When should you create multiple ad setsAn ad set is a Facebook ads grouping where settings like targeting, scheduling, optimization, and placement are determined. More?

I’ve been vocal about my preference to limit the number of ad sets. There are a couple of reasons for this, but there are always exceptions.

Reasons to Limit Number of Ad Sets

1. If you use broad targetingIn most cases, mention of Broad Targeting refers to the removal of all potential targeting filters: No custom audiences, lookalike audiences, or detailed targeting. Instead, rely only on location and letting the algorithm do the work. More or any audienceThis is the group of people who can potentially see your ads. You help influence this by adjusting age, gender, location, detailed targeting (interests and behaviors), custom audiences, and more. More expansion, multiple ad sets are rarely necessary for targeting. Regardless of what you use for the initial audience, the expanded (and largest) portion will be mostly the same. There will be a ton of overlap, which drives up costs and hurts performance.

2. The more focused you are, the more focused the algorithm will be. Don’t spread your budgetA budget is an amount you’re willing to spend on your Facebook campaigns or ad sets on a daily or lifetime basis. More over countless campaignsThe campaign is the foundation of your Facebook ad. This is where you’ll set an advertising objective, which defines what you want your ad to achieve. More and ad sets. Limiting your ad sets makes you more efficient.

Exceptions

But there are exceptions. Sometimes, there’s no way to avoid it.

1. You need to target multiple countries that have different CPM costs. This is less of an issue when optimizing for a purchase, but you should separate countries by CPMCPM measures the cost per 1,000 impressions. It’s a good metric to evaluate competition level and costs to reach your audience. More cost groups otherwise. If you don’t, most of your budget will go to the cheapest countries.

2. You have multiple priorities for sales. You could use one ad set with Advantage+ Shopping or catalog ads, and Meta would distribute your budget as it sees fit to get you the most purchases possible. But, you might have company priorities to push specific products, so you need to control the budget by product.

3. You want to test different optimization options. To accomplish this, you need to create an ad set for each optimizationThe Performance Goal is chosen within the ad set and determines optimization and delivery. How you optimize impacts who sees your ad. Meta will show your ad to people most likely to perform your desired action. More, regardless of whether it’s an A/B testSplit testing (or A/B testing) allows you to test changes in Facebook variables like ad creative, audience, or placement to determine which approach performs best. More. This would be temporary, of course. Once the test is complete, you should move forward with the most effective version.

It’s not that you need to have only one ad set. Just make a conscious effort to limit extra ad sets when possible.

What do you do?