audiences.

Who Should Use Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns?

Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns are designed to optimise ad delivery using advanced AI and machine learning, making them ideal for eCommerce stores looking to scale efficiently with minimal manual effort.

Consider using Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns if you fall into these categories:

  1. E-commerce and Online Retailers: This feature is sales-focused, meaning it's best suited for businesses that want to drive online purchases.
  2. Inexperienced or Busy Advertisers: Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns AI and machine learning help reduce setup and management efforts.
  3. Marketers Who Trust Automation: AI takes the reins on ad targeting and creative optimisation. It can also make decisions in real-time based on the data it analyses.
  4. Businesses with Strong Conversion Data: Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns thrive on historical data and well-performing pixels. If your business has a successful conversion history, you can expect even better results from this feature.
  5. Large Product Catalogs: Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns' automation capabilities make them perfect for businesses with an extensive product inventory.

Who Should Avoid Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns?

  1. Non-E-commerce Businesses: This tool doesn't allow for lead generation or website traffic campaigns- it's specifically designed for online product sales.
  2. Marketers Needing Detailed Targeting: If you rely on precise demographic targetings, such as specific age groups, genders, or interests, you might find Advantage+'s lack of gradual control limiting.
  3. Businesses with Low Conversion Data: Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns use historical data to make decisions. This feature might be less effective if your business is new or needs a strong conversion history.
  4. Advertisers Who Want Full Control: If you prefer to manage every detail of your campaigns, the automation in Advantage+ may feel restrictive. Instead, you can select 'Manual Sales Campaigns' when setting up your campaigns.
  5. Exclusion of Warm Audiences: Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns do not exclude warm audiences by default, meaning you'll still target previous customers or website visitors. If you want to reach untapped, newer audiences,  you can create a custom audience list to exclude certain demographics or behaviours.

Optimising Your Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns: Best Practices

Use these tips to optimise your Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns and get the best results:

Ensure Your Meta Pixel Has Collected Sufficient Customer Data

This type of campaign thrives on historical conversion data since it's predominantly automated. Without data, it has to start from scratch each time it runs. Having a pixel installed on your website will help collect data on customer behaviour and conversions, allowing Advantage+ to make more informed decisions.

Use Plenty of Creatives

As Meta's AI can test up to 150 creative combinations to suit different user preferences, it pays to have plenty of creatives in your campaign. Start with at least 10 creatives, i.e., different ad images and copies, to give the AI enough options to work with.

Once  your campaign is live, you can monitor the click-through rates and conversions of each creative and start your iteration process. This ensures you can roll out your best performing creatives to be paired with the AI's optimization.

Split Test Your Ads

More of a regular practice than a tip, make sure to split test your creatives. This means running different combinations of ad images and copies at the same time to see which ones perform best. Again, this helps the iteration process and ensures that you are only using the most effective creatives in your campaign.

Avoid Frequent Changes

Once your campaign is live, refrain from making too many changes to your budget, ads, or structure. These can push the campaign back into the "learning" phase, which can take up to 4 weeks to complete. If you need to adjust your budget, do it gradually—around 25% per day—to maintain campaign stability.

Expect Longer Ad Lifespans

Advantage+ Shopping Campaign ads often have better conversion rates and last longer than regular ads. This is due to Meta’s machine learning, which analyses your audience and their behaviour to refine and improve the ads over time. As a result, your ads may continue to perform well for several weeks after launch.

Allocate Your Budget Wisely

Early data suggests that Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns could soon become Meta's top performers. To max the most of this campaign type, allocate at least 50 times your average cost per acquisition, divided by 7. This strategy helps gather sufficient data for optimisation and reach the 50 weekly conversions required to exit the learning phase.

Use MagicBrief to Massive Boost Your Advantage+ Campaigns

MagicBrief is your go-to toolkit for making the most of your Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns on Facebook. Whether you're brainstorming new creative ideas or tracking ad performance, MagicBrief has you covered.

Here’s how it can help you get the best out of your Advantage+ campaigns:

  • Sync Your Facebook Ad Account: Link your Advantage+ campaigns with MagicBrief to monitor various metrics, including click-through rates, 3-Second Video Views, Add-To-Cart To Purchase Ratio, and Cost Per Thruplay, giving you a complete picture of what’s working and where you can improve.
  • Get Creative Inspiration: Dive into MagicBrief’s massive ad library to find and save top-performing ads from different industries. It’s a great way to keep your campaigns fresh and on-trend.
  • Find the Perfect Ad Quickly: With MagicAI’s powerful search engine, you can sift through millions of ads from thousands of brands to find just the right inspiration for your campaigns.
  • Optimise with Data-Driven Insights: Sync with Creative Analytics 2.0 to see exactly what’s working, helping you make smarter decisions and fine-tune your strategy.
  • Spot Trends Easily: Use MagicBrief’s outlier labels to compare your campaign metrics and make sure your budget is being spent wisely.
  • Keep Your Team in the Loop: Get automated Slack updates that keep everyone on your team up to date with how your campaigns are performing and what your competitors are doing.

Sign up to MagicBrief for free today.

With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, it's the perfect complement to your Advantage+ campaigns on Facebook.

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