A best practice

playbook for better

performance and
more accurate
reporting
Guidance to help you reliably drive
business results today and unlock
future value tomorrow
At a glance

Your advertising best practices checklist

1 Establish a more reliable data connection with Meta Page 3

Meta Business Solution: The Conversions API

Enable stronger performance through effective data usage Page 8

2
Meta Business Solution: Event match quality, lead generation solutions

Optimize your ads to meet your business goals Page 17

3
Meta Business Solution: Meta Advantage Suite

4 Measure the value your campaign is driving Page 21

Meta Business Solution: Conversion Lift with the Conversions API, marketing mix modeling

5 Ways to prepare your business for evolving privacy expectations Page 27

The latest industry best practices

Performance Guide 1
Introduction

Performance on people’s terms

As the advertising industry evolves to meet people's expectations of privacy, there is less data available,
and the picture of the consumer journey is no longer complete. This has led to declines in advertising
performance; costs have gone up and it’s harder to measure whether an ad is driving business results.

At Meta, we've always been committed to delivering performance and scale for your business, powered
by our best-in-class discovery engine, mobile-first formats as well as measurement and optimization
tools. As the industry changes, this commitment to performance will continue.

We believe that:

Personalized ads are valuable to people and businesses

Personalization and data privacy can co-exist

Powered by these beliefs, we're building products that deliver performance on people's terms.
We're reimagining what it means for people and businesses in the evolving digital ecosystem.

Meta is here to help:

BUSINESSES PEOPLE
Achieve strong ROI Understand how their data is being used

Improve cost efficiencies Discover businesses that delight them

Reach receptive customers Have more choice to personalize

their ads experience
Understand the impact of their ads

This guidebook provides best practices on how to help your business thrive in the evolving ads
ecosystem. You’ll discover how to adapt to the changing landscape and help drive stronger performance
with Meta’s marketing solutions, while continuing to respect your customers’ privacy.

We're going to cover best practices to:

• Establish a more reliable data connection and help accurately measure

website actions with more resilient solutions
• Show more relevant ads and enable stronger performance with integration best practices
• Drive performance by optimizing your ads in the Meta auction
• Prepare now for a privacy-focused future

Let's dive in.

Performance Guide 2
 1

Establish a more
reliable data connection
with Meta
Adopting the Conversions API is a critical action to help
unlock better conversion campaign reporting.

Performance Guide 3
1 Establish a more reliable data connection with Meta

The Conversions API

In the past, using the Meta Pixel alone was considered a best practice, but the Pixel relies on
browser technologies like the setting of third party cookies to connect customers to actions
on a website. Now, the Pixel should be used alongside other resilient solutions to paint a more
complete picture of your customers’ journey.

The Conversions API is a Meta Business Tool designed to create a direct and reliable connection
between marketing data from your server to the Meta systems that deliver your ads. This helps
to power ad personalization, optimization and measurement on Meta platforms so that your ads
are shown to people who are more likely to be interested in them. And, since the Conversions API
forms part of Meta’s continuing development of and investment in a wide range of technologies,
advertisers can maintain an ability to effectively target their campaigns in a way that is not solely
reliant on cookie or browser-based technologies.

Relies on current-state browser tech to be effective

PIXEL

WEBSITE INTERACTION

SERVER CONVERSIONS API

YOUR CUSTOMER For ad consent

checks, measurement
and optimization

OTHER INTERACTION

Advertisers across multiple verticals who followed best practices while sending events redundantly
via the Pixel and the Conversions API received a 8% CPA improvement on average.
1

1. Based on 15 global experiments in H2 2020 across eCommerce, Tech/Telco, Financial Services, Education, Restaurants,
Professional Services and CPG verticals.

Performance Guide 4
1 Establish a more reliable data connection with Meta

We recommend that you do not replace the Meta Pixel, but rather set up the Conversions API
alongside it. By using both tools together, you can create a more reliable data connection which
can help you decrease your cost per result and show your ads to people that find them relevant.
We call this a redundant event setup.

META PIXEL CONVERSIONS API

Options for implementing the Conversions API

There are multiple ways to adopt the Conversions API, and these integration methods vary by
their cost, technical requirements and the features they enable.

