10 Best Facebook Ads Reporting Tools in 2026 (Free & Paid)

May 27, 2026

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

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Facebook Ads Manager gives you enough data on your campaigns, but not the clarity you need to read them adequately.

A reporting layer goes beyond what Meta gives you natively. It becomes the go-to tool for agencies sending weekly performance decks, e-commerce brands reconciling Facebook’s ROAS with their actual revenue, and media buyers managing hundreds of active campaigns.

This guide breaks down the 10 best Facebook ads reporting tools in 2026, including their key features, Facebook-specific strengths, and pricing. You’ll also find a comparison table and persona-based recommendations to help you choose the right fit.

Key Takeaways

  • Facebook Ads Manager’s native reporting is functional for campaigns, but it wasn’t built for cross-account visibility or trend analysis at scale.
  • The best Facebook Ads reporting tool for you depends on your role. Agencies need white-label automation, e-commerce brands need attribution accuracy, and media buyers need reporting that feeds directly into action.
  • Most reporting tools are read-only dashboards. The real differentiator is whether the tool helps you act on what you see, or just surfaces data you then have to act on separately.
  • For most advertisers just starting, Google Data Studio, paired with a free connector, is a viable option.
  • If you’re managing campaigns at scale, look for platforms that offer reporting and campaign management as part of the same workflow.

How These Tools Were Evaluated

To make a fair comparison among all these tools, after signing up for a free trial to test them, they were evaluated based on these criteria:

  • Facebook integration depth: Focusing on whether the tool syncs in real time or batch-processes data; whether it supports creative-level and ad-level breakdown, and the amount of historical data that can be accessed.
  • Report customization: Building reports from scratch vs. using available templates.
  • Cross-platform support: Does the tool pull data from Google Ads, LinkedIn, and other channels, or is it limited to Meta-only?
  • Automation: Analyzing the report scheduling feature.
  • Pricing and free tier: Comparing pricing plans and available free tiers across tools, including how many days each trial lasts.
  • Ease of use: The length of the initial setup + learning curve for someone new to the platform.

The 10 Best Facebook Ads Reporting Tools in 2026

1. TheOptimizer

Best for: Media buyers who need a centralized dashboard and do not want to toggle between a reporting tool and a management platform

TheOptimizer landing page featuring the headline Your Advertising Co-Pilot and the subheading Manage all your ad accounts from a single platform

The first thing you notice when you land in TheOptimizer is that reporting isn’t a separate tool, but it’s built directly into the same interface you use to manage campaigns, set automation rules, and control bids.

When you navigate to the Reporting section, you see that the reports are organized by type: Traffic Sources, Ad Accounts, Campaigns, Ads, Custom Reports, and Queued Reports. Each view serves a different layer of analysis, and switching between them takes a single click.

The Traffic Sources view gives you a cross-platform breakdown (spend, impressions, clicks, conversions, revenue, NET, ROI, and EPC) across every network you’re running.

If you switch to Ad Accounts, the same metrics are broken out by individual account, with traffic source visible alongside each one. You can filter by traffic source and apply it across all accounts simultaneously.

The Campaigns view goes deeper. Every campaign is listed with its status, ID, account ID, traffic source, and performance metrics.

The Ads view is where TheOptimizer’s reporting separates itself from many other tools that serve the same function.

You can see performance at the individual creative level, with a content preview of the actual ad copy, Ad Status, ID, Account ID, Traffic Source, Amount Spent, Impressions, and Clicks across different ads in a single, searchable view.

Once you have the view you need, you can download CSV or download Excel, directly from the reporting table.

TheOptimizer’s reporting covers three layers that most tools don’t:

  • Ad Creative Reporting: Sort reports by creative across all campaigns simultaneously, spot winning creatives faster, and identify patterns without manually cross-referencing campaign by campaign. Scaling decisions become much simpler based on this data.
  • Publisher Site Reporting: For native advertising platforms, you can filter by publisher site across all ad accounts, identify consistently underperforming placements, and block them directly via automation rules.
  • Custom Reports: Build reports at the ad group, ad set, publisher site, section, or any other campaign level, selecting only the metrics that matter and applying filters to zero in on specific campaigns or accounts.

Key features

  • Cross-platform performance overview
  • Per-creative analytics tied directly to campaign management
  • Rule activity logs
  • Campaign performance trends with actionable context
  • Integrated optimization

Facebook-specific strengths

The integration between reporting and automation is the differentiator. When you see a creative’s CPA trending upward in the dashboard, you can immediately update the rule managing that creative’s budget.

Pricing

Included with TheOptimizer subscription. Pricing starts from $199/month.

