At Soracious Media, where we focus on delivering exceptional results for our clients, we recently tested Meta Advantage+ Shopping against the tried-and-tested Lookalike Audience targeting for a client selling digital products. The results were surprising and gave us valuable insights into the performance of Meta’s advanced targeting tools.

The Test: Advantage+ Shopping vs. Lookalike Audience

Meta Advantage+ Shopping is designed to leverage AI to automate targeting, placements, and creative delivery, making it a top recommendation for advertisers in the Ads Manager. On paper, it seems like a winning formula.

However, when we ran a campaign pitting Advantage+ Shopping against Lookalike Audience targeting, Lookalike Audience emerged as the clear winner.

Despite Meta’s insistence that Advantage+ Shopping would optimize performance, the Lookalike Audience delivered more conversions and a better return on ad spend (ROAS).

Why Did Lookalike Audience Win?

1.Relevance and Precision:

Lookalike Audience uses a seed audience—such as a customer list or pixel data—to find people with similar characteristics. This inherently ensures the targeting aligns closely with the ideal customer profile.

2.Broad vs. Specific Targeting:

While Advantage+ relies heavily on broad AI-driven optimizations, Lookalike Audience offers a balance of specificity and scale. For a niche product or highly defined audience, Lookalike targeting may outperform broad-based AI strategies.

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What If You Don’t Have a Customer List?

For businesses without a customer list to create a Lookalike Audience, testing is key. Here are some alternatives:

• Broad Match Targeting: Let Meta’s algorithm find your audience based on minimal input. This works better for mass-market products.
• Advantage Audience: Meta’s AI-based audience tool can help reach relevant users, but results may vary.
• Laser Targeting: Manually refine your audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.

The Power of A/B Testing

This campaign reminded us of one critical marketing principle: marketing is all about testing. While Meta Advantage+ Shopping might work well for some advertisers, our results demonstrated that Lookalike Audiences were more powerful for this particular client selling digital products.

For businesses with access to first-party data, investing in Lookalike Audiences is a smart move. If you don’t have such data, an A/B test comparing broad match, Advantage Audience, and laser targeting can reveal what works best for your unique product or service.

Final Thoughts

At Soracious Media, our focus is always on delivering results tailored to each client. While Meta’s AI-driven tools are exciting, the results of this test prove that Lookalike Audiences still hold significant value, particularly for digital products.

The lesson? Don’t blindly follow recommendations—test, analyze, and refine to find what works for your business.

Are you looking to optimize your paid ads for better results? Let us help you navigate the world of digital marketing with strategies that work. Contact us today!