Meta Ads Campaign Builder

Process

1. Define business goal — Sales, leads, app installs, awareness, or traffic
2. Select objective and conversion location — Use the ODAX Selector below
3. Choose campaign structure — ASC vs manual (see Decision Tree)
4. Configure ad set — Audience, placements, budget, schedule, optimization goal
5. Build creative — Ad format, copy, media, CTA
6. Launch and protect learning phase — No major changes for 5-7 days

Read references/meta-campaign-types.md for detailed setup per objective × conversion location. Read references/audience-strategy.md for complete audience targeting guidance.

ODAX Objective Selector

Meta's 6 objectives (ODAX system):

Objective	Use When	Optimize For	Typical Conversion Location
Awareness	Brand reach, video views, store traffic	Reach, Ad Recall Lift, ThruPlay	N/A (upper funnel)
Traffic	Driving website/app visits	Link Clicks, Landing Page Views	Website, App
Engagement	Post engagement, video views, messages	Post Engagement, Video Views, Messages	Facebook, Instagram, Messenger
Leads	Lead form submissions, calls, sign-ups	Leads, Conversions	Instant Forms, Website, Messenger, Calls
App Promotion	App installs, app engagement	App Installs, App Events	App (iOS/Android)
Sales	Purchases, catalog sales, ROAS-driven	Conversions, Value, ROAS	Website, App, Shop, Messenger

Common mistake: Using Traffic when you want Sales or Leads. Traffic optimizes for clicks, not conversions. Meta's algorithm will find clickers, not buyers. Always optimize for the deepest meaningful conversion event.

Objective alignment rule: If the goal is revenue → Sales. If the goal is leads → Leads. Only use Traffic if you genuinely just want page visits (rare for performance marketers).

Campaign Structure Decision Tree

Q1: Ecommerce with 100+ conversions/week?

• Yes → Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) — typically reduces cost per purchase ~12% vs manual
• No → Manual campaign structure

Q2: How should the manual account be structured?

Use the simplified 3-campaign architecture (2025 best practice):

Campaign	Purpose	Audience	Budget Share
1. Prospecting	New customer acquisition	Broad / Lookalikes / Advantage+	60-70%
2. Retargeting	Convert warm audiences	Website visitors, engagers, cart abandoners	20-30%
3. Testing	Test new creative, audiences, offers	Varies per test	10%

Why consolidated? Meta's algorithm in 2025 performs better with fewer, larger ad sets that accumulate 50+ conversions/week. Hyper-segmentation starves ad sets of data.

ASC (Advantage+ Shopping) Setup

Setting	Configuration
Targeting	Country-level only (no interest/behavior targeting)
Customer ratio	Set existing vs new customer budget split (e.g., 70% new / 30% existing)
Creative	Up to 150 ads per campaign (use this ceiling strategically)
Catalog	Required for dynamic product ads
Budget	Enough for 50+ conversions/week minimum
Pixel + CAPI	Must be strong — ASC relies entirely on algorithm learning from signals

When ASC works best: Ecommerce with 100+ conversions/week, strong Pixel + CAPI, diverse creative library, sufficient budget.

When to skip ASC: Low conversion volume (<50/week), weak tracking, need granular audience control, non-ecommerce.

Ad Set Configuration

Budget & Bid Strategy

Strategy	When to Use	How It Works
Highest Volume (default)	No specific CPA/ROAS target, want maximum results	Meta spends full budget to get most conversions
Cost Cap	Have a target CPA	Sets maximum average CPA — may underspend if target is tight
Bid Cap	Have a hard maximum per-result bid	Caps individual auction bids — most restrictive
ROAS Goal	Have a target ROAS (ecommerce)	Optimizes for return on ad spend target

Budget sufficiency rule: Each ad set needs enough budget for 50+ conversions/week (optimal) or 25+ (minimum). If your target CPA is $50, that means $250-$350+/week per ad set minimum.

60/30/10 allocation:

• 60% to best-performing audiences/ad sets
• 30% to scaling tests
• 10% to experimental

Scaling rule: Increase budgets by 20% increments maximum. Larger jumps risk resetting learning phase.

Placement Strategy

Approach	When	Configuration
Advantage+ Placements (default)	Most campaigns	Let Meta optimize across all placements. Recommended default
Manual placements	Specific creative constraints	Select specific placements (Feed only, Reels only, etc.)