Free tier: 15-day free trial

Bottom line

If you’re a high-volume media buyer who already uses or is considering automation tools, TheOptimizer’s reporting removes an entire tool from your stack while adding a layer of integration no standalone reporting tool can match.

Want reporting tied directly to campaign automation?

Try TheOptimizer Now

2. Supermetrics

Best for: Automating Facebook Ads data transfers into Google Sheets, Google Data Studio, or any BI tool

Supermetrics aggregating data from Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Instagram, and Google Analytics into Google Sheets - Facebook Ads reporting tool

Image source: G2

If you already live in Google Sheets, Google Data Studio, or Excel, and want Facebook Ads data flowing in automatically, Supermetrics does just that.

It’s not a reporting platform per se, more like a pipeline that delivers your data wherever you actually need it.

When testing, I found the platform’s setup simple. After naming the team, I was dropped into a data source connection screen with hundreds of integrations available, from Facebook Ads to LinkedIn, and other platforms.

Supermetrics data source connection screen showing Facebook Ads as a source option - Facebook Ads reporting tool setup

Once the data source is connected (I connected it to Facebook Ads), Supermetrics gives you three paths forward: build a Dashboard inside the platform, connect your data to Claude (yes, you can literally chat with your marketing data), or pipe everything to an external Destination like Google Sheets, Excel, Power BI, or a data warehouse.

Supermetrics onboarding showing three options: Dashboards, Supermetrics in Claude, and Destinations

I chose to visualize my data first, clicked into the Dashboards option, and within seconds had a live Facebook Ads dashboard pulling real metrics: Cost, Impressions, Outbound Clicks, and Conversions (in this case for the last 30 days) synced and timestamped.

Supermetrics live Facebook Ads dashboard showing cost, impressions, outbound clicks, and conversions

Supermetrics has built out an entire analytics layer, with alternatives to direct connectors to every major destination you’d need.

Supermetrics home screen showing Data Explorer, AI chat integrations with Claude and ChatGPT, and reporting destinations including Google Sheets and Google Data Studio

Key features

  • 100+ data source connectors
  • Custom query builder with granular breakdown dimensions
  • You can pull up to 24 months of past performance
  • Multi-account support across ad accounts and pages
  • Native integrations with AI tools, + Sheets, Google Data Studio, Excel, BigQuery, and Snowflake

Facebook-specific strengths

Supermetrics goes deeper than Ads Manager ever will on breakdown dimensions. You can pull cost data at the creative level, toggle attribution windows, and segment by placement or audience without exporting a single CSV.

Pricing

Starts at €49 ($57) when billed monthly.

Free tier: 14-day free trial

Bottom line

The onboarding is simple for a tool that is, at its core, infrastructure. In just three steps, you’ll have a live Facebook Ads dashboard pulling real data. The AI chat integration allows you to get deep insights into your campaign.

3. Google Data Studio (Formerly Looker Studio)

Best for: Free custom dashboards

Google Data Studio dashboard showing CTR, impressions, conversions, CPC, and top campaigns breakdown - free Facebook ads reporting tool

Image source: G2

Google Data Studio is the most powerful free reporting tool available to advertisers. It’s a drag-and-drop dashboard builder that connects thousands of data sources, allows live URL sharing, and can be set up to deliver email snapshots.

Google Data Studio drag-and-drop dashboard builder

There’s a catch, though. Data Studio doesn’t connect natively to Facebook Ads. You need a third-party connector, like Supermetrics, to pull Meta data in.

Google Data Studio list of partner connectors including Facebook Ads

So, after choosing Facebook Ads as your source of connection, you’ll also need to connect it to Supermetrics.

Supermetrics connector setup screen for managing Facebook Ads connections in Google Data Studio

Once you authenticate your Facebook account, Supermetrics manages the connection and pipes your ad data directly into Google Data Studio. From there, your campaigns, spend, CTR, and conversions are live and ready to visualize.

Key features

  • Drag-and-drop report builder with charts, tables, scorecards, and filters
  • Shareable via link, no login required for viewers
  • Scheduled email delivery for reports
  • Blended data sources (Facebook + Google Ads in the same chart)
  • Hundreds of community-built templates

Facebook-specific strengths

Once connected, Google Data Studio excels at cross-platform dashboards. Seeing Facebook CPM alongside Google CPM, or Facebook ROAS next to TikTok ROAS, in a single view is where it earns its keep.

Pricing

Free

Bottom line

If you don’t have a budget, Google Data Studio, plus a free Facebook connector, gets you 80% of what paid tools offer.

4. AgencyAnalytics

Best for: Agencies managing multiple clients

AgencyAnalytics reporting platform interface - best Facebook ads reporting tool for agencies

Image source: G2

AgencyAnalytics is purpose-built for client reporting at scale. If you’re managing many client accounts and sending weekly performance reports, this is the tool that makes that workflow sustainable.

