Advantage Shopping+ Campaigns in June 2023
Since Advantage Shopping+ Campaigns (ASC) launched earlier in 2023, we’ve come to learn a LOT about them, and we’ve tested even more. It’s important to note that ASC completely negates account structure - there’s not even an ad set level, there’s no audience targeting, and very few levers we’re able to pull when ad buying on ASC – and we have to be okay with that.
This insight originally was sparked by conversation in the Foxwell Founders Membership. Interested in learning more about the go-to community for DTC and e-commerce advertisers? Check us out here, or feel free to reach out to me (andrew@foxwelldigital.com) with any questions on if the membership might be a good fit for you.
Here’s what we do know:
How long does it take for an ASC to begin working? Usually the first 3-5 (even up to 7) days can be a rollercoaster for an Advantage Shopping Campaign, but then it usually stabilizes where performance becomes more consistent
We typically seeing big performance gains Week 2 over Week 1 and then some real stability by Week 3 or 4
Do not launch an ASC unless the account has the budget to spend at least 2x the in-platform CPA per day for 7 days without touching the campaign, regardless of the results
Look at site behavior in GA: is ASC traffic spending longer / bounce rate / pages per session than other campaigns, if these metrics are improved then the sales should come
Think of ASC as a prospecting/retargeting hybrid campaign and make sure creatives can reach and connect to both audiences
Remember that typically, prospecting creative/messaging will also work for retargeting audiences (but not necessarily the other way around)
Scaling ASC vs. traditional prospecting
The higher the ASC budget, the larger the prospecting audience will be, if only by necessity
Adjust your target CPA based on knowing the mix of retargeting/prospecting and find a middle ground that may be specific only to ASCs
For limited time sales (where previous purchasers may also return and buy again), consider starting the ASC at a higher percentage Existing Customer Budget Cap (~20-25%), then scale that % down throughout the course of the sale. For example, start the ASC at 20% Existing Customer Budget Cap, then every 2 days, lower by 5% until you’re at 5% (or even 1%) retargeting
To scale ASC horizontally, scale per creative format or product focus.
This helps support the new winning ads that are coming down the pipeline, and also ensure other ads get spend
Scale by testing both (Website (only) & Website + Shops) ASC campaigns against (and alongside) each other
Consider horizontally scaling through more ASC campaigns without the top spenders in there
Group ASCs by theme or product
If an ASC isn’t working, try adding new ads to the campaign – that’s the biggest lever you’ve got control
You could turn off old creatives that aren’t working and replace with new creatives, or add in new ones alongside old creatives. We suggest having ~4-7 creatives live in an ASC at a time, but usually no more than 10. More than 10 has almost always proven to not give spend to all (or even most) creatives
Check the frequency of an ASC by audience type (Breakdown - By Delivery - Audience Type) and that will show the frequency for new and existing. If you find existing being high, then drop that % or tweak the past purchaser audience to fit the window of repeat buyers (30, 60, 90, etc)
Try an ASC+ with your best performing creative and products rather than segmenting out at this stage
When wanting to run multiple ASCs in one account:
How do you think about or account for overlap and users seeing ads from multiple campaigns when the sale can only be attributed to one?
Can break out ASCs by product type or vertical, but there is likely to be overlap (so make sure you’re okay with the same customer potentially seeing both ASCs)
A case study FOR multiple ASCs:
Usually, ASC delivers 80%+ of the budget to a single creative in an ASC, regardless of the success/profitability of that creative
One member says: "I took ads from the first ASC that had good numbers but didn't get much spend and put it in another and it repeated that performance but at higher spend.
There have been times where the main/most profitable with the most spend ad hit a roadblock - whether it was creative fatigue, auction dynamics, etc.
Performance would tail off badly but the ASC would keep pumping money into i
Having multiple ASCs has allowed me to hedge against that issue
Per Meta documentation re: overlapping audiences: To prevent overlapping audiences, you can only create one Advantage+ app campaign per country, language and optimization goal for each of the apps you wish to promote. If you create manual App Ads campaigns with audiences similar to your Advantage+ app campaigns, you may risk reaching the same audience twice.