Use the below detailed guide and example use cases to help determine which implementation
method is right for your business:

INTEGRATION METHOD ADVANTAGES CONSIDERATIONS

• Generally easier and faster • Lower technical lift than direct,

The Conversions API than direct integration but may require developer support
Gateway: • Generally less long-term • Connects a website to Meta
Use Events Manager maintenance and upkeep by installing a package on your
to connect • Code-free, self-service setup cloud server instance
option available in Events Manager • Supports website events only

• Can use outsourced expertise and

technical support from website • Type of events and details
Partner Integration: platform partners supported depends on the partner
Connect through your • Can be set up in a few clicks and • May require specialist
solutions partner with no additional cost using developer support
commerce platform partners

• Requires access to server codebase

Direct Integration:
• Increased control and customization and in-house developer resources
Use developer documentation
• Increased control over data • Requires setup and management of
to connect directly
customer information parameters

Performance Guide 5
1 Establish a more reliable data connection with Meta

Refer to the next few pages for considerations on which implementation method may work best
for your business.

Direct Integration
Customize your Conversions API integration by setting it up yourself.

A direct integration may be a good solution for advertisers that need to customize their
configuration, and gain more options for what data they share to Meta and when they share it.

While this method is usually the least expensive because the costs are limited to the Amazon Web
Servives instance fees and payment of developers, setup often takes weeks and requires ongoing
maintenance and access to your server’s codebase. This granular approach to implementation
works best for businesses with developer resources that build and maintain their digital
infrastructure.

You can learn more about direct integrations on Meta for Developers.

If you want a more customized experience, you can also create personalized setup instructions in
Events Manager and send them to yourself or your developer.

CASE STUDY

In light of changes to the retail and ecommerce ecosystem, Reserved

wanted to optimize its advertising to increase online sales, particularly
in export markets such as Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The Polish clothing manufacturer measured 16% additional purchase

events for its Reserved brand after adopting the Conversions API for
its dynamic ads on Facebook.

CASE STUDY

After adopting the Conversion API, SafraPay saw an increase in the

number of conversions and an improvement in qualification efficiency
using campaigns optimized for offline sales signals.

31.7% higher incremental sales conversion rate with the Conversions API

26% more incremental sales with API over a campaign with browser signals

Performance Guide 6
1 Establish a more reliable data connection with Meta

Integration using the Conversions API Gateway

Use this code-free, self-service setup option available in Events Manager.

The Conversions API Gateway is an integration method that quickly and easily allows you to
share your data directly with Meta using an Amazon Web Services (AWS) instance, owned and
operated by you.

This comes at no additional cost beyond what you pay for your AWS instance, and this code-free
method doesn’t require a developer. If you do not have an AWS account, you can create one by
following guidance captured here.

The Conversions API Gateway may be best suited to businesses with limited developer
resources as it can be integrated by a marketer with minimal IT support. Due to the codeless set
up, the Conversions API Gateway can cut integration time from months to hours.

Partner Integration
Use a commerce partner or website platform partner integration to set up the
Conversions API to reduce overhead for your team.

Partner integrations can be a helpful option for advertisers who are already working with a
partner or agency, or who may not have the resources or experience to set up or maintain the
Conversions API. This method also helps advertisers who use a partner integration with
partial-funnel coverage to supplement it by capturing upper- or mid-funnel events.

We recommend that you use the same website platform partner who manages your Meta
Pixel to help you set up the Conversions API (if available). Ask your partner if they are able to
implement the Conversions API with no additional costs to reduce the overhead for your team.

The Conversions API can also be set up in a few clicks and with no additional cost using
commerce platforms. Choose your eCommerce partner from the full list of available partner
integrations here.

Performance Guide 7
 2

Enable stronger
performance through
effective data usage
Discover how optimizing your existing Conversions API setup and
introducing new Meta Business Solutions, such as lead generation
tools, can help your business use its data more effectively.

Performance Guide 8
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

Get the most from the Conversions API

with these best practices
Once you’ve set up the Conversions API, following best practices is critical to help you reach
future customers with relevant ads and lower your cost per result. Use these tips the first time
you or your developer set up the Conversions API. If you’ve already implemented it, you can still
use these best practices to strengthen ad performance.

Redundant setup
Use the Conversions API in addition to the Meta Pixel, and share the same events
using both tools

Events shared through the Meta Pixel should also be shared through the Conversions API. We
call this a redundant event setup. For example, if you share the purchase, initiate checkout and
contact events using the Meta Pixel, you can share those same web events from your server
using the Conversions API. Redundant setups are useful because the Conversions API allows you
to share website events that the Meta Pixel may lose; for example, due to network connectivity
issues or page loading errors. Learn how to check if you’re sharing redundant web events.

