The Advantage+ App Campaigns (A+AC) — (formerly known as Automated App Ads (AAA)) — stand out as a pinnacle of automation and optimization. In this article, we will dive deeper into the benefits, challenges and possibilities of Advantage+ App Campaigns (A+AC) on Meta, including a breakdown of our own experiments.
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Defining Advantage+ App Campaigns (A+AC)
A+AC’s primary goal is to bolster the performance of your app campaigns by dramatically reducing manual effort. The power behind this is the integration of machine learning, ensuring that the most potent ad creatives reach the most relevant audience segments across optimal placements. Unlike their manual counterparts, A+AC demands minimal input during creation, simplifying choices related to audience targeting and the entire creative management ordeal. Furthermore, they’ve expanded their horizons by incorporating options to optimize app installs in tandem with app events, all under a singular campaign. In short: “Advantage+ app campaigns are designed to maximize the performance of your app install campaigns with less effort”
Before diving deeper into A+AC, you must understand ‘Liquidity’
To get the most out of A+AC, you must first understand liquidity. It essentially covers four aspects of your campaigns where you can increase liquidity:
- Budget
- Placement
- Audience
- Creative
Liquidity is the condition that gives the machine learning the flexibility to move ad spend where it’s likely to achieve the best results. Liquidity can be increased in your campaigns, by setting broader parameters (fewer restrictions). By using A+AC, you enable to system to maximize its liquidity, which in theory will provide enhanced performance. But… is broader always better and more efficient? We will discuss this, later in this article. Before we do so, let’s quickly touch upon the advantages and disadvantages of A+AC.
What are the advantages of Advantage+ App Campaigns?
With the introduction of A+AC, we have been presented with a tool that promises to reduce manual workload and increase the efficiency of ad campaigns.
Automated Efficiency with Machine Learning:
- A+AC leverages machine learning to automate many facets of the campaign process. This ensures ads are optimized in real-time, adjusting to user behaviors and preferences.
Optimal Placement for Better Engagement:
- A+AC automatically selects the best platforms and placements for your ads based on where they’re most likely to be effective. This increases the chances of your ad being seen by the right eyes at the right time.
Scalability:
- Meta mentions that one of the standout features of A+AC is its ability to maintain consistent performance even when budgets are scaled up. This means you can increase your advertising spending with the assurance that performance metrics will remain stable. While this is not always the case, we have seen greater efficiency when using manual campaigns compared to A+AC.
Simplified Campaign Creation:
- The streamlined process requires fewer inputs from us, advertisers, which can be particularly beneficial for those managing multiple campaigns.
Dynamic Creative Testing and Delivery:
- The platform doesn’t just set and forget. It continuously tests different creative combinations, ensuring the most effective ads are showcased to the target audience. This dynamic approach can lead to better engagement and conversion rates.
Reduced Audience Overlap:
- The structure of A+AC minimizes the chance of overlapping target audiences, ensuring campaigns are more distinct and thereby potentially increasing the efficiency of each campaign.
What are the disadvantages of Advantage+ App Campaigns?
As with every pro, there’s a con. It is our duty to provide insights and share our knowledge with our readers – and not just simply follow the best practices. While Advantage+ App Campaigns (A+AC) offer a series of impressive benefits, they are not devoid of potential downsides. Understanding these limitations is crucial for marketers to make informed decisions about when and how to leverage A+AC in their strategies. Here’s a detailed look at some of the disadvantages:
Reduced Manual Control:
- One of the most notable disadvantages of A+AC is the relinquishment of control. By automating many processes, we (the advertisers), give up granular control over campaign specifics, which might not sit well with those accustomed to meticulous, manual adjustments.
Potential Over-reliance on Automation:
- While automation is beneficial, over-relying on it can make marketers complacent. The dynamic nature of the digital ad landscape requires human intuition and insight, which cannot be entirely replaced by algorithms.
Limitations in Targeting Options:
- A+AC has certain restrictions on more nuanced targeting features. The inability to utilize demographics, interests, behaviors, and certain custom audience features can be limiting for campaigns requiring very specific targeting.
Potential for Audience Misalignment:
- While A+AC attempts to reduce audience overlap, its broad targeting approach might not always align perfectly with your ideal audience, leading to less-than-optimal results and budget wasted.
Transition Challenges:
- For businesses transitioning from manual campaigns to A+AC, there’s a learning curve. Existing strategies might not translate directly, requiring teams to relearn and adjust.
Table: The advantages and disadvantages of Advantage+ App Campaigns on Meta
Experimenting with Advantage+ App Campaigns
In the following case, we experimented with an Advantage+ App Campaign, for our client. Before showing you the insights, here’s some useful information about the client:
- Client info: A digital companion app for mothers with resources designed by maternity specialists that include self-knowledge programs to keep track of your maternal health
- Target audience: Women between the ages of 24-38
Upon experimenting with the A+AC, we had a hypothesis that by using this campaign type, we would achieve lower CPIs and Cost pr. Registrations, as it would enable maximum liquidity. The experiment was set to run for 7 days, and the success criteria were to at least lower the CPI by 10%.
Here is the breakdown of the gender, for the Advantage+ App Campaign:
What we noticed, was that 15.6% of the budget, was allocated towards males. The client does not offer any features or services related to this audience. A quick learning we gathered here, was that the lack of targeting control can be harmful for brands that are focused on specific (and narrow) target audiences. 
Here is the breakdown of the age groups, for the Advantage+ App Campaign:
Breaking down the data into granular pieces, we noticed that a quite big proportion of the spent was used on irrelevant age groups for our client. Yes, the algorithm is very smart – but be very careful, because it can indeed result in wasted money. 
Our A/B Test: Advantage+ App Campaign vs. Manual Campaign
In our test setup, there was only one significant difference, which was the audience. As we cannot control the specific target audience in the A+AC (besides location), we tested it against a manual campaign that had age and gender restrictions. For the very same client, we further proceeded with setting up an A/B test on Meta. By doing so, we ensured the audiences would be evenly split and statistically comparable, as informal testing can lead to overlapping audiences and result in a lower reliability for tests. 
We did notice a 6.25% higher CPM for the manual campaign, compared to the A+AC.
CPI: Cost pr. install CPREG: Cost pr. registration in-app CPM: Cost pr. Mille (cost pr. 1.000 impressions)
In terms of experimenting, the hypothesis would be considered a rejection, which did not come as a surprise to the team. Early on, we spotted budget distributions towards irrelevant audience groups. In our Paid Social team, we truly believe in understanding the marketing fundamentals, and this case simply proves it. Nevertheless, we want to underline the importance of always experimenting with new features, targeting options, creatives and overall messaging.
What does our expert say about Advantage+ App Campaigns on Meta?
Wrapping up Advantage+ App Campaigns (A+AC) on Meta
A+AC can undoubtedly be a game-changer, for many advertisers. Its automated, machine-learning-backed features promise efficiency, scalability, and optimized returns. But as with all tools, it’s only as effective as the hands that wield it. The introduction of A+AC means we have a powerful tool that can potentially simplify complex campaigns. But it’s imperative to remember that automated solutions, while efficient, can sometimes miss the nuanced, human touch required for certain target demographics. You should consider A+AC as a part of your toolkit, not the entirety of it. Our experiences with A+AC are just the tip of the iceberg. We’d love to hear from you if you are looking to scale your performance marketing efforts for your app. You can get in touch with us right here.
