Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) represent a major shift in how Australian e-commerce businesses scale. By leveraging machine learning to automate creative testing and audience targeting, ASC can significantly lower your cost per acquisition (CPA) compared to traditional manual campaigns.
Why Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns Matter
For Australian small business owners, time is the scarcest resource. ASC simplifies the advertising process by removing the need for granular audience targeting and manual budget splits. Instead, it uses Meta's powerful AI to find the right customer at the right time, allowing you to focus on what actually moves the needle: high-quality creative and a seamless website experience.---
Prerequisites: What You’ll Need Before Starting
Before you dive into the optimisation steps, ensure you have the following ready:- Meta Pixel and Conversions API (CAPI): Correctly installed on your website (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.).
- Product Catalogue: An up-to-date Meta Commerce Manager catalogue.
- Existing Customer List: A CSV file of your current customers to help Meta distinguish between new and existing users.
- Defined Budget: A daily budget that allows for at least 50 conversions per week to exit the 'Learning Phase'.
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Step 1: Define Your Existing Customer Base
The power of ASC lies in its ability to balance prospecting and remarketing. To do this effectively, Meta needs to know who your current customers are.- Navigate to Events Manager in your Business Suite.
- Go to Audiences and create a 'Custom Audience' based on your Website visitors (Purchasers) or a Customer List (CSV upload).
- In your Ad Account Settings, scroll down to the 'Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns' section and add these audiences to your 'Existing Customer' definition.
Pro Tip: In Australia, ensure your privacy policy is updated to reflect how you use customer data for advertising to stay compliant with the Privacy Act.
Step 2: Set Your Existing Customer Budget Cap
Once Meta knows who your customers are, you can control how much of your budget is spent on them versus finding new customers.- Inside your ASC campaign settings, look for the Existing Customer Budget Cap.
- For most Australian SMEs looking for growth, we recommend setting this between 5% and 15%.
- This ensures Meta focuses the majority of your spend on 'Top of Funnel' acquisition rather than just preaching to the converted.
Step 3: Use the Maximum Creative Limit (Import 150 Ads)
ASC allows you to run up to 150 creative variations in a single campaign. While you don't need 150 on day one, the more variety you provide, the better the AI can optimise.- Select Import Ads from your existing successful campaigns.
- Include a mix of formats: Single Images, Carousels, and Reels (9:16 video).
- Screenshot Description: You should see a grid of your previous top-performing ads with checkboxes. Select the ones with the highest historical ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
Step 4: Optimise for 'Sales' with the Correct Conversion Event
It sounds simple, but many businesses accidentally optimise for 'Add to Cart' thinking it will feed the algorithm more data.- Ensure your conversion goal is set to Website.
- Select Purchases as the conversion event.
- If you are a high-ticket Australian brand (e.g., custom furniture) with low volume, only then consider 'Initiate Checkout'.
Step 5: Leverage Localised Creative Messaging
Australian consumers respond well to local cues. Even though ASC is automated, your creative shouldn't be generic.- Use 'Aussie' English (e.g., 'Authorised' instead of 'Authorized').
- Mention fast shipping across Australia or 'Brisbane-based support'.
- Test seasonal creative relevant to our hemisphere (e.g., Christmas in Summer).
Step 6: Monitor the 'Learning Phase' and Avoid 'Tinkering'
Every time you make a significant change, the campaign re-enters the learning phase.- Check the Delivery column in Ads Manager. It will say 'Learning' or 'Active'.
- Mistake to Avoid: Do not change your budget or creative more than once every 7 days. Let the data accumulate.
Step 7: Evaluate Performance Using 'Breakdowns'
Because ASC doesn't show you audience targeting, you need to use the Breakdown tool to see where your money is going.- Click the Breakdown button (top right of the reporting table).
- Select By Delivery > Demographics (Age/Gender).
- Select By Audience Type to see the split between New and Existing customers.
Step 8: Refresh 'Fatigued' Creative
If you see your Frequency rising (above 3.0-4.0) and your ROAS dropping, your creative is likely fatigued.- Identify the bottom 20% of ads in your ASC campaign based on CPA.
- Turn them off and replace them with new variations.
- Always keep at least 10-20 active ads to give the AI enough options.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Over-segmenting: Don't run multiple ASC campaigns targeting the same products. This causes internal competition.
- Low Budget: If your budget is $10 a day but your product costs $200, the AI won't get enough data to learn.
- Ignoring the Offer: No amount of AI optimisation can fix a bad offer. Ensure your 'Price' and 'Shipping' are competitive in the Australian market.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Problem: The campaign is spending all the money on existing customers.- Solution: Lower your 'Existing Customer Budget Cap' to 5% or even 0% for a few weeks to force the algorithm to find new people.
- Solution: This usually indicates a disconnect between your ad and your landing page. Check your mobile load speed—Australian mobile networks can be spotty in regional areas; a slow site kills conversions.
- Solution: Your budget is likely too low for the cost of your product. Try increasing the daily spend or broadening your conversion event to 'Add to Cart' temporarily to gather data.
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Next Steps
Optimising your Meta ads is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly dominate the Australian market, you should:- Audit your Google Business Profile to capture local search intent.
- Set up automated email flows (Klaviyo is great for this) to capture the traffic your ads are generating.
- If you need a professional eye to review your campaign structure, contact the team at Local Marketing Group for a strategy session.