Back in November, Facebook announced campaign budget optimization. They pitched it as an “easier way to maximize campaign results.”
As is the case with most new ad features, Facebook campaign budget optimization rolled out slowly. At the time of the announcement, Facebook said it would be rolled out “in the coming months.” I do have it now in some of my accounts (though not all). You may, too.
It’s time to explain what campaign budget optimization is, how it helps, and how to get started.
Let’s take a closer look…
What is Campaign Budget Optimization?
Using campaign budget optimization, Facebook advertisers set a budget at the campaign level that will then be optimized to distribute across ad sets to favor the highest performers.
Let’s back up…
Normally, you set daily or lifetime budgets at the ad set level.
In the example above, Facebook will attempt to spend $20 on a daily basis, regardless of performance.
Let’s say that you have one campaign with three ad sets, and you want to spend $30. You may assign budgets equally like this:
- 1. Ad Set 1: $10
- 2. Ad Set 2: $10
- 3. Ad Set 3: $10
The advertiser determines that distribution, regardless of performance.
When using campaign budget optimization, you would first set a $30 daily budget for the campaign. Facebook will then distribute that budget to provide optimal results — based on the performance of each ad set.
Here’s a visual example, from Facebook:
In this example, an advertiser might spend $30 to get 10 conversions without campaign budget optimization. But with it, Facebook can allocate more of the budget to the second, or highest performing, ad set.
Like this:
- 1. Ad Set 1: $7
- 2. Ad Set 2: $18
- 3. Ad Set 3: $5
In that case, the campaign results in 15 conversions.
Note that this isn’t split testing. Facebook doesn’t simply find a winner and allocate all of your budget to one ad set. They simply distribute more or less budget based on how an ad set is performing compared to the others.
Clearly, this is a feature that is most beneficial when running campaigns with multiple ad sets. It wouldn’t make sense for a single ad set.
This process is similar to how Facebook distributes budget between multiple ads within a single ad set. Only this time, we’re dealing with ad sets in a campaign.
This feature is eligible for all objectives. After activating campaign budget optimization, the advertiser will have an option to establish a minimum or maximum daily spend per ad set.
Finally, know that campaigns using budget optimization won’t be eligible for ad scheduling (day parting) or accelerated delivery.
Campaign Budget Optimization: Campaign Level
If you have campaign budget optimization, it will show itself like this at the campaign level…
Click the slider button to activate the feature and “optimize budget across ad sets.”
Let’s ignore the Campaign Bid Strategy for now. That’s another topic. It is controlled at the ad set level. This simply allows you the control to continue using that feature when utilizing campaign budget optimization.
You’ll be able to set a daily or lifetime campaign budget when you select campaign budget optimization…
As indicated in the tooltip, a lifetime budget means you’ll never exceed that amount during the lifetime of your campaign.
If you set a daily campaign budget, you may spend more or less than that amount on a daily basis, but it will average out to that daily budget.
Campaign Budget Optimization: Ad Set Level
Since you set the budget at the campaign level when using campaign budget optimization, you no longer need to do so at the ad set level…
However, maybe you want a little more control over how Facebook distributes your budget. If so, you can set a daily/lifetime minimum or maximum.
Click “Add spend limits to this ad set” to do just that…
If you assign a minimum, Facebook will do what they can to reach it. However, keep in mind that many factors can prevent that from happening.
Facebook will honor the maximum, however, preventing ad set spend from exceeding an assigned limit on a daily or lifetime basis.
Facebook doesn’t recommend using the maximum since it may prevent you from getting the best possible results. But a minimum could be helpful if you have budget requirements for a particular audience.
Should You Use Campaign Budget Optimization?
Like any feature, I’m not going to give you a universal answer to this. You should try it to see whether it works for you.
That said, Facebook says campaign budget optimization is best under these conditions:
- Set a campaign-level budget and have some flexibility in how that budget is spent across the ad sets in their campaign
- Get the most results possible from their campaign
- Simplify campaign set up and save time by reducing the number of budgets they have to manage manually
Think about your campaigns. Do you create multiple ad sets? Do you have flexibility in how you distribute budget across those ad sets? This may be a good option for you.
I’m personally going to try it out in two very specific ways.
OPPORTUNITY #1: PROMOTE BLOG POST
Every week or so, I write a new blog post. And when I do, I create a campaign promoting that blog post.
When I promote this specific blog post that you’re reading right now, I am going to create three ad sets for the following audiences:
- Website Custom Audience (posts about Facebook 2+ times)
- Page Engagement Custom Audience (posts or ads)
- Lookalike Audience
I’ll assign a $100 daily budget and allow Facebook to optimize to determine how that budget should be distributed.
OPPORTUNITY #2: PROMOTE WEBINAR
I have a monthly webinar that I promote continuously with lead ads, consisting of multiple ad sets for each audience.
I’ll test these out. In both cases, I won’t be setting a minimum or maximum spend at the ad set level. Hopefully, Facebook optimizes well, and this feature is beneficial.
Your Turn
Have you started experimenting with campaign budget optimization yet? What results are you seeing?
Let me know in the comments below!
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