Deduplicate redundant events

If you connect website activity using both the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API as
recommended, we may receive the same events from the browser and the server. If we know
that the events are the same and therefore redundant, we can keep one and discard the rest.
This process is called deduplication. To avoid double reporting, deduplicate your events by
including specific parameters that indicate if an event is a duplicate or not. Learn more about
deduplication and how to monitor your deduplicated events.

Event match quality

The event match quality score indicates how effective the customer information sent
from your server may be to matching to a Meta account.

Aim for an event match quality rating of Good or Great

Event match quality has 4 ratings: Poor, Okay, Good or Great. Better event match quality
means events are more likely to match to a Meta account, which can help you see more
conversions and lower your cost per result. Learn more about event match quality and
how to check your event match quality in Events Manager.

Performance Guide 9
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

Include parameters to improve your event match quality in Meta Events Manager

To achieve a better event match quality rating you can:

• Increase coverage of customer information parameters

The more events that have customer information parameters, and the more customer
information parameters each event has, the more likely an event will be matched.

Learn how customer information parameters can help improve event match quality.2

• Prioritize the customer information parameters that are most likely to improve
event match quality, where possible
The audience you want to show ads to plays a factor in which parameters are most
effective. However, there’s a general level of priority for each parameter.

Learn more about customer information parameters and how to prioritize them.

CASE STUDY

Ateli, the leading Czech drop-shipping company, boosted

sales by 1.3 times after incorporating the Facebook
Conversions API into its ad campaigns.

Ateli wanted to explore ways to maximize the efficiency of its

campaigns on Facebook—the company’s best-performing
marketing channel—and increase sales across its 10 European
markets, while improving return on investment. The company
adopted the Conversions API, enabling it to achieve:

1.3 times higher incremental purchase events

26% lower cost per incremental purchase

1.4 times higher incremental view content events

28% lower cost per incremental view content event

2. As a reminder, we require all partners to have lawful rights to collect, use, and share customer data before providing any data to us. We provide general
information and links to helpful industry resources in our Consent Guide, but ultimately you’ll need to work with your own legal counsel to develop your
data sharing compliance plan.

Performance Guide 10
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

Additional Conversions API best practices to consider:

Share your events in real time or as close to real time as possible

The sooner you share events to Meta, the better our ad delivery system can evaluate
how likely a person is to take your desired action after seeing your ad.

Learn more about event delay times and how to check the data freshness of your server
events in Events Manager.

Expand your integration by connecting more Meta Pixels and sharing more events,
when applicable

If you have Meta Pixels that aren’t currently connected to a Conversions API integration,
doing so can help improve your campaign performance. Also, if you have events that you share
using only the Meta Pixel, you may benefit from also sharing them using the Conversions API.
Connecting more Meta Pixels to the Conversions API and sharing more events means you have
more reliable data to optimize your campaigns.

After you set up the Conversions API, continue to monitor your connection regularly

Regularly monitoring your event data helps you make sure that your setup is working and find
opportunities to improve your setup for better campaign performance.

Learn how to monitor your Conversions API setup.

Further guidance on quality data integrations can be found

on the Meta Business Help Center.

Performance Guide 11
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

Find leads that matter to help

grow your business
Meta offers a suite of lead generation solutions that help businesses discover customers
and allow them to get in touch via their preferred channel. These four steps may help you
achieve success:

1 Meet people where they are 3 Support customers at every scale

2 Generate quality leads at scale 4 Follow our best practices to help maximize impact

1. Meet people where they are

Connect with potential customers through their preferred mode of communication— via forms, calls
or messages. Savvy marketers are appealing to more audiences by offering more ways to connect:

WHY?
Forms are preferred by a high value audience: Commerce-friendly consumers3 surveyed are
16% more likely to fill out Lead Ads on Meta than Google.4

Instant WHAT?
Forms Lead Ads enable people to express interest in just a few taps through either website forms
or instant forms to Meta's platform. They make it easier for potential customers to get more
information from your business through a mobile-first form.
Using Lead Ads, you can drive traffic to your website form to generate leads. However, future
privacy and technology changes will reduce the ability to target and optimize this type of
campaign. You might be able to achieve the same marketing objectives with instant forms
which are more resilient to these changes.
Lead Ads instant forms enable people to express interest in just a few taps. Consider shifting to
Meta Lead Ads and/or integrating the Conversions API if you can’t shift to Meta Lead Ads.

