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Zalster’s Insights on Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC)

by Anna Kaufmann a year ago 3 min read

Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC) is an innovative advertising campaign designed to optimize ad delivery for e-commerce businesses. The Advantage+ Shopping Campaign uses machine learning to efficiently help you reach valuable audiences with reduced learning time. This campaign is tailored to be the most effective solution for advertisers focused on performance and aiming to drive online sales. But what insights do we really have after 1 year of testing?

Why ASC?

Compared to manual campaigns, the Advantage+ Shopping Campaign requires fewer efforts during campaign creation, simplifies audience targeting options, and streamlines the creative management process.You can easily duplicate your already created ads into this campaign and reuse them. Instead of setting up numerous campaigns with varying audience targeting, ASC allows for a more consolidated campaign structure while providing the system with more opportunities to reach individuals likely to make purchases of your products.

One of the primary advantages of the Advantage+ Shopping Campaign is its ability to show the right products and creatives to the right customers at the perfect time. By using advanced automation technology, ASC ensures that your ads reach people who are highly interested in your products. This boosts the chances of turning them into customers and getting a better return on your investment. It is therefore designed to enhance the user-friendliness for e-commerce companies. However, it has been found to perform differently in various situations and depending on the marketing goals.

Zalster’s Insights into ASC Campaigns

Since its launch, we’ve been actively experimenting with Meta´s ASC, and have different experiences in various industries, accounts, and markets. What’s become evident is that ASC tends to perform exceptionally well when we have a substantial amount of data points and in markets that's been allocated a larger budget. We find that it tends to kickstart with good results in smaller markets but then experiences a decline in performance after a few days.

Something we also consistently observe in all ASC campaigns is that dynamic elements receive the majority of the budget allocation, regardless of their performance. The algorithm bases budget distribution on early data and what it believes will work in the long run. Consequently, we’ve developed some tips to enhance ASC performance despite this.

Here are our recommended tips and best practices to unlock the Full Potential of ASC:

Creativity is Key: Diversify your creatives by adding a minimum of 10-20 different creatives.
Budget Allocation Magic: Allocate a minimum of 30% of your lower funnel budget to ASC.
Precision Budget Caps: Experiment with adjusting budget caps for existing customers versus prospecting. We suggest increasing the cap to at least 50% for existing customers and including View Content, Add to Cart, Initiate Checkout, and Customer List.
Budget Amplification: Consider raising your budget while introducing new creative materials to refresh the learning phase.
Algorithm Mastery: Manually disable creatives that you see the algorithm allocates budget to but that is not delivering results.

If you’d like to learn more about how we work with ASC in combination with other campaign types, don’t hesitate to contact us!

How to use Meta's Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC)

Step 1: Set Up Your Campaign

Choose ASC: In Meta Ads Manager, create a new campaign and select "Shopping" as your objective. Opt for "Advantage+ Shopping Campaign" to activate ASC.

Step 2: Product Feed and Audience

Keep Your Feed Current: Make sure your product feed is up to date and accurate for optimal ASC performance.
Audience Selection: Begin with broader audience segments to allow the algorithm to gather insights.

Step 3: Creative Elements

Embrace Creativity: Utilize a mix of creative assets like images, videos, and carousel ads. Aim for 10-20 unique creatives for maximum engagement.
Dynamic Product Ads (DPA): Leverage DPAs to dynamically showcase products based on user interactions.

Step 4: Budget and Bidding Strategy

Budget Allocation: Allocate a portion of your budget to ASC, ensuring it aligns with your campaign goals.

Smart Bidding: ASC employs automated bidding; however, keep an eye on your bid strategy to align with your objectives.

Unlock the full potential of ASC:

Don't hesitate to reach out to us for any further questions or inquiries regarding ASC. Our team is here to provide you with the guidance and expertise you need to make the most of this powerful advertising tool.

And be sure to stay tuned to our blog for the latest updates and features related to Meta's platform. We're committed to keeping you informed about all the exciting developments in the world of digital advertising. Your success is our priority, and we look forward to helping you achieve it with ASC and beyond.