Monitor placement performance: Even with Advantage+, review placement-level ROAS. If Audience Network drives clicks but no conversions, consider excluding it.

Creative specs by placement:

• Feed: 4:5 vertical (best) or 1:1 square
• Stories/Reels: 9:16 full vertical
• Right Column: 1:1 square
• In-stream video: 16:9 landscape
• 4:5 vertical outperforms 1:1 by ~15% in Feed (Billo data)

Attribution Windows

Window	Best For
7-day click, 1-day view (default)	Most campaigns. Standard attribution
1-day click	Short purchase cycles, low-ticket items
7-day click	High-ticket, longer consideration (removes view-through noise)

Critical (October 2025): 7d_view and 28d_view windows removed from Insights API. Don't build reporting dependencies on these.

Ad Creative Setup

Format Selection

Format	Best For	Specs
Single image	Simple messaging, product shots	1080x1350 (4:5), <30MB
Single video	Storytelling, demos, UGC	4:5 or 9:16, 15-30 sec, <4GB
Carousel	Multiple products, feature walkthrough	Up to 10 cards, 1:1 or 4:5
Collection	Ecommerce catalog browsing	Cover image/video + catalog products
Reels-native	Mobile-first vertical video	9:16, 15-60 sec

Ad Copy Structure

Element	Guideline
Primary text	Under 125 characters (truncation point). Hook → benefit → CTA
Headline	Under 40 characters. Clear value prop or offer
Description	Under 30 characters. Supporting detail
CTA button	Match objective: Shop Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Get Offer

Copy framework: Hook (stop the scroll) → Problem/Pain → Solution/Benefit → CTA

Video rules:

• First 3 seconds = hook (determines if user watches)
• Bold, high-contrast captions mandatory (85% of Facebook videos watched without sound)
• Front-load the value proposition
• Graphic CTAs outperform text-only CTAs

For creative testing frameworks, use the meta-ads-creative-engine skill.

Output Format

## Meta Ads Campaign Build Plan

### Campaign Overview
- Campaign name: [naming convention]
- Objective: [ODAX objective]
- Conversion location: [Website/App/Instant Forms/etc.]
- Structure: [ASC / Manual 3-campaign / Custom]
- Total monthly budget: $[X]

### Ad Set Configuration
| Ad Set | Audience | Budget | Optimization | Attribution |
|--------|----------|--------|-------------|-------------|
| [name] | [targeting] | $[X]/day | [event] | [window] |

### Audience Strategy
- Prospecting: [approach]
- Retargeting: [approach]
- Exclusions: [who to exclude]

### Creative Plan
| Ad | Format | Hook | CTA | Landing Page |
|----|--------|------|-----|-------------|
| [name] | [format] | [hook concept] | [CTA] | [URL] |

### Launch Checklist
- [ ] Pixel + CAPI verified (EMQ ≥ 6.0)
- [ ] Conversion event configured and firing
- [ ] Audience exclusions set (existing customers from prospecting)
- [ ] Creative meets spec requirements (4:5 vertical, captions on video)
- [ ] Budget sufficient for 50+ conversions/week/ad set
- [ ] Attribution window set (7d click / 1d view default)
- [ ] No changes planned for 5-7 day learning phase

Example

Input: "I sell premium candles DTC, average order value $45, target CPA $18. I'm spending $4K/month on Meta. Currently have Pixel + CAPI active with 7.2 EMQ. Getting about 55 purchases/week. Want to set up a proper campaign structure."

Output:

Meta Ads Campaign Build Plan

Campaign Overview

• Objective: Sales (Purchase optimization)
• Conversion location: Website
• Structure: ASC + Manual retargeting — 55 purchases/week qualifies for ASC. Run ASC for prospecting + manual for retargeting
• Total monthly budget: $4,000

Campaign Architecture

Campaign 1: ASC — Prospecting (70% = $2,800/mo / ~$92/day)

Setting	Configuration
Customer ratio	80% new / 20% existing
Creative	15-20 best-performing ads (diverse formats: static, video, carousel)
Catalog	Connected — enable dynamic product ads
Optimization	Purchase
Budget	$92/day (enough for ~35+ purchases/week at $18 CPA)

Campaign 2: Manual — Retargeting (20% = $800/mo / ~$26/day)

Ad Set	Audience	Budget	Optimization
Hot retarget	Website visitors 0-14 days + cart abandoners	$18/day	Purchase
Warm retarget	Website visitors 15-60 days + engagers (50%+ video viewers)	$8/day	Purchase

Exclude: past purchasers (30 days) from both ad sets to avoid wasted spend.