HOW?
• Lead Ads (Instant forms)
• Website forms

3. Commerce-friendly consumers are defined as people who engage with ads once per day, have bought a product they’ve discovered from a social media
ad in the last month and have a neutral to positive opinion of social media ads.
4. Meta-commissioned survey of 4,866 Google and Facebook users. Dec 2021

Performance Guide 12
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

WHY?
Calls are preferred by 81% of surveyed people when communicating with local and small
businesses.4

Calls WHAT?
Call Ads allow people to reach a business in the moment of consideration. Businesses can
schedule Call Ads to run only when their business is open and available for calls to maximize
convenience and flexibility. Businesses can also utilize call destinations to set a phone number
for routing calls to best handle demand.

HOW?
• Call Ads
• Call extensions

WHY?
Messages are a quick and easy way to connect with a business. Over 1 billion people are
connecting with a business account across Meta messaging services weekly.5

Messages WHAT?
Ads that click to message (CTX) solutions qualify and nurture leads through Messenger,
Instagram Direct and WhatsApp. Ads that click to Messenger offer a lead generation option to
qualify leads at scale.
Create customizable Messenger templates to capture the information that’s most relevant to
your business, streamline lead qualification with an automated flow built into Messenger and
follow up with leads by passing off to a live agent, email, SMS or calls. Businesses can also add
these leads to their CRM.

HOW?
• Ads that click to Messenger, lead generation
• Ads that click to message

2. Generate quality leads at scale

It's not just the quantity of leads that matter, it's the quality. In fact, marketers cite lead quality as the
top metric in measuring success.6 Businesses can maximize lead quality by pairing the right levers
across optimization, user/business experience and targeting.

4. Meta-commissioned survey of 4,866 Google and Facebook users. Dec 2021

5. Q4 2021 Meta earnings call
6. “Important Metrics for Business Success According to US B2B Sales and Marketing Professionals," eMarketer, February 2, 2021

Performance Guide 13
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

Lead Ads

The key to improving quality is through the Conversion Leads optimization method paired with
a CRM integration via the Conversions API. A business may further enhance quality by using
higher-intent instant forms and the lead filtering feature, now in beta testing. They can also test
look-alike and engagement custom audiences; the latter allows a business to reach people who
started filling out a form but did not complete it.

Call Ads

Businesses should consider using call optimization to find people most likely to have a 15-second
phone call with their business. They can also daypart their ads to run only when their business is
available to take calls and utilize call destinations to route calls appropriately.

Ads that click to Messenger

Businesses can test flexible form delivery in beta to deliver the best converting experience
across forms or messages. They can use qualifying questions to streamline lead qualification and
follow up with completed or abandoned messages through targeting features.

CASE STUDY

The Fives Hotel & Residences is a collection of luxury hotels that

grew their business using Meta’s suite of lead generation tools.

The brand used three lead generation channels—Lead Ads, Call Ads
and ads that click to Messenger—to drive a 50% growth in their
business, with a 10 times increase in revenue.7

CASE STUDY

TECOBI needed to find more qualified leads to increase the number

of people buying a new vehicle at a client’s dealership.

They integrated their CRM system with the Conversions API to send
down-funnel customer activity and used the Conversion Leads
optimization method to drive an increase in quality leads received.

7. eMarketer, Feb 2021

Performance Guide 14
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

3. Support customers at every stage

Across the path to purchase, a customer encounters many needs across discovery, consideration and
purchase, and businesses can leverage Meta’s lead generation solutions to engage with customers at
every stage.

MARKETING FUNNEL / Ads that click

Lead Ads Call Ads
EXAMPLE USE CASES to message

Discovery
Start a conversation with prospective Optimization: Optimization: Optimization:
customers and build your CRM. Leads Link clicks or call Link clicks
optimization
Example: Promote event registrations,
sweepstakes and email signups.

Consideration Optimization: Optimization:

Encourage people to reach out and Conversion Leads Conversations
Optimization:
learn more about your business.
User Experience: Link clicks or call User Experience:
Example: Retarget CRM and optimization
Higher-intent Automated conversational
Lookalikes and gather information
Instant Forms Q&A flow
to better target your offer.

Conversion Optimization: Optimization:

Conversion Leads Conversations
Drive high-quality leads that
convert to sale.
User Experience: Optimization: User Experience:
Example: Follow-up with customers Higher-intent Call optimization Automated conversational
to drive purchase. Instant Forms Q&A flow, Flexible form
delivery (beta)
Integration:
Read more on how to get CRM Integration, Integration:
CRM Integration via WhatsApp API or
started and create a Lead Ad Messenger API Integration,
the Conversions API
from Ads Manager here. CRM Integration

CASE STUDY

Arise Solar used Lead Ads to grow brand awareness with

a 7.7-point lift in standard ad recall and 4.8-point lift in
standard brand awareness. They also observed a 2.1-point
lift in action intent to submit a contact form.

