2024's Winning Formula: The Best Facebook Ads Campaign Structure Revealed

As we move through 2024, Facebook advertising continues to be a big plus point for businesses, but the landscape has shifted quite a bit. The once-familiar strategy of multiple ad sets within a campaign is being replaced with a more streamlined, data-driven approach. This shift isn't just a trend—it's a response to Meta's new guidelines and the changing dynamics of audience targeting and machine learning.

As digital marketers, we must adapt to these changes to maintain optimal performance. The key to success in 2024 requires marketers to understand and implement a more consolidated campaign structure. Let's dive into the core elements of this new strategy.

Strategies for the new Facebook landscape

The new paradigm: One ad set per campaign

The most significant shift in Facebook ad campaign structure is the move from multiple ad sets to a single ad set per campaign. This change might seem counterintuitive to seasoned marketers who have relied on multiple ad sets to test different targeting options. However, this consolidation brings several benefits:

• Faster learning and optimisation: With all your budget concentrated in one ad set, Meta's algorithms can gather data more quickly, leading to faster optimisation and improved performance.
• Reduced audience fragmentation: Multiple ad sets often lead to overlapping audiences, causing competition between your own ads. A single ad set eliminates this issue, ensuring your budget is used more efficiently.
• Avoidance of auction overlap: When you have multiple ad sets, they can end up competing against each other in the same auctions, driving up your costs. A single ad set approach prevents this internal competition.

It's important to note that there are exceptions to this rule. For strategies like omnipresent content campaigns, where the goal is to show multiple ads to the same audience over time, multiple ad sets may still be necessary.

Understanding the rationale behind the change?

Meta's push for consolidated ad sets stems from several factors:

• Diminishing the importance of separate targeting data: With the advancement of Meta's algorithms, the granular insights we used to gain from separate ad sets are becoming less crucial for campaign success.
• The rise of open targeting and Advantage+ Audience: These broader targeting options are proving increasingly effective, reducing the need for multiple, narrowly targeted ad sets.

The advantages of consolidated ad sets?

Embracing this new structure offers several advantages:

Quicker exit from the learning phase: Consolidated data means your campaigns can move past the initial learning phase faster, leading to more stable performance.

Improved overall campaign performance: By allowing Meta's algorithms more data to work with, we're often seeing better overall performance from consolidated campaigns.

• Better handling of audience overlap: In the era of broad targeting, audience overlap is inevitable. Consolidated ad sets manage this overlap more effectively than multiple competing ad sets.

Recommended campaign structure for 2024?

For direct-to-offer campaigns, the ideal structure now looks like this:

• One cold audience campaign with a single ad set: This campaign targets new potential customers, often using open targeting or Advantage+ Audience.
• One warm audience campaign with a single ad set: This campaign retargets users who have already interacted with your brand, including website visitors, engagement audiences, and customer lists.

This structure allows for clear separation between cold and warm audiences while maintaining the benefits of consolidated ad sets.

However, for strategies like omnipresent content campaigns, multiple ad sets within a campaign may still be necessary. Additionally, different product ranges or offers should still be separated into distinct campaigns.

Optimising ad quantity within ad sets?

Meta now recommends using six or fewer creatives per ad set. This guideline helps prevent creative fatigue and allows for more focused optimisation. However, consider your budget when determining ad quantity. For smaller budgets (e.g., $10-$20 per day), you might want to use even fewer ads – perhaps 2-3 – to ensure each creative gets enough exposure. For larger budgets (thousands per day), you can comfortably use up to six creatives.

It's worth noting that this recommendation doesn't apply to dynamic creative ads or Advantage+ Shopping campaigns, which have their own unique structures.

Best practices for ad testing and optimisation?

• Use multiple text optimisation for minor variations: Instead of creating separate ads for small copy changes, use Meta's multiple text fields to test different headlines or primary text within a single ad.
• Leverage dynamic creative for similar options: When testing variations of the same basic creative (e.g., different background colours), use dynamic creative to allow Meta's system to optimise automatically.
• Create separate ads for significant variations: For substantially different creatives or offers, it's still beneficial to create distinct ads for clearer performance comparison.
• Implement a testing strategy for new creatives: Consider using a separate campaign for testing new ad creatives, especially if you have a high-performing ad that's dominating delivery in your main campaign.

Adapting to the new structure: Tips for success?

• Monitor performance metrics closely: While consolidation simplifies structure, it's more important than ever to keep a close eye on your key performance indicators.
• Balance automation with strategic intervention: Trust in Meta's algorithms, but be prepared to step in with strategic adjustments when necessary.
• Continuously test and refine ad creative: With fewer variables in targeting, creative becomes even more critical. Regularly introduce new creatives to prevent ad fatigue.
• Stay informed about Meta's evolving best practices: The world of Facebook advertising is always changing. Make it a habit to stay updated on the latest recommendations and features.

Is your marketing strategy ready for these Meta shifts?

The shift to a more consolidated Facebook ad campaign structure in 2024 represents a significant change in how we approach digital advertising. By embracing these changes—consolidating ad sets, leveraging open targeting, and optimising ad quantity—marketers can harness the full power of Meta's advanced algorithms while maintaining strategic control.

Adapting to this new paradigm isn't just about following trends; it's about maximising performance and efficiency in an increasingly competitive digital landscape. As we move forward, those who can balance the power of AI-driven optimisation with strategic human oversight will be best positioned for success.