Guide 16 of 16 in Level 4: Run it as an ad

How to give your best audience its own Facebook ad set

To give your best audience its own ad set in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), open Plan and click the campaign’s Check-in on the calendar. When one age and gender group inside an ad set gets results clearly cheaper, the check-in lists a move such as New ad set: Men 25–44. Under it, a table compares the group with its ad set: cost per result, results and spend over the run so far, read from Meta by age and gender. The move also says where its money comes from, the losing ad sets that other moves pause or cut, which three to five ads it runs, and who the old ad set keeps, so the two never compete. Click Change something to rename it or lower its budget, down to its minimum of the target cost × 50 ÷ 7 a day. Click Approve: Blackbox makes the ad set in the same Meta campaign and leaves the group out of the old one. It never happens automatically.

You'll need
Time
About 4 minutes 7 steps Updated
You'll end with
A new ad set for your best age and gender group, live in the same Meta campaign, paid by the losers
Do it in Blackbox Open Plan, after you sign in
Example
Men 25–44 get leads far cheaper inside one ad set, so the check-in offers them their own, paid by the ad set that loses

How to give your best audience its own Facebook ad set in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open the check-in

    In Plan, click the campaign’s Check-in · day 7 on the calendar.

    You'll see: Its card beside the calendar, with the moves under If you approve.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Find the new ad set

    Under If you approve, find the move that starts New ad set:.

    You'll see: A move such as New ad set: Men 25–44, with $215 a day, ticked.

  3. Step 3:Read the evidence

    Read the table under the move, then Its money, Its ads and who the old ad set keeps.

    You'll see: The group’s cost per lead beside its ad set’s, and the ad sets whose money pays for it.

  4. Step 4:Change its name or budget

    Click Change something, then type in Name or Budget a day.

    You'll see: The move’s title with the new name and budget, between its floor and its most.

  5. Step 5:Check the shares

    Read Shares after approve under the moves.

    You'll see: The new ad set as its own slice, marked (new), and the paused ad set marked paused.

  6. Step 6:Approve the moves

    Click Approve.

    You'll see: What changed, a tick on the new ad set, and Done on Meta.

  7. Step 7:See it with the others

    Click Campaign at the top of Plan.

    You'll see: The new ad set’s row marked New, with the ad set it came from under its name.

    Open this in Blackbox

Good to know

  • A group is offered only on enough numbers: at least 10 results (its ad set at least 15), a cost per result at least 25% under its ad set’s, or for sales a ROAS a third higher, and between 15% and 75% of its ad set’s spend.
  • Only a group Meta can leave out of the old ad set is offered: one gender across all its ages, or its youngest or oldest ages. Meta reports ages in fixed groups (18–24, 25–34 and so on), so a group is made of whole ones. A group that wins but can’t be split is named under Left as they are.
  • The money comes only from the losing ad sets that the other moves pause or cut, at least the floor (target × 50 ÷ 7 a day, rule 4) and up to one and a half times it. When the losers free less than the floor, no new ad set is offered and the card says why.
  • Ticking the new ad set ticks the moves that pay for it; unticking one of those unticks the new ad set too.
  • Retargeting grows only from retargeting money, and a new-people ad set that also reaches people who know you is never split (rule 3).
  • No group is offered when another ad set already reaches it, or when it is already its own ad set (rule 5). The new ad set runs three to five of the old ad set’s best ads, the ones it already proved.
  • At most two new ad sets come from one check-in; the others wait for the next.
  • A new ad set is never made automatically. With Move automatically on, the card waits for your Approve, and the moves that pay for it wait with it.
  • Only Meta ad sets are read by age and gender for now. TikTok, Snapchat, Google and LinkedIn ad sets aren’t, so no new ad set is offered there. Regions aren’t read either: Meta no longer reports website leads and sales by region.
  • Afterwards the new ad set is part of the campaign: the next check-ins read it and move its money like the others. To read the whole test, see How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in.

If something doesn't work

Why Men 25–44 and not men 30 to 40?

Meta reports results in fixed age groups, 18–24, 25–34, 35–44 and so on. The new ad set is made of whole groups, so its ages are those groups’ edges.

A group does better but there is no new ad set

Look under Left as they are: the card says why. Meta can’t leave that group out of the old ad set, another ad set already reaches it, or the losing ad sets don’t free its minimum yet.

Why does it wait for me when moves are automatic?

A new ad set changes who your campaign reaches, not only where the money goes. That stays your call, so the card waits for Approve.

Can I give the new ad set more money?

Not on the card: it takes at most what the moves give it, so the campaign never spends more than before. Later check-ins move more to it when it keeps winning.

How do I undo it?

Open its steps in Inbox and click Undo: the new ad set is deleted and the old ad set gets its ages and gender back.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 4: Run it as an ad