Performance Guide 15
2 Enable stronger performance through effective data usage

4. Best practices for building impactful ad creative and implementation:

Make it mobile-first

Follow mobile-first creative best practices to make sure your ad gets noticed.

Showcase a benefit

Ensure that your lead form is simple and matches your ad.

Include a message on the visual

Use text overlay to articulate a key message in the video or image. Bonus: Consider adding
animated text to help capture attention.

Choose the product that fits Lead Generation Custom Messenger Web conversion
Lead Ads
your lead generation needs. in Messenger experience to a web form

Set up in Ads Manager

CRM integration

Lead qualification

Reminders

Integration with Messenger chat

No developer resources needed

Dealership lookup

Appointment booking

Conditional questions

Qualifying questions

When creating your Lead Ad and instant form, you can also use these additional best practices to
reach more people and increase conversion rates.

Performance Guide 16
 3

Optimize your ads to meet

your business goals
Meta is evolving how we use data to fuel our advertising system, including
how we deliver and optimize campaigns, and how we measure and report
results. Your business can also take action by using ad auction best practices
and exploring testing strategies to understand and improve campaign
performance today.

Performance Guide 17
3 Optimize your ads to meet your business goals

Optimize your ads in the ad auction

Driving performance on Meta technologies starts with understanding our ad system. Every time
your business runs an ad, our system shows that ad to people in your audience who are most likely
to be interested in it. This helps you get the most results possible for your budget while providing
a positive, relevant experience for people.

Advertiser Value Consumer Experience

TOTAL AD ADVERTISER’S ESTIMATED VALUE TO

VALUE BID ACTION RATE USER

Your bid for the event What’s the likelihood that How interesting do
you selected as your an impression shown to we think this individual
optimization goal — i.e, this person will lead your is going to find this ad?
your desired result desired result? Is this a high-quality ad?

The total value of an ad as calculated by our ad system helps to determine who sees the ad.
This calculation takes into account the likelihood that an impression shown to a certain person
will lead to your desired business outcome, as well as how useful or interesting an individual is
going to find the ad.

Ads that perform the best in our auction combine 6 components: the right objective,
targeting, a sufficient budget, enough duration, placements, and compelling ad creative.

1 Objective 5 Placements
The business outcome you want to Where your ad appears (i.e, Messenger,
achieve with your ad, such as a sale Instagram, Audience Network)

2 Targeting 6 Creative
Who you want to see your ad The visuals and messages in your ad

3 Budget
The amount of money you will spend Your inputs influence your ad’s
on an ad to achieve a business goal
performance. In other words, you
play the most important role in
4 Duration
your ad’s success.
How long you run your ad

Performance Guide 18
3 Optimize your ads to meet your business goals

Give your ad a clear goal

Our ad system is designed to help your ad get the best results possible for your budget.
But you need to tell our auction system what you want to accomplish with your ad.

Choose the ad objective that best supports your business goal. The ad creation workflow
and ad delivery options will be customized around the objective that you choose, so that our
auction system can look for people in your audience who are more likely to take actions
related to your objective.

Target a broad audience

Once your ad starts running, our system will learn who is engaging with it and, over time,
narrow your audience so you reach more of the right people.

Our ad delivery system works best when your audience size is between 2 to 10 million people,
so it’s important not to prematurely limit who your ad can reach with custom or lookalike
audiences that are too narrowly defined. However, it’s okay to target fewer people if you offer
a local service or niche product.8

Run your ad for at least 7 days

When you create an ad, our ad system begins the process of learning what kind of people in
your audience are engaging with it. The system needs time to find the best people and places to
show your ad, so you can get more results. To achieve this, we recommend running your ad for
at least 7 days.8

Set an overall budget for your campaign

While setting individual budgets for your ad sets can give you more control over delivery, we
recommend that you set one overarching campaign budget that continuously distributes in real
time to ad sets with the best opportunities.

You can do this by using the Meta Advantage Campaign Budget automation option. This reduces
the number of budgets you have to manage manually. It helps you get the most results possible
from your campaign at the lowest cost, and works best if you’re flexible with how your budget is
spent across ad sets.