The core value prop is white-labeling. Your logo, domain, color scheme, and everything that represents your brand identity are what the client sees.

The setup follows a familiar pattern, as in other Facebook Ads reporting tools. You’re first asked to select a data source from a library of available integrations.

AgencyAnalytics data source selection screen showing 87 integrations including Facebook Ads

Once connected, the confirmation screen gives you three immediate paths: explore your Facebook Ads data using a pre-made dashboard, add Facebook Ads widgets to a custom dashboard you’re already building, or connect another data source on top of it.

AgencyAnalytics three immediate paths after connecting to Facebook Ads

When you’re ready to build a dashboard, AgencyAnalytics gives you four starting points: a blank canvas, a Smart Dashboard, a premade template, or a clone of an existing dashboard.

After it’s generated, the Facebook Ads report looks like this:

AgencyAnalytics Facebook dashboard showing audience growth, post engagement, and video views - Facebook ads report template

Beyond dashboards, AgencyAnalytics lets you schedule automated report delivery.

Key features

  • White-label reports and client dashboards (custom domain, logo, colors)
  • 80+ integrations
  • Pre-built Facebook Ads report templates with campaign and ad-level breakdowns
  • Scheduled automated delivery (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Client management portal

Facebook-specific strengths

The pre-built Facebook Ads templates are well-designed (spend, impressions, CTR, CPA, ROAS broken out by campaign, ad set, and creative). For agencies that need to look polished without building reports from scratch, this is a great tool.

Pricing

Starts at $20 per client per month.

Free tier: 14-day trial

Bottom line

The best dedicated client reporting tool for agencies. If you manage more than five clients, the time it saves alone makes it a no-brainer.

5. DashThis

Best for: Simple, beautiful client reports with minimal setup

DashThis reporting platform overview - a simple Facebook ads reporting tool for agencies

Image source: G2

DashThis reporting is a feature used by agencies that want clear reports out the door with as little friction as possible.

The interface is intentionally simple, and the output looks polished without requiring design skills.

Once I opened the account, the template populated immediately, and I chose “Advertising campaign report” and connected it to my Facebook account.

DashThis template selection screen shows GA4 Report, Digital Marketing Report, and Advertising Campaign Report options

The dashboard itself is built from a widget system: Preset Widgets, Custom Widgets, Static Widgets, and Widget Bundles, so you can add, remove, or rearrange blocks without touching any code.

DashThis Advertising Campaign Report showing Facebook Ads cost, purchase revenue, CPA, and purchases by channel

Before wrapping up your report, you can also tap into their AI-powered insights feature, which breaks your performance down depending on what you need (like a summary of key metrics and trends, opportunities for actionable improvement, etc.)

And on the presentation side, you can apply a color theme to the dashboard from a set of pre-built palettes, or bring in your own to match a client’s brand.

DashThis AI-powered insights feature and color theme customization options for client reports

Key features

  • Pre-set report templates for social media, PPC, and email campaigns
  • Drag-and-drop widget library
  • Scheduled automated email delivery
  • PDF and shareable link export
  • Multi-channel reports in a single dashboard

Facebook-specific strengths

The Facebook Ads connection takes seconds. KPI widgets surface the metrics clients care about without requiring manual configuration.

Pricing

Starts at $54/month.

Free tier: 15-day free trial

Bottom line

If your clients want clean monthly reports and you want to spend 15 minutes producing them, this tool delivers.

6. Madgicx

Best for: Facebook advertisers who want reporting + optimization in one tool

Madgicx Facebook Ads analytics platform showing creative performance and funnel-stage reporting - Facebook ad reporting

Madgicx is a Facebook-native analytics platform that combines reporting with AI-powered insights and automation.

Because it’s built specifically for Meta advertising, the depth of Facebook-specific metrics is considerably higher than that of general-purpose tools.

The reporting side is built around two things: a Facebook Ads Dashboard that gives you a bird’s-eye view of your entire ad account, and an Automated Reporting feature that handles scheduled delivery to clients or stakeholders.

You set the cadence, choose the metrics that matter, and Madgicx automatically updates the tables and graphs and sends the report at the exact time you specify.

Madgicx automated reporting template showing scheduled delivery options

Image source: Madgicx

Note that starting a free trial with Madgicx requires entering card details.

Key features

  • Creative analytics with funnel-stage performance breakdown
  • Audience-segmentation insights
  • Automated budget optimization
  • AI-generated performance insights and recommendations
  • Funnel-based reporting

Facebook-specific strengths

Purpose-built for Meta advertising. The creative intelligence features go deeper than Ads Manager’s basic creative reporting.

