In today’s episode we talk about how Meta isnt a single monolithic channel – and how to unbundle it’s different placements.

With Meta’s suite of automated tools, including advantage plus and automated automatic placements, it’s easy to assume that Meta is a single monolithic channel. That all you need to do is plug in your creatives.  Again, as with all automated systems, it’s very useful to understand the building blocks of the automated system, so you can impact and influence these building blocks.  

Now, what does that mean in the specific context of Meta ads? What that means is Meta ads is not one channel. Meta ads includes Facebook feed Instagram feed. Facebook reels, Insta reels and a ton of other placements.  So each of these is a very different and distinct user and consumer experience.  And they need to be treated as such. Now.  In the suite of automated tools, which is pretty much a black box, how do you understand, and influence this placement mix. The first step is to understand where your ads are showing: you can do that by getting the placement breakdown  reports to understand if your ads are over-indexing on reels,

if they’re over-indexing on feeds, or any of the other placements. What’s also interesting to note is that certain placements will over index on certain demographic and age groups. For instance, Facebook feeds will have older audiences than reels, and certainly Insta reels will have a significantly lower age range as compared to Insta or Facebook feeds.  

So understanding where your ads are showing influences who is seeing these ads.  

Now, what do you do about this once you understand where your ads are showing? For instance, you might find out that you have a product that is suitable for older audiences that are showing primarily on Insta reels, to younger audiences. The way to influence this would be to build a creative that is more focused and tailored to older audiences. And make sure that the dimensions of this ad also are square, so that it can actually speak to all the audiences and not just younger ones. 

 In order to make the most of where your ad shows and to make sure your ads are showing in the right place, what you do need to do is customize your creative based on your understanding of your ideal users so that it shows in the right placement. 

BEFORE YOU GO

I have a very important favor to ask, which as those of you who know me know I don’t do often. If you get any pleasure or inspiration from this episode, could you PLEASE leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform – be it iTunes, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast fix. This podcast is very much a labor of love – and each episode takes many many hours to put together. When you write a review, it will not only be a great deal of encouragement to us, but it will also support getting the word out about the Mobile User Acquisition Show.

Constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement are welcome, whether on podcasting platforms – or by email to shamanth@rocketshiphq.com. We read all the reviews & I want to make this podcast better.

Thank you – and I look forward to seeing you with the next episode!