8. Facebook Internal Analysis, July 2021

Performance Guide 19
3 Optimize your ads to meet your business goals

Show your ad across six or more placements

You can give our ad system more flexibility to help control costs and achieve better results
when you show your ads across multiple placements, like Facebook Marketplace, Messenger,
Instagram Stories or Reels. Our research shows that ads perform best when they are run across
6 or more placements.9

TIP:

Using the Meta Advantage+ Placements option when setting up campaigns can help our
delivery system try to make the most of your budget and try to increase your ad’s exposure.

Diversify your ad creative

Ad creative has an impact on performance through the auction. Using a mix of assets that are
well-differentiated—meaning they feature diverse messages, concepts, and visuals—can help
performance by combating ad fatigue and reaching new audiences. In fact, our research also
shows that well-differentiated creative can drive a 32% increase in efficiency.10

This doesn’t have to be complicated. Differentiating your creative can be as easy as showcasing
your brand early in an ad to help build recognition and stand out from the competition, or
creating an ad in a vertical or square format to utilize more ad real estate.

Learn more about creative best practices with Creative Guidance Navigator.

TIP:

A/B testing can help you compare 2 or more creatives with each other to understand which is
driving performance. See ‘Measure the Value Your Campaign is Driving’ for more information.

9. Based on historical results from Brand and Conversion Lift studies conducted between October 2020 and September 2021, for Purchases, campaigns
running across 6 or more placements marginally outperformed campaigns running across 4 or fewer placements with a 73% probability. For Ad Recall,
Brand Awareness, and Purchase Intent Lift, the 6 or more placement strategy outperformed campaigns running across 4 or fewer placements with a
99% probability. Note that individual results may vary.
10. We found that the more visually distinct the creatives,** the higher the performance lift of diverse creatives over identical creatives. We saw that the
lift in performance (in test vs control) was 32% when the creatives in the diverse cell were most visually distinct,** compared to 2% when the
creatives in the diverse cell were most visually similar.**
These results were derived from a scaled backend test comparing the performance of two identical vs two non-identical (creatively diverse)
creatives in 2703 ad sets across verticals from 04-04-2021 to 04-26-2021. This analysis was limited to static ads only.
**Visual similarity as defined by distance in a vector-based, ML-derived mapping of image contents.

Performance Guide 20
 4

Measure the value your

campaign is driving
Understand and improve performance with Conversion Lift
and marketing mix modeling.

Performance Guide 21
4 Measure the value your campaign is driving

Measuring the real impact of your marketing

and personalizing ads has never been easy, but
businesses today are facing a new reality: The
GeoLift: An open source solution for
data sets that have long been the foundation of measuring lift
understanding and improving campaign performance
Businesses that want to measure lift
are being challenged or deprecated. in-house in a reproducible way might
want to consider GeoLift. GeoLift is a
Businesses that embrace a test-and-learn mindset measurement toolkit from Meta Open
can overcome these challenges. In fact, our research Source, meaning it is publicly available
to use and build on. The coding package
shows that businesses that experiment with enables businesses to make “apples-to-
online advertising approaches may see improved apples” comparisons across different
performance over time.11 marketing channels—both offline and
online— without leveraging event-level
data impacted by digital advertising
What is right for your business will depend on your ecosystem changes.
unique needs, but if you are trying to measure the
GeoLift allows businesses to conduct
efficiency of your campaigns, consider a Conversion
experiments using their own aggregated
Lift study. For businesses looking to optimize across data by dividing "geos"—such as regions,
channels, marketing mix modeling can help you cities, ZIP codes or even storefronts—into
test groups that see ad campaigns and
execute cross-media measurement without the need control groups that do not. Metrics can
for individual-level information that may be impacted then be compared, delivering nuanced
by changes in the digital advertising ecosystem. insights on the true value of the ads.

Learn more about GeoLift here.

Conversion Lift
Conversion Lift studies allow you to create and run
an experiment to measure your campaign's efficiency.
Unlike other approaches, Conversion Lift helps you
understand incrementality, i.e., the additional conversions or sales caused by your marketing.

This is important because there are people in your target audience who are already planning to make
a purchase from your business, regardless of your marketing. Other measurement approaches like
attribution will not separate out people who were already planning to make a purchase from those
who converted because of your campaign. Running a lift test will help to identify “incremental”
conversions—the conversions that actually resulted from your campaign.

Meta recommends that businesses run Conversion Lift studies regularly because factors that impact
performance—such as seasonality—will change over time.

