Meta has updated its creative testing capabilities to a more streamlined approach that can be set up directly at the ad level in Ads Manager. Here’s what you need to know:
The Old Process:
Historically, A/B tests were a manual process requiring you to create a dedicated testing ad set with duplicated creatives. This required additional budget for testing purposes, and these campaigns were not optimized for performance. Another approach was to test ads within the same ad set, which resulted in unbalanced results. For example, Meta will always favor the top performing ad, so it’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison if one ad gets a majority of the spend.
What’s Changed?
You can now implement creative testing at the ad level; allowing advertisers to fairly test creative within existing ad sets. This new process addresses the skewed ad delivery, while still optimizing for performance during the testing period. This streamlined process allows you to select the creative you want to test, and the tool handles the process of splitting up the budget and audience fairly across the ad variations.
Select the “Set up test” button within the “Creative Testing” section at the ad level
Here’s what the new ad set up allows you to control within the test:
Number of ads to test (2-5 variants)
Duration of the test
Recommended: at least 10-14 days
Daily budget
Metric used to compare performance
There are several ways creative testing can benefit your brand. As competition (CPMs, CPAs, etc.) increases, which is especially relevant during peak Q4 holiday rush, finding the top creative variants is essential. If your creative isn’t resonating, no amount of good targeting or budget shifts will compensate. The insights from the creative testing tool provide learnings for your brand to focus on cost management and improve ROAS in a highly competitive environment. This tool also allows you to compare performance across new customers, which is crucial when trying to understand which messaging and creative helps get new shoppers in the door.
Beyond the tool itself, Revel combines the latest platform innovations with a thoughtful, data-informed strategy and close partnership to ensure a cohesive creative approach that ladders up to your broader brand goals.
Sources:
- Facebook Business Help – A/B Test Types Available on Meta Technologies
- Facebook Business Help – Create an A/B Test by Duplicating an Ad Set or Ad
- Facebook Business – A/B Testing / Measurement
- Facebook Business Help – Create Ad Campaigns in Meta Ads Manager
- Facebook Business Help – Ideal Time Frame
This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.
Photo: © cottonbro studio from Pexels