by Nicole Barbato | Updated Nov 9, 2021
Have you seen the term “Campaign Budget Optimization” popping up when trying to run Facebook and Instagram ads lately? If you work within the social media world, that answer is YES! In 2020, Facebook and Instagram have indicated that Campaign Budget Optimization is something you will need to know how to do. It’s only a matter of time.
There has been some back and forth on exactly when Facebook will be making this feature mandatory for all ad accounts. It was supposed to be September 2020 but now we have it on good authority that it will likely be rolled out sooner. If you’re in Facebook’s ad platform, you’ll start seeing banner notifications and marketing emails talking about this change starting sometime between February 1st and 4th.
That said, it’s never too early to start getting familiar with Campaign Budget Optimization Don’t worry, we’ll be walking you through exactly what Campaign Budget Optimization is, how to use it, and what our social media team thinks so far.
What is Campaign Budget Optimization?
Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) allows you to set a budget at the campaign level (instead of the ad set level). From there, Facebook will automatically and continuously optimize and allocate the budget to the best-performing ad sets within that campaign.
Sounds ideal, right? Curious how to turn this on for your campaigns right now?
You can find the Campaign Budget Optimization option when you first go into Ads Manager. You turn it on at the campaign level, and it’s available for all objectives whether your ads are designed to drive traffic, lead gen or conversions. You will also choose a daily or lifetime budget, as well as your bid strategy. We typically opt for a lifetime budget at the lowest cost per action.
How Does Campaign Budget Optimization Work?
Now that you know what Facebook’s CBO is, let’s go through a practical example of how exactly this advertising feature works.
You have launched a campaign to promote Product A and within that campaign, you have three different ad sets, each targeting a different audience. For the sake of this example, let’s say your total budget is $30, which you set at the campaign level using CBO. If Ad Set 1 is at $0.50 CPC, Ad Set 2 at $1.00 CPC and Ad Set 3 at $0.40 CPC, Facebook will start to put more of your budget into Ad Set 3 since it is achieving the lowest cost per click (or whatever your desired action is).
Now, something to keep in mind is that even though Ad Set 3 is the best performing now, over time, this option may no longer be the most inexpensive. If and when that happens, Facebook will begin to allocate budget to the other ad sets (looking for the lowest cost per click or desired result).
It may be tempting, but don’t pause the ad sets with higher CPC’s. Facebook is looking at the overall opportunities in each ad set. Opportunities refer to the number of chances that ad set has to get that low CPC or desired result. One ad set could have the lowest CPC, but maybe only 20 opportunities, which means it will eventually become exhausted. When this happens, Facebook will look at the other ad sets you have running and optimize the rest of your budget to the next best ad set. Alternatively, you can add in new ad sets or ad creative to test as well.
Campaign Budget Optimization is ideal if you only care about the best results, but some organizations and brands still prefer to have more control over how much budget is allocated exactly to each audience. The good news is you can still have the best of both worlds. Control and CBO.
Our social media team found a useful workaround. Simply set a minimum and maximum spend for your ad sets. This way, if you really want to make sure each ad set gets a specific amount of budget, you can. To do this, head to the Optimization & Spending Controls section of your desired ad set, click “Add spend limits to this ad set” and you’ll be all set.
A Social Media Expert’s Thoughts on Campaign Budget Optimization
Campaign Budget Optimization was developed to make advertising with Facebook easier, and we have to say...we think it does. It’s a great way to make sure you are getting the lowest cost and the best results while testing out multiple audiences and creatives.
Overall, our social media marketing team have become fans of this feature! It...
- Saves time, so you don’t have to manually shift budgets
- Provides real-time updates, meaning while you’re sleeping it’s still working!
- Uses automation to achieve the lowest overall cost
Have additional tips to share? Comment below with what you're seeing and ways you are optimizing Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns.
Not sure you have time to master social advertising and all the new updates? You’re in luck., We have a team of social media experts ready to help!
Campaign Budget Optimization is a great resource and tool. However, it’s only one lever to pull in a holistic social media or digital marketing campaign. Ultimately, we know your goal isn’t to drive down the cost of your advertising. It’s about elevating relationships with your customers, prospects, and clients. That’s where the Digital Utopia Methodology comes in.
Take the first step and learn more about our Methodology and download the Digital Utopia Blueprint.