11. “Experimentation and Performance in Advertising: An Observational Survey of Firm Practices on Facebook,”
Expert Systems With Applications, May 23, 2020.

Performance Guide 22
4 Measure the value your campaign is driving

Meta has evolved our Conversion Lift solution to respect people’s privacy choices while still
enabling lift testing and measurement capabilities. In practice, this means conversion events
must now be shared with Meta using the Conversions API. Here’s how it works:

The Conversions API is required to enable aggregation of opt-out user events for lift 12

OPT-OUT

OPT-IN

OPT-IN

OPT-OUT

1 2 3 4 5 6

Conversion Lift is The lift the

Conversion
A business used to randomize campaign drove
data from the Events are
defines the key the audience for Ads are is calculated
campaign is processed
performance the campaign, then delivered to the by comparing
shared with in a privacy
indicators of that audience is test group conversions in
Meta via the preserving way
their campaign split into test and the test and
Conversions API
control groups control groups

12. *Opt-out user refers to people who have opted-out of Facebook’s / Instagram’s tracking prompt on iOS14.5+ mobile devices

Performance Guide 23
 4 Measure the value your campaign is driving

CASE STUDY

As a self described nontraditional marketing partner, New York-based

agency Socialfly is used to bringing innovative approaches to its clients.
So when Socialfly wanted to understand the impact of its lower-funnel
marketing efforts for jewelry brand Alex and Ani, it brought in Meta as a
partner to implement Conversion Lift testing using the Conversions API.

After implementing the Conversions API and running a one-month

Conversion Lift test, Socialfly and Alex and Ani saw strong lift results
across all lower-funnel events, including purchases and add-to-carts.

By running a Conversion Lift test with the Conversions API, Socialfly

was able to identify that Meta’s recommended best practices drove the
following results for its client Alex and Ani:

3.3K incremental purchases

45.7K incremental add-to-carts

2.26 times return on ad spend (ROAS) lift

“ We utilize Facebook as a primary tool in driving lower-funnel

conversions, and with the recent data changes across the web,
this test was critical to be able to showcase that our campaigns
are driving a strong lift in Alex and Ani conversions.”

Tara Killmer
Account Supervisor, Paid, Socialfly

Marketing mix modeling

Marketing mix modeling (MMM) has been around for decades, but increased data granularity and
the addition of machine learning are unlocking the potential of MMM to provide more valuable
insights. For businesses that want to understand the impact of their marketing more holistically,
MMM provides cross-media measurement that can help businesses assess the value and return on
investment of their advertising on Meta technologies—and other marketing activities.

Performance Guide 24
4 Measure the value your campaign is driving

Importantly, MMM does not leverage event-level information, meaning it is not impacted by recent
changes in the digital advertising ecosystem. In fact, recent advancements in MMM mean that it
may complement or, in some cases, replace multi-touch attribution—a technique that has been
highly impacted by changes in the digital advertising ecosystem.

MMM uses statistical regression analysis to quantify the impact of both marketing and
nonmarketing activities on business outcomes. Modern applications of MMM should be
machine-learning supported, granular, automated, and calibrated by experiments.

Getting started with MMM

There are 2 primary ways to start building MMM capabilities: with a partner or by doing it yourself.

With a partner

Meta currently works with more than 20 badged partners globally, including lightweight
MMM providers and SaaS MMM vendors. Check out the Measurement Partners Directory
for the latest up-to-date partner information.

Do-it-yourself

If you have support from an in-house analytics team, building MMM capabilities in house may
be an option. While this has often been time and resource intensive in the past, that's changing
thanks to fresh solutions and tools. For example, Robyn, from Meta Open Source, is a MMM
open-sourced code that enables businesses to build out their MMM capabilities more quickly
and efficiently.

If you decide to use MMM as a measurement solution, consider the following best practices13:

Align on key objectives prior to modeling

Given the many areas MMM can address, it’s vital to define the most important objectives, break
these down to smaller questions and gain alignment with all stakeholders.

Ensure data is relevant and comprehensive

To address the key questions, it’s necessary to have the right data and variables. These should
cover each strategy being measured and include nonmedia factors such as seasonality.

13. “Growth through Privacy-First Measurement” by Accenture, North America only

(study of 30+ brands across 5 verticals commissioned by Meta), Mar 2022

Performance Guide 25
4 Measure the value your campaign is driving

Choose the MMM option that addresses the key questions

The most advanced MMM solution may not be needed. When evaluating MMM options,
look for one that will best answer the key questions and generate actionable insights.