Pricing

Starts at $45/month.

Free tier: 7-day free trial

Bottom line

The right tool for Facebook-focused advertisers who want analytical depth beyond dashboards.

7. Funnel.io

Best for: Data teams that need a unified data warehouse

Funnel.io marketing reporting platform showing data warehouse integrations including Power BI and Tableau - Facebook ads reporting tool

Funnel.io is an enterprise infrastructure that collects data from 500+ platforms and marketing sources, normalizes it into a unified schema, and pipes it to your data warehouse.

Unlike every other tool here, there’s no free trial and no self-serve onboarding. Every CTA on the page leads to “Book a demo,” which tells you something about who this is built for before you’ve even seen the product.

That said, what Funnel offers on paper is powerful. It’s an official partner of Microsoft, Google, and Tableau, so the integrations are native rather than connector-dependent.

The reporting workflow follows a few steps: connect and prepare your data, create reports inside Funnel’s dashboard builder or send them to your destination of choice, then act on the insights.

For agencies managing enterprise clients, Funnel also offers client-facing Portals (shared dashboards with controlled access) so clients can check in on performance without you sending a PDF every Monday.

Funnel.io reporting workflow showing data connection, preparation, and visualization steps

Image source: Funnel.io

Key features

  • 500+ data source connectors
  • Automatic data transformation and normalization
  • Direct warehouse integrations
  • Cross-platform metric mapping
  • Automated data quality checks

Facebook-specific strengths

Funnel normalizes Facebook’s notoriously messy attribution data alongside every other platform you run, giving you one consistent definition of “conversion,” “ROAS,” and “spend” across platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Pricing

Custom pricing based on data volume and number of connectors.

Free tier: Option to get a demo

Bottom line

Overkill for most advertisers. Essential for teams doing serious cross-platform attribution analysis or feeding marketing data into a broader business intelligence stack.

8. Triple Whale

Best for: DTC e-commerce brands on Shopify

Triple Whale data connection screen showing Meta, Google Ads, and Google Sheets integrations - Facebook Ads reporting tool

Triple Whale was built to connect your ad platforms, Shopify store, and first-party data to give you a unified view of actual revenue.

Triple Whale setup stage featuring options to connect your data

When you first open Triple Whale, the experience feels very onboarding-focused and beginner-friendly compared to more technical BI platforms.

The platform walks you through a setup flow where you connect your ecommerce and marketing data sources first. Once connected, Triple Whale automatically pulls your marketing and store data into a centralized dashboard.

The platform also pushes its AI assistant, “Moby,” quite heavily throughout the interface. In testing, the homepage feels more like an AI-powered analytics workspace than a traditional reporting tool.

Setup completion screen showing Start analyzing step with options to build dashboards, use AI chat, or generate reports for marketing data analysis

Key features

  • Server-side tracking via Triple Pixel
  • Multi-touch attribution across Facebook, Google, TikTok, and email
  • Real-time profit dashboard
  • Creative analytics with true ROAS at the creative level
  • Cohort analysis and LTV reporting

Facebook-specific strengths

Resolves the gap between Facebook’s reported conversions and your actual Shopify orders. For DTC brands, the clarity it provides changes bidding decisions, creative allocation, and budget distribution.

Pricing

Starts at $129/month.

Free tier: 7-day free trial

Bottom line

Non-negotiable for ecommerce brands spending $20k+/month on Facebook who need to know what’s actually working.

9. Whatagraph

Best for: Visual, design-forward reports

Whatagraph visual reporting platform for agencies - best Facebook ads reporting tool for client reports

Whatagraph occupies a specific niche: reporting that looks good enough to present in a client meeting.

Whatagraph data source selection screen showing Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Reddit Ads, and Apple Search Ads

Once connected, Whatagraph’s AI report builder takes over. This is where you can simply describe what you want to see in plain language.

For example, I typed: “Show me Facebook Ads performance for the last 30 days, including spend, ROAS, CPA, CTR, impressions, and a campaign-level breakdown.”

Whatagraph AI report builder prompt asking the user to describe the report they want generated

After pressing Generate within seconds, Whatagraph produced exactly what I asked for.

A clean Facebook Ads Performance report covering all insights as individual metric blocks at the top, followed by a Campaign Performance table breaking down every campaign by spend, ROAS, CPA, CTR, and impressions.

Whatagraph AI-generated Facebook Ads Performance report showing spend, ROAS, CPA, CTR, impressions, and campaign breakdown

Key features

  • Visually designed drag-and-drop builder
  • Cross-channel report templates
  • PDF export and live shareable links
  • Custom branding options

Facebook-