Meta¶

This guide will tell you all you need to know about aligning your Meta campaigns to benefit from word-of-mouth using Herdify targeting.

The targets¶

The Herdify targets for Meta are provided in a CSV file which can be uploaded directly into Meta Ads Manager.

Uploading the targets to Meta¶

Navigate to the Audience section of ad set creation/management and select Add locations in bulk.
In the dropdown next to Location type select Postal codes and next to Default country select United Kingdom.
Drag and drop the targets file into the dialog box. You will see postcode targets in the display window. Click Match Locations.
Review the changes. Once satisfied click Add [#] locations to add the locations to your audience.

Rollout and spend optimisation¶

Some users direct their entire budget towards word-of-mouth areas; however, many find they see better overall performance combining campaigns that capitalise on word-of-mouth activity with broader campaigns.

The optimal proportion of budget spent in word-of-mouth areas is individual for each brand, though typically it is in the range of 50–80%.

Testing¶

Many users want to set up a test to measure the benefit of targeting word-of-mouth. Doing so can help identify how this targeting can best work within your mix of Meta campaigns and will help you report the value of Herdify now and in the future.

We recommend that testing follow some simple guidelines:

Select a small number of campaigns to test first, no more than 3. We recommend selecting your largest campaigns by budget and/or responses (sales, web visits, whichever outcome is your key focus). Focusing on these larger campaigns will enable you to get meaningful results more quickly.
For each campaign selected, set up 2 versions — one that targets the word-of-mouth targets and one that excludes these. This will allow you to see the difference in performance between ads shown in word-of-mouth areas against those that aren't.
Split the budget with 50% in each campaign.
Leave the test running for at least 1 month, or until you have observed about 300 of the target outcomes for each campaign. This will help generate significant results.

Warning

If the audience for the word-of-mouth campaign is less than 10% of the size of the control campaign then you should split the budget unevenly, with 20% of spend in the word-of-mouth campaign.
Do not rely solely on in-platform metrics for performance. This is necessary to measure the full impact of word-of-mouth on the campaign, as it includes people who were not targeted directly but who had the message passed to them by someone else. Performance is best measured using a third-party platform, such as Triple Whale. If this isn't available, reach out to your Customer Success Manager for support.

Rollout without testing¶

Some users don't want to exclude word-of-mouth areas from existing campaigns that perform well. The downside of not excluding is that it's difficult to quantify the benefits of targeting word-of-mouth for the brand. However, if a test is not possible, the best action is to take a staged rollout with the following steps:

Select a small number of campaigns to start with, no more than 3. We recommend selecting your largest campaigns by budget and/or responses (sales, web visits, whichever outcome you are targeting). Focusing on these larger campaigns will enable you to get meaningful results more quickly.
Create a copy of each campaign selected, which targets the word-of-mouth areas. Assign 15% of the budget to this new campaign.
Monitor performance for at least 2 weeks. Preferably this will be done using a third-party platform, such as Triple Whale. If this isn't available, talk to your Customer Success Manager about how Herdify can help.

Warning

In this set up there's the potential for the two campaigns to compete against each other, resulting in high CPMs or one campaign delivering a very small volume. If this is observed, consider running a test that excludes word-of-mouth areas from the baseline campaign.
After at least a month, observe the results. If there have been at least 300 of the target outcomes for each campaign, you can move to the next steps. If there have not been this many outcomes, the results may not be statistically significant and only very large differences in performance (over 50%) should be considered. If you are unsure if results are significant, please ask your Customer Success Manager for assistance — Herdify can calculate the significance for you.
Increase the amount of budget targeting the word-of-mouth areas if they are performing well. Increasing by 10% of the budget is a good next step for most brands. Run the campaigns with the new budgets of 25% word-of-mouth / 75% baseline for at least a month.
Repeat steps 4 and 5, gradually increasing the budget in the word-of-mouth campaigns. As the spend increases in the word-of-mouth areas it is possible that performance will start to decrease, because of the greater amount of budget being spent on a smaller audience.
Identify the optimal split of budget between the campaigns. The optimum depends on the difference in performance between the campaigns at each level of budget. If you need help calculating the optimal amount please ask your Customer Success Manager for support.