Short answer: get your app events flowing to Meta correctly first, then use the current eligible Advantage+ app setup with necessary audience controls and varied creative. Our campaign guide is ideally 30 conversions a day, 10 good and 2 or 3 as a bare minimum only when cost per conversion is extremely high (around $400 to $500); keep a steady flow of new ads across several creative directions, and scale what works by about 20% a day or 50% to 100% a week while cost per conversion holds.
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How did ATT change Meta app advertising?
Since iOS 14.5, Apple requires apps to ask permission through the App Tracking Transparency framework before tracking users, meaning linking data from your app with data from other companies’ apps and websites for advertising or measurement. Permission is required for the tracking Apple defines; sending an event server-side does not bypass that requirement.
Three distinctions matter now: – iOS has several measurement paths. SKAdNetwork supplies delayed, privacy-limited postbacks; eligible Meta Aggregated Event Measurement can report near real-time. – Audience controls still exist. Interests and lookalikes can be suggestions in the current setup; their effectiveness is an account-specific test. – Creative is our main testing priority. Different messages give delivery useful options, but do not guarantee separate audiences.
For the longer story, see how ATT changed mobile advertising.
How do you set up tracking and conversion events?
Before you spend, make sure Meta receives accurate events from your app:
- Connect a data source. Use the Facebook SDK, a mobile measurement partner such as AppsFlyer, Adjust or Singular, or Meta’s Conversions API for app events to send events server-side. Follow the app-specific parameters and consent flags; web-event setup is not interchangeable. If multiple integrations send the same event, verify the supported deduplication before enabling both.
- Pick the events that matter. Select events that represent value in your app, such as registration, trial start or purchase, and pass accurate revenue where it applies. For health or other sensitive categories, check Meta’s data-source restrictions before sending or optimizing for an event.
- Configure SKAdNetwork in Events Manager. Meta’s SKAdNetwork setup page covers choosing and prioritizing events with fine and coarse conversion values for SKAdNetwork 4. If you can’t use SKAdNetwork, Meta says you can run iOS 14+ app campaigns with Aggregated Event Measurement instead, without SKAdNetwork reporting.
- Test on a real device. Trigger each event and confirm it appears in Events Manager. Optimizing for an event that never fires is a common, expensive mistake.
Which campaign type should you use?
Most eligible app promotion campaigns start in Meta’s current Advantage+ setup, with automated budget, audience and placements, while manual choices remain. Audience suggestions and controls include optional interests and lookalikes plus necessary delivery restrictions. Multiple ad sets are supported. Older campaign-type restrictions do not describe every current setup.
What to optimize for: – Installs when install volume is the intended test, while checking downstream quality. – A post-install event such as trial start or purchase when supported and meaningful for your economics. Do not choose installs solely because they are cheaper. – Value when the app and event meet the platform’s current eligibility requirements and revenue reporting is reliable. For when manual campaigns still make sense, see Advantage+ app campaigns vs manual campaigns.
How much should you budget?
Work it back from conversions. Per campaign, ideally about 30 conversions a day; 10 a day is good. Two or three a day is a bare minimum only when cost per conversion is extremely high (around $400 to $500); you just read results more slowly. Monthly budget for one campaign is your cost per conversion x conversions a day x 30. For an illustrative trial event costing $20 per conversion at 10 conversions a day, that is $6,000 over 30 days. These are planning guides, not guaranteed volumes.
You may read that you need 50 conversions per ad set per week. That is really old guidance we would avoid.
Meta is usually the first channel. Our subscription-app channel guide pairs it with Apple Ads (formerly Apple Search Ads); games often run Meta on iOS and Google App campaigns on Android. More in how to pick ad channels for a subscription app.
How should you structure campaigns and targeting?
Our starting point is broad targeting with necessary country, minimum-age and language controls. Use optional suggestions or tighter controls when there is a reason to test them (broad versus interest targeting). Use eligible existing-user exclusions for prospecting, recognizing that matching limitations prevent a guarantee that every existing user is excluded.
There is no fixed rule for how many campaigns or ad sets to run. Fund each campaign and planned test so the results can be read. Our usual Meta guide is at least about 8 useful ads per ad set. For each creative test, aim for 10 conversions a day; 2 or 3 is the bare minimum only when cost per conversion is very high.
Why is creative the main lever after ATT?
We prioritize creative because it is a practical way to test different reasons to install. Delivery also depends on bids, conversion signals and settings; varied concepts may reach overlapping people.
In practice: – Test new concepts, not just tweaks. A concept is a different reason to install; a variant is a new execution of the same idea. You need both. – Within each direction, make several ads across angles, hooks and formats. – Favor native, vertical video with a strong opening and on-screen text, plus creator-style and screen-recording formats. – Keep new ads coming. Winners tire, so the pipeline matters more than any single ad.
For the system behind this, see the mobile ad creative strategy guide.
How do you scale and measure?
When a campaign is working really well, scale it about 20% a day if you want to move steadily, or 50% to 100% a week if you want to move fast. Either way, keep going while cost per conversion holds.
On iOS, distinguish SKAdNetwork postbacks from AEM reporting. Match event definitions, attribution windows and reporting dates before comparing Meta with your measurement partner. Read mature cohorts at campaign and account level, and reconcile them with first-party revenue; aggregation alone does not remove bias.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use Advantage+ app campaigns or manual campaigns? Use the current eligible Advantage+ setup as a starting point, retaining the controls your business needs. It supports optional audience suggestions and manual choices; older app-campaign restrictions do not describe every current setup.
Can I still use interest targeting for app ads on Meta? Yes, generally as an optional audience suggestion in the current setup. Where available, stricter audience controls can be selected; compare the result against broad with a planned test.
How much do I need to spend on Meta for an app? Enough for the conversions a day you need: your cost per conversion x conversions a day x 30 per campaign per month. Ideally 30 a day, 10 is good, and 2 or 3 as a bare minimum only when cost per conversion is extremely high (around $400 to $500).
Why doesn’t my Meta reporting match my measurement partner? Reports can differ in attribution rules, windows, reporting dates and modeling. Identify whether you are comparing SKAdNetwork, AEM or other MMP data, allow cohorts to mature and investigate unmatched definitions or integration errors.
