Did you hear? Facebook started rolling out this new feature recently.
It uses automation and machine learning to expand your custom audience beyond what you’ve initially targeted and improve performance.
Sounds great on paper!
But while it’s tempting to try out every new ad feature, the question is: Should you? And if so, when?
Well, according to Jon Loomer, who covered this in his recent article, you should use Advantage Custom Audiences (ACA) only when you’re running prospecting ads.
Here’s why:
- Advertisers treat small custom audiences the same way they do broad targeting. If you spend $100 per day, you’re going to exhaust that audience and push up your costs per mille (CPM).
- ACA allows you to expand that audience gradually—and only if the data says it improved results. This can improve your frequency and CPM.
When you shouldn’t use it: Jon says it doesn’t make much sense when you’re remarketing or have a very specific message.
Take abandoned carts or upsells, for example. These ads are quite specific and would only make sense to your existing custom audience.
That’s why sometimes it’s better to keep this feature off.
Also, consider privacy and transparency. Most data now stays in the dark due to privacy regulations. So while ACA may appear to work, you may not be able to prove it.
You won’t know if the audience is expanded, or by how much, or how many results came from expansion… which makes it a heck of a difficult task to track.
If Meta comes up with a breakdown showing performance of your ACA, that could make the feature much more attractive… and more useful, too.
Until they do, try to limit ACA to prospecting. It may help your campaigns… even if you won’t be able to prove it.