Campaign 3: Testing (10% = $400/mo / ~$13/day)

Ad Set	Purpose	Budget	Duration
Creative test	Test 2-3 new creative concepts against control	$13/day	7-10 days per test

Audience Strategy

• Prospecting (ASC): Country-level (US). Algorithm handles targeting using your strong Pixel + CAPI signals (7.2 EMQ — solid)
• Retargeting: Website visitors by recency (14-day warmer than 60-day), cart abandoners, video engagers (50%+ view)
• Exclusions: Upload customer purchase list → exclude from prospecting. Exclude 30-day purchasers from retargeting. Note: detailed targeting exclusions removed March 2025 — use customer list suppression instead

Creative Plan

Ad	Format	Hook	CTA	Placement
Hero product	4:5 static image	Lifestyle shot — candle in styled room	Shop Now	Feed, Stories
UGC unboxing	9:16 video (20 sec)	"This is the best candle I've ever owned"	Shop Now	Reels, Stories
Scent carousel	Carousel (5 cards)	"Find your signature scent" — one scent per card	Shop Now	Feed
Social proof	4:5 static	Customer quote + product image	Shop Now	Feed
Process video	9:16 video (15 sec)	"Hand-poured in small batches" — behind-the-scenes	Shop Now	Reels

Copy example (UGC ad):

• Primary text: "This candle completely transformed my living room. The scent lasts 60+ hours." (89 chars)
• Headline: "Premium Hand-Poured Candles"
• CTA: Shop Now

Launch Checklist

• Pixel + CAPI verified (EMQ 7.2 — above 6.0 threshold)
• Purchase event configured as primary conversion
• Customer list uploaded → excluded from ASC prospecting
• 30-day purchaser exclusion on retargeting ad sets
• All creative in 4:5 vertical (Feed) and 9:16 (Reels/Stories)
• Video ads have captions (85% watch without sound)
• ASC budget = $92/day (allows ~35+ purchases/week at $18 CPA)
• No changes for 5-7 day learning phase after launch

Guidelines

• Don't use Traffic when you want Sales. This is the most common Meta Ads mistake. Traffic finds clickers. Sales finds buyers. Always optimize for the deepest meaningful conversion.
• Don't launch with weak tracking. If EMQ is below 6.0 or CAPI isn't active, fix tracking first. Use the meta-ads-tracking-setup skill before building campaigns.
• Don't hyper-segment audiences. 2025 Meta algorithm prefers fewer, larger ad sets with 50+ conversions/week. Combine warm + cold in single ad sets. Let the algorithm sort.
• Don't skip customer exclusions. Detailed targeting exclusions were removed March 2025, but customer list exclusions still work and are essential. Upload your buyer list and exclude from prospecting.
• Don't ignore learning phase. 5-7 days minimum. Changes during learning (budget >20%, audience, creative swaps, bid changes) reset the clock. Advertisers under 20% learning spend see up to 68% lower CPA.
• Don't forget captions on video. 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. No captions = invisible message.
• Don't exceed 150 ads in ASC. Hard ceiling. Curate your best creative, don't dump everything in.
• Instant Experience change (June 2025): No longer counts as a landing page view. Don't include in funnel metrics.
• Offline Conversions API (May 2025): Discontinued. If someone needs offline conversion tracking, direct to CAPI with action_source: physical_store or system_generated.
• Cross-references: For tracking setup, use the meta-ads-tracking-setup skill. For creative testing, use the meta-ads-creative-engine skill. For ongoing optimization after launch, use the meta-ads-optimizer skill. For Google campaign building, use the google-ads-campaign-builder skill. For audience deep-dives, read references/audience-strategy.md.
• Confidence: Budget sufficiency estimates are based on target CPA math. Actual performance depends on creative quality, offer strength, and tracking accuracy. ASC's ~12% CPA improvement is Meta's benchmark — results vary.