These are the Meta ads bid strategies you should use and when…
If you stick with the defaults, you’re using the Highest Volume bid strategyThe default bid strategy for most objectives. Meta will attempt to get you the highest volume of optimized actions within your budget. No concern will be given to value, ROAS, or cost per action. More. Meta will try to get you the most optimized actions at the lowest cost. Use this in most cases unless you know what you’re doing.
You can also set a Cost Per Result GoalWhen using the Highest Volume bid strategy, advertisers can choose to set a Cost Per Result Goal. This allows to establish how much you're willing to pay for the optimized action. It's not a hard cap, but a goal the algorithm will consider. More. If you want to keep your Cost Per Purchase stable around $10, for example, use this. Cost Per Result Goals are best for scalingScaling is the process of increasing your budget or focus to get more results from an effective campaign or ad set. Advertisers often speak of vertical scaling (increasing your budget) or horizontal scaling (increasing your targeting audience) to achieve these results. More and stability. But use a reasonable Cost Per Result Goal or your budgetA budget is an amount you're willing to spend on your Facebook campaigns or ad sets on a daily or lifetime basis. More will stop spending.
If you utilize the Value performance goalThe Performance Goal is chosen within the ad set and determines optimization and delivery. How you optimize impacts who sees your ad. Meta will show your ad to people most likely to perform your desired action. More for a purchases campaignThe campaign is the foundation of your Facebook ad. This is where you'll set an advertising objective, which defines what you want your ad to achieve. More, the default bid strategyWhen you enter an ad into the auction, Meta will bid for you. But in some cases, it may benefit you to adjust the bidding strategy to get better results. Options include Highest Volume, Cost Per Result Goal, Highest Value, ROAS Goal, and Bid Cap. More is Highest Value. Meta will focus on the highest value purchases rather than worry about volume.
While optimizing for Value you can also use a ROAS goalWhen utilizing the Sales objective, "Maximize value of conversions," and Highest Value bid type, you can set a ROAS Goal. Meta will then attempt to spend your budget with a focus on maintaining your desired ROAS. More. While Meta focuses on higher value purchases, the primary goal is reaching your desired ROAS. This can provide ROAS stability, but use a reasonable goal or your budget may not spend.
Finally, you can use a Bid CapBid Cap is one of Facebook’s bid strategy options, which guides Meta on how to bid in the ad auction. A Bid Cap sets a maximum bid across auctions, rather than allow them to bid dynamically. More. This allows you to control how much you bid across auctions. This should rarely be used, and only if you understand predicted conversion rates to help figure out the right bid.
It’s confusing, I know…
Cost Cap is all about what you PAY FOR THE ACTION, but the bid could be high or low. Bid Cap is only about what you’re paying IN THE AUCTIONFacebook uses an ad auction to determine the best ad to show to a person at a given point in time. The winner of the auction is the ad with the highest total value, based on bid, estimated action rates, and ad quality. More, not the actual Cost Per Action.
Typically, the default is fine, but if you want to experiment, Cost Per Result Goal is good for scaling and stability. ROAS Goal is good for adding stability to a profitable ad setAn ad set is a Facebook ads grouping where settings like targeting, scheduling, optimization, and placement are determined. More.
But in all cases, a higher budget is ideal. And don’t get cute lowballing the system or you’ll just be frustrated.
What bid strategies do you use?