Regularly refresh and calibrate

In order to continually provide valuable insights, models need to be refreshed.

Investing in infrastructure that allows for new data to be automatically ingested
can deliver long-term efficiency.

CASE STUDY

A company best known for its monthly subscription services for pet
owners—including BarkBox, Super Chewer, Bark Bright and Bark Eats—
Bark also sells its products via direct-to-pet-parent channels, online
marketplaces and a network of retailers.

Bark wanted a budget-friendly approach to measure the effectiveness

of its marketing spend and determine the optimal budget allocation
mix. Specifically, the company was looking to evaluate its customer
acquisition costs in a consistent way across channels, including Meta,
search, email, linear TV and e-commerce platforms. It also wanted to
understand what impact efforts such as press releases, news blurbs,
website content and promotional offerings were having on driving
subscriptions.

Bark turned to Robyn, which enabled it to build its first model in just
three months. It rapidly delivered cost-efficient, actionable insights,
such as recommending a budget to optimize for new subscriptions
along with a prediction for how many new subscriptions a channel’s
suggested budget would yield.

Bark’s Robyn-powered MMM study allowed the business to:

• Build out its first in-house MMM analysis in just 3 months

• Generate a 30% increase in overall subscriptions
with optimized budget allocation
• Efficiently increase spend in key media channels
to drive subscription growth

Performance Guide 26
 5

Ways to prepare your

business for evolving
privacy expectations
As you adapt to the new landscape, marketing success will increasingly
depend on how you collect, use, and share your customer data. Consider
these additional steps you can take to prepare your business beyond how
you partner with Meta.

Performance Guide 27
5 Ways to prepare your business for evolving privacy expectations

Customers expect businesses to use their data to create personalized experiences that add value,
while also being responsible with their data.

The industry needs to come together to explore new ways to meet and exceed people’s data
privacy expectations, and to shape a future where both people and businesses can thrive online.
Exploring and investing in these 2 industry focus areas, now and in the future, can help you stay
ahead of evolving privacy expectations:

Give your customers transparency into how you use their data

More than ever, people want to understand how their data is being used online.

An effective strategy for data transparency requires a deep understanding of your audience. You
can use this understanding to create a strategy that explains how you use this data in a simple
way, while also educating your audience at times that make sense.

Thought starters

1. Consider how you educate people on how their data is

being used as part of their user experience.

2. Make data policies simple, clear, and easy to access.

3. Create a marketing content strategy to let customers

know how you’re using their data.

4. Leverage toolkits and resources that put people in

control of their privacy, such as those from TTC Labs,
a cross-industry effort founded and supported by Meta
and other industry partners.

This Guidebook provides general information and links to helpful industry resources, but Meta cannot provide legal advice. You should work with your own
legal counsel to ensure your business is in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and industry guidelines.

Performance Guide 28
5 Ways to prepare your business for evolving privacy expectations

Be good stewards of the data that you collect

Giving people more transparency and control over the way you use their data is an important
step toward building trust. With this foundation also comes a responsibility to protect the
data you collect.

Thought starters

1. Invest in a responsible data governance strategy to help

ensure end-to-end visibility over how your company
collects, secures, stores, shares, and uses data.

2. Consider organizational investments in data

governance roles.

3. Stay up-to-date with all applicable laws, regulations and

industry guidelines, and work hand-in-hand with your legal
counsel to assess your compliance efforts.

4. Ensure you have obtained the necessary rights and

permissions and a lawful basis, including any necessary
consents, before you share any information with a third
party, including Meta.

Investing in data privacy stewardship now may also make it easier for you to
address evolving expectations from people, regulators, and industry bodies.

Learn more about how recent changes to the evolving ads environment may affect
your business and actions you can take to adapt.

This Guidebook provides general information and links to helpful industry resources, but Meta cannot provide legal advice. You should work with your own
legal counsel to ensure your business is in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and industry guidelines.

Performance Guide 29
Conclusion

This is just the start of

your performance journey
These recommended best practices with Meta
solutions and broader industry considerations are just
the start of your performance journey. Although every
advertiser’s situation is unique, we believe adopting
these tips can be a good foundation to uncover new
ways to improve your ad performance.

“We're making major

AI investments to build the
most advanced models and
infrastructure in the industry.
Over the next year or two,
we hope that this drives
better recommendations
for people and higher
returns for advertisers.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Earnings, April 2022

Performance Guide 30