Meta Business Manager is full of powerful tools to help you optimise your ads as effectively as possible – including Meta’s automatic rules.
This can sometimes make it confusing to know which tools you should use. And yes, it can occasionally be tricky to navigate, so they end up just sitting there…
You may already have come across Meta’s automatic rules. But perhaps you have not properly got started with them, so here are some practical tips to help you get going.
If you have never tried using Meta’s automatic rules, just keep reading. It is straightforward, and it can save you both time and unnecessary worry!
Show me the 3 (perhaps) most relevant rules
How Meta’s automatic rules work
In essence, you set an action that Meta should take when a specific event occurs. In other words, when X happens, Meta does Y.
You can apply rules at any level of your setup – campaign, ad set, or ad level. If you are working with CBO (campaign budget optimisation), you will have more actions to choose from at this level when setting up a new rule. If you manage budgets at ad set level, you will find these options there instead.
How do I get started with Meta’s automatic rules?
1. Start by going to your Ads Manager in your Meta Business Manager
2. Select where you want to apply your rule (In this example, at ad set level)
First, tick the box to the left of the ad set you want to create a rule for, then click ‘Rules’ in the toolbar and choose ‘Create a new rule’.
3. Select ‘Custom rule’ and click ‘Next’
4. Now set up your new rule
The first important step is to choose what action Meta should take when the conditions are met. Here, you have 12 different options (because we are at ad set level).
1. Turn off ad set
2. Turn on ad set
3. Send notification only
4. Increase daily budget by
5. Decrease daily budget by
6. Increase lifetime budget by
7. Decrease lifetime budget by
8. Scale daily budget by metric
9. Scale lifetime budget by metric
10. Increase bid by
11. Decrease bid by
12. Scale bid by metric
Next, select which conditions must be met before the selected action is performed.
For example, if you run an online shop selling products, cost per purchase may be a key parameter for you. If you know how much you are willing to pay for a new customer, you can set a condition for when the cost per purchase exceeds X (the amount you are willing to pay). Then Facebook will turn off the ad set as soon as you start paying too much.
The 3 (perhaps) most relevant rules
1. Turn off your ad set when the price exceeds what you are willing to pay
If you know exactly how much you are willing to pay per purchase, lead, or click, you will want to make sure your ads never exceed this price.
Therefore, it makes sense to set up an automatic rule so that Meta turns off the campaign as soon as the price reaches this amount.
You will receive a notification as soon as the rule is triggered, and of course, you can restart the campaign if needed. Remember, though, to remove or adjust the rule if you restart the campaign, otherwise it will just be turned off again.
2. Receive a notification when your frequency exceeds a specific threshold
You may notice that your ad performance drops when your audience has seen your creatives a certain number of times.
Here, it is useful to set up a rule that sends you a notification when the frequency of your ad set goes above a certain threshold. Your ads will not be paused, but Meta will send you an email as soon as the set frequency is reached.
Receive a notification when your frequency exceeds a specific threshold
3. Reactivate high-performing campaigns automatically
If you mainly run one-off campaigns, you can benefit from applying this rule to make the most of them.
Instruct Meta to turn your campaign back on if it performs better than your set threshold.
Example: You are happy with a cost per purchase of £100, and you have launched a campaign with an end date in 14 days. During that period, the campaign generates purchases at £50, but it is automatically paused on day 14. In this case, the campaign could be reactivated by Meta.
You can also use the first rule at the same time to ensure your ads keep running as long as the cost per purchase is below £100 and are turned off if it exceeds, for example, £101.
Why you should still keep an eye on things when using Meta’s automated rules
When you use Meta’s automated rules, Meta is only looking at your performance within Meta Business Manager. In many cases, this is a good thing.
However, if you are a B2C company that also has physical shops or retailers for your products, the visibility of your Facebook ads can have a positive impact elsewhere too.
So remember to analyse how your overall marketing activities perform while your Facebook campaigns are running.
You might be able to tolerate a higher cost per purchase from Meta, because the exposure is also driving value in physical stores.
Need help setting up rules for your ads?
If you need help getting started with automated rules for your campaigns in Meta Business Manager, please do not hesitate to contact us!
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