Marketers and advertisers using Meta platforms, listen up! We've got some very interesting news that's going to make our lives a whole lot easier.
Remember how we used to need 50 events in 7 days to get our ad sets out of the learning phase? Well, that's old news now. Meta just updated their system, and now we only need 10 events in just 3 days to exit the learning phase!
What does this mean? Well, to start off, our campaigns can start performing at their best much faster, giving us better results in less time.
In this article, we'll chat about what this update means for our ad strategies, how we can make the most of it, and share some tips so that our campaigns exit the learning phase quickly and smoothly.
Let's dive right in!
What Is Meta’s Learning Phase?
The learning phase on Meta is like a warm-up period for your ads. Here's how it works:
Testing Time: When you first launch an ad, Meta’s system doesn’t know who will engage with it. So, it tests the ad with different types of people to gather data.
Finding Patterns: During this period, Meta looks for patterns in how people are reacting. It's figuring out who is clicking, liking, or buying after seeing your ad.
Improving Performance: Each time an ad is shown, Meta's ad system gets better at figuring out the best people and places to show it. The more the ad runs, the better the system gets at improving the ad’s performance.
Short-Term Instability: Because it's testing, your results (like how many people click or buy) might go up and down at first. This is normal and part of the process.
During this time, the system is trying different things to find the best way to show your ad, so performance might be a bit shaky, and costs can be higher. Which is why marketers generally would want to exit the learning phase as soon as they can.
Stabilised Phase: Once Meta has enough information, it exits the learning phase. Now, your ad should perform more consistently because Meta knows who to target.
In short, the learning phase is Meta’s way of figuring out the best audience for your ad to help it perform better in the long run.
You'll see "Learning" in the Delivery column when an ad set is in this phase.
Keep in Mind: Big Changes Can Reset the Learning Phase
It's important to remember that making significant changes to an existing ad CAN cause it to re-enter the learning phase. We'll cover this in more detail later on.
How Does This Update Benefit Marketers?
There are multiple ways this Meta update can things a whole lot easier for marketers, such as:
Faster Optimisation
With only 10 events needed in 3 days, your ads can exit the learning phase much quicker. This means they start performing at their best sooner, giving you faster results.
Quick optimisation allows you to see what's working early on, ensuring your campaign is on the right track from the beginning.
Lower Costs Sooner
Since your ads stabilise quicker, you can achieve lower costs per action (CPA) earlier in your campaign. When ads exit the learning phase faster, they target the right audience more effectively, which means you're spending less to get better results.
With this early stabilisation, you can now stretch your budget further so that more of your spend goes towards reaching the right people at a lower cost.
Improved Performance
Quicker learning means the ad system can refine targeting faster, showing your ads to the right people sooner.
As the system learns and adjusts quickly, your ads become more relevant to the audience, leading to better engagement and higher conversion rates.
More Flexibility
Shorter learning phases allow for more frequent adjustments and testing without long waiting periods, making it easier to optimise your campaigns on the fly.
With the ability to test different strategies and make changes rapidly, you can continuously improve your ads based on real-time data.
Better Budget Allocation
Exiting the learning phase faster means you are now able to allocate more of your budget to stabilised ads rather than the ones in the learning process.
Since these are the ads that already work, using this strategy ensures a higher return on investment.
Efficient budget use means you get more value from your advertising spend, driving overall stronger results for your campaigns.
Avoid Frequent Edits to Prevent Ad Sets from Re-Entering the Learning Phase
As mentioned earlier, making significant changes to your campaigns can significantly disrupt the learning phase of your ad sets. Here are the specific types of edits that can cause an ad set to re-enter the learning phase:
Campaign Level
Budget Changes (Big Changes): If you change your campaign budget a lot, it can reset the learning phase. Small changes might be okay, but big increases or decreases will cause a reset.
Bid Amount Changes (Big Changes): Adjusting the amount you're willing to pay for each bid by a large amount can also reset the learning phase. Make bid changes gradually to avoid this.
Changing Bid Strategy: If you switch how you bid (like from paying per click to paying per impression), it will reset the learning phase. Stick with one strategy to keep things stable.
Ad Set Level
Targeting Changes: Changing who you target with your ads, such as different demographics or interests, will reset the learning phase. Keep your audience consistent to maintain progress.
Placement Changes: Changing where your ads show up (like on Facebook feed or Instagram stories) can cause a reset. Choose your placements carefully and stick to them.
Optimisation Event Changes: Changing what you optimise for, like switching from link clicks to purchases, will reset the learning phase. Decide on the most important goal beforehand.
Adding New Creative: Introducing new images, videos, or other creative elements to an ad set will reset the learning phase. Make sure your creatives are ready and finalized before adding them.
Changing Bid Strategy: Just like at the campaign level, changing the bid strategy at the ad set level will reset the learning phase. Stay consistent with your bid strategies.
Bid Amount Changes (Big Changes): Large changes to the bid amount within an ad set can cause a reset. Make bid changes slowly and carefully.
Budget Changes (Big Changes): Big changes in the ad set budget can reset the learning phase. Manage budget changes carefully to avoid this.
Pausing for Over Seven Days: If an ad set is paused for more than seven days, it will re-enter the learning phase when you turn it back on. Avoid long pauses to keep the active phase status.
Ad Level
Any Change: Any modification to an ad—whether it's updating the image, text, or anything else—will reset the learning phase. Try to finalise all ad details before launching to avoid frequent edits.
What Happens If We Don’t Get Enough Optimisations Events?
If your ad set isn't getting enough optimisation events to exit the learning phase, you'll see the status "Learning Limited" in the Delivery column.
Final Words
Remember, while this update offers many benefits, it's important to avoid making frequent or significant changes to your campaigns to prevent your ad sets from re-entering the learning phase.
Stick to your strategies, monitor your performance, and make gradual adjustments when necessary to maintain stability and efficiency.
With these tips and insights, you're now equipped to make the most of Meta's new update. Embrace this change, optimise your ad strategies, and watch your campaigns thrive. Happy advertising!
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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