{"id":23963,"date":"2023-03-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/uncategorized\/what-is-the-difference-between-meta-ads-ad-sets-and-campaigns\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T22:16:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:16:52","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-meta-ads-ad-sets-and-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodads.ai\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-meta-ads-ad-sets-and-campaigns","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between Meta ads, ad sets, and campaigns?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEPTEMBER 2025 UPDATE: This blog post discusses setting up audiences at the ad set level. We no longer recommend setting up your own audiences; instead, we prefer to use Advantage+ audiences<\/a> to let Meta determine the most effective audience for a campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reading this article, you are probably looking at Meta\u2019s platform to run ads for your eCommerce store. And that\u2019s an excellent decision!<\/p>\n

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) is still the most popular, reliable, and profitable ad platform for any eCommerce, even after the rise of TikTok in the social media space. It is also a staple source of high-quality traffic for most eCommerce merchants.<\/p>\n

But Meta\u2019s ad interface can be confusing, even to the most experienced.\u00a0So, where should you start?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best campaign for your store?<\/p>\n

How many ad sets should you have in a campaign?<\/p>\n

What are ad sets?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll do my best to answer all of these questions and also suggest the best ways for you to get started with your Meta ads journey.<\/p>\n

What is the structure of a Meta campaign? How do I get started with Meta ads?<\/h2>\n
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To get started with Meta ads, it\u2019s important to understand what each component of an ad campaign is and what the different settings\/options under each component mean.<\/p>\n

1. What is an ad Campaign?<\/h2>\n

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A campaign is the top-most level of your ads. When you create a new campaign, Meta will always ask you for an \u2018objective\u2019 \u2013 this choice determines who Meta will target, how your ad dollars are distributed, and your overall ROAS & performance.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a table to look get a quick understanding of all the objectives that Meta provides for the campaigns. Based on your goals & business objectives, the right choice here will help optimize the right KPIs (key performance indicators).<\/p>\n

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The \u201cSales\u201d objective is by far the most important objective for eCommerce stores online as it directly affects your ROAS (return on ad spend) and revenue. This is what you should be using in almost all of your ads, especially if you\u2019re a D2C brand getting started with ads.<\/p>\n

For example, you run a clothing boutique online. You are about to launch a new collection of dresses for Autumn and you are also providing a 10% discount to existing customers.<\/p>\n

The best use of your ad money here is to drive the most number of conversions, or sales, in the shortest amount of time. The right objective here will be \u201cSales\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moreover, you can create 2 campaigns with this collection in mind \u2013 one to attract new customers who don\u2019t know about your brand, and a second to inform past customers of the new launch & the offer.<\/p>\n

And you can create more campaigns too if you would like to \u2013 the opportunities here are endless.<\/p>\n

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Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for the latest tips on more tips & tricks for high-performance ads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NOTE: After you have selected the campaign objective, Meta will ask you if you\u2019d like to create an \u201cAdvantage+ Campaign\u201d or a \u201cManual Sales Campaign\u201d. I\u2019ll be discussing the Manual Sales Campaign below, but if you\u2019d like to learn more about the Advantage+ campaign, check out our blog about the same<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a summary of all the options available under the Campaign.<\/p>\n

a. Special Ad Category<\/h4>\n

This section is only relevant if you offer credit\/employment\/housing, or promote social issues, elections, or politics. You can read more about it here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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b. Campaign Details<\/h4>\n

You can change your campaign objective here (eg. switch from Sales to Traffic).<\/p>\n

You can also find the toggle for the \u2018Catalog\u2019 \u2013 which is to enable dynamic product ads on Meta. Want to learn more about dynamic ads on Meta? Here\u2019s everything you need to know about dynamic ads and how you can use them to boost your performance.<\/a><\/p>\n

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See how YEVU shifted 40% ad spend to Branded Catalogs (catalog ads), and increased their ROAS by 30%.<\/a><\/p>\n

c. A\/B test<\/h4>\n

Say you have 2 types of color schemes for an ad you\u2019re about to run. One is in red, and the other is in green.<\/p>\n

Enabling this option allows you to compare the two sets of ideas and test which one performs better. Not just the creative, you can also create tests for ad captions, headlines, etc. \u2013 whatever you would like to get a quantifiable or data-driven understanding of your audience’s preferences.<\/p>\n

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d. Advantage Campaign Budget<\/h4>\n

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There are two types of budgeting options when running a campaign on Meta:<\/p>\n

CBO, i.e. Campaign Budget Optimization<\/u><\/p>\n

The budget is set at the campaign level and distributed automatically to all of its ad sets and ads by Meta. This is also what Meta calls the \u201cAdvantage Campaign Budget\u201d on their interface.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turning it on will allow you to enter the budget at the campaign level and Meta will automatically spread & spend the budget across ad sets based on machine learning\/AI to maximize your performance.<\/p>\n

Eg. you have $120 for your daily ad spend and you set it up at CBO. Your ads will not necessarily get equal spending. It may happen that sometimes only 1 ad gets all the spend based on what Meta decides is performing better for your store.<\/p>\n

ABO, i.e. Ad set Budget Optimization<\/u><\/p>\n

The budget is set at the ad set level and Meta will optimize accordingly. When the \u201cAdvantage Campaign Budget\u201d on the interface is turned off<\/strong>, the campaign will have ABO.<\/p>\n

Eg. if you have $120 and you have 3 active ad sets \u2013 but you want to control how much money is spent on each Ad set.<\/p>\n

With ABO, you can define equal or unequal distribution, say, 40$ for Ad Set 1, 60$ for Ad Set 2, and $20 for Ad Set 3.<\/p>\n

Read everything about what \u2018Advantage\u2019 means for Meta ads.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

We mentioned an \u2018ad set\u2019 in the section before \u2013 what is that and how does that help?<\/p>\n

Each campaign will have an \u201cad set\u201d which will hold crucial information for targeting. Let\u2019s explore the ad set.<\/p>\n

2. What is an ad set on Meta?<\/h2>\n
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At the ad set level, the most important setting you define for Meta is your target audience.<\/p>\n

This is not an official definition of an ad set (you can find that here<\/a>), however, it\u2019s a simple and easy way to look at the use case behind ad sets on Meta.<\/p>\n

While the campaign tells Meta what to optimize for, your ad set details and defines exactly who you are looking for on Meta.<\/p>\n

If you want to target new customers, you can create a new ad set and select:<\/p>\n