A bid strategy is the rule Meta follows when it bids for your ad in the ad auction. It decides whether Meta goes for the most results your budget can buy, or holds a cost or return you set.
Meta's bid strategies
Meta offers three types of bidding: spend-based, goal-based and manual.
| Type | Bid strategy | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spend-based | Highest volume | Gets the most results the budget can buy | You want scale and can accept costs that move |
| Spend-based | Highest value | Spends the budget on the highest value purchases | You optimize for purchase value, not order count |
| Goal-based | Cost per result goal | Keeps the average cost per result near the amount you set | You know the cost per result you can afford |
| Goal-based | ROAS goal | Keeps return on ad spend near the ROAS target you set | You know your break-even ROAS |
| Manual | Bid cap | Sets the most Meta may bid in any single auction | You model bids yourself and accept less delivery |
Spend-based bidding uses the whole budget. Goal-based and manual bidding trade some delivery for control: if the auction can't meet your goal or cap, the ad set can spend less than its budget.
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The bid strategy sits with the budget: on the ad set when each ad set has its own budget, and on the campaign when it uses Advantage+ campaign budget, which spreads one budget across the ad sets.
Example. A store with a break-even ROAS of 2.5 starts a sales campaign on highest value to learn what it can get. After two weeks it switches the best ad set to a ROAS goal of 3, so spend only grows where orders stay profitable.
In Madgicx. AI Marketer audits your Meta ad account and prepares changes to budgets and bids for you to approve.
FAQ
Which bid strategy is best for Meta ads?
Spend-based bidding, highest volume or highest value, is the usual first choice. Move to a cost per result goal or ROAS goal once you know the cost or return that keeps you profitable, and have enough conversions for Meta to learn from.
Does changing the bid strategy reset the learning phase?
It can. A change to how an ad set bids can count as a significant edit, which sends it back into Meta's learning phase. Meta says ad sets exit learning after about 50 results in the week after their last significant edit.
Why is my ad set not spending with a cost per result goal?
Your goal is probably below what the auction costs right now. Raise the goal or widen the audience, and give the ad set a few days before judging it.
What is the difference between a bid strategy and a budget?
The budget sets how much Meta can spend. The bid strategy sets how it spends that money in each auction.
Related
- Related terms: Cost per result, ROAS target, Campaign budget optimization (CBO)
- In depth: Facebook bid strategy guide
Sources
- About Meta bid strategies, Meta Business Help Center
- About the learning phase, Meta Business Help Center
