Meta ASC For E-commerce Brands

Introduction

Meta's Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) have become a common ad format in the e-commerce world since their inception. This blog delves into the functionalities of ASC and how it may be a format that you should test running for your business. 

What is Meta ASC?

Meta ASC is an innovative advertising solution within Meta’s automated shopping products suite, designed to optimize campaign elements like creative content, placement, audience targeting, and ad budget. This system uses machine learning and AI to effectively optimize between new and existing customers, aiming to offer a more efficient ad delivery, which in theory can be especially impactful during competitive seasons. For more comprehensive information directly from Meta, read their official release on ASC​​.

Key Features and Capabilities of Meta ASC

• Automated Campaign Levers: ASC automates various aspects of a campaign, including creative content, placement, audience targeting, and budget allocation.
• Broad Audience Reach: It combines broad audience reach, optimizing between new and existing customers through advanced AI and machine learning.
• Creative Automation: ASC can automate the delivery of up to 150 creative combinations in a single campaign.

How ASC Can Improve Performance

The goal of ASC and value proposition is offering lower CPMs (Cost Per Mille), CPAs (Cost Per Acquisition), and more efficient ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) compared to traditional conversion and catalog sales campaigns. It aims to address the challenges posed by iOS 14.5 and signal loss, which impacted ad relevance/tracking on Meta and other social platforms.

Best Practices for Using Meta ASC

• Asset Mix: Utilize a mix of conversion (static image or video assets) and catalog sales (dynamic ads) assets.
• Ad Count: Leverage 8-15 ads in ASC, focusing on top-performing direct response creatives.
• Targeting: Add current customer and retargeting lists for monitoring delivery against prospecting.
• Customer Budget Cap: This is business to business dependant and should be taken with a grain of salt. Maintain budget to existing customers/retargeting between 10-30%, depending on your goals.
• Attribution: Align attribution window with the desired source of truth (1DC, 7DC, etc).

When to Use Meta ASC

Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns are a recommended format to trial for e-commerce brands looking to maximize efficiency within their paid social program. It is a tool in the toolbox to launch alongside existing conversion and catalog sales campaigns.

Conclusion

Meta's Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns offer a compelling solution for e-commerce businesses seeking to enhance their paid social advertising strategies. With its advanced automation and AI-driven optimization, ASC can help brands achieve improvements in campaign performance.