SOP 070: How To Select Your Meta Ads Campaign Objective
\nPick the best campaign objective according to what you want your campaign to achieve, and how you want to implement it.
\nLast Updated / Reviewed: 04/10/2025
\nExecution Time: 10 minutes
\nđ Goal: To pick the Meta campaign objective that best fits your marketing goal.
\nđ¤ Ideal Outcome: Youâve picked the best campaign objective according to what you want your campaign to achieve and how you want to implement it.
\nđ¤ Why this is important: Picking the right objective can make or break your campaign.
\nđ§ Where this is done A pencil and a piece of paper is fine.
\nđď¸ When this is done: Every time youâre planning a new Meta Ads campaign.
\nđ¨ Who does this: The person responsible for Paid Traffic.
\n__â ď¸Prerequisites or requirements: __You should already have a general idea of what your budget is and why you want to run a Meta Ad Campaign.
\nClick here to get the most up-to-date version of this SOP
\nE.g.: âWe want to grow our email marketing list for our new handmade Parisian handbags brand by having leads convert on the âhandbag buying handbookâ landing page.â
\nE.g. âConsideration / MOFU (Middle of Funnel)â
\nE.g. âNumber of leads generated on that landing pageâ
\nHave you already implemented a way to track the metric that you have defined? E.g. if you are driving traffic to a landing page where youâll be collecting leads, do you have the standard events or custom conversions in place to measure the number of leads youâre getting?
\nIf not:
\nCan the metric youâve defined be tracked on your website? E.g. âWebsite Purchasesâ.
\nFollow SOP 005: Install Meta Pixel on Your Site (web version) to add the Meta pixel;
\nIf you already have the Meta pixel but not the standard events or custom conversions in place, follow SOP 017: Set up Facebook (Meta) Conversion Tracking (web version)
\nDoes the metric youâve defined not require tracking on your website? E.g. âPost engagement (Likes), Traffic (Clicks)â.
\nMake sure you at least have the Meta Pixel running on your website. It will allow you to create more advanced campaigns in the future, and it needs to be added before you start any Meta campaign since you wonât be able to recover that lost data in the future. If you donât have it installed yet, you can follow SOP 005: Install Meta Pixel on Your Site (web version).
\nDoes the metric youâve defined require tracking, but youâre not able to track it? For example, you donât have access to the website code
\nRethink your metric and select one that is measurable by Meta alone, such as engagement, link clicks, video views, leads generated (if using Meta Lead Ads and not your landing page), etc.
\nDo not pick a âConversionsâ objective in the next step if that is the case, as youâll not be able to optimize for those. E.g. âI want this Meta Ad campaign to have an impact on my overall sales numbers, but since I donât have tracking implemented, Iâll look at the number of engagements instead; more engagements should mean more sales.â
\nIf yes, move on to the next step;
\nBased on the funnel stage youâve identified and the metric youâve selected, pick one of the objectives available to you according to the image below:
\nDid you pick âLeadsâ?
\nIf yes, be aware that by doing that, you wonât be using your landing page
\nIf not, move forward to the next question.
\nDid you pick âSalesâ instead? E.g. youâre looking for sales conversion on your site so you would pick a âSalesâ as an objective and optimize it for sales.
\nWhy: The funnel representation up there is a great starting point, but it should be used as a reference only. âLead Magnet Downloadâ could be a âMOFU / Considerationâ goal, but if youâre able to track that conversion and it passes the questions laid out below, you can take advantage of Metaâs optimization algorithm to better optimize your delivery for users that are more likely to perform that conversion.Important note: If you picked another objective (e.g. Engagement) because thatâs actually the final KPI youâre looking for (e.g youâre an agency and the client specifically asked you to get engagement on their posts) itâs ok to keep that.
\nIs that sales conversion trackable with Meta Pixel?
\nRemember: You can follow SOP 017: Set up Facebook (Meta) Conversion Tracking (web version) to track your website conversions.
\nIf yes, move forward to the next question.
\nIf not, keep the objective you selected previously.
\nDoes that conversion occur at least 100 times a month already without Meta Ads?
\nIf not, go after a more commonly occurring objective on your website; if thatâs still not possible, keep the original objective you selected previously.
\nE.g. âIâd like to optimize for purchases, but Iâm only getting 30 purchases per month right now. But I do have 120 Add-to-carts every month, so I can still use the conversion objective, but Iâll have to optimize for Add-to-carts for now.â
\nIf yes, move to the next question.
\nWill you be able to achieve 50 conversions/week on that Ad Set?
\nNote: Those conversions need to be attributable to your ads to count towards those 50.E.g. âIâm using the conversions objective and optimizing it to Add-to-carts. My budget is going to be $100/day, which means that in 1 week, I expect this AdSet to have around 150 Add-to-cartsâ
\nIf not, go after a more commonly occurring objective on your website, if thatâs still not possible, keep the original objective you selected previously.
\nIf yes, use a âConversionsâ objective instead of the one you originally picked.
\nIs your objective âLead Generationâ? If yes, you have 2 options:
\nYou want to use your landing page: Depending on the volume of leads you are/will be getting, go back to the previous step. You wonât be actually using the âLead Generationâ objective. And it will most likely be better suited with the âConversionsâ objective optimizing for âLeadâ conversions.
\nYou donât have a landing page and donât want to create one or simply would rather use Metaâs built-in form builder: Move forward with the âLead Generationâ objective.
\nRemember: Follow SOP 061: How to launch a lead generation campaign with Meta Lead Ads (web version) to launch a lead generation campaign with Meta Lead ads takes you through the exact step-by-step on how to launch this kind of campaign.
\nThatâs it! At this point, you should have clearly defined which Meta Ad Campaign objective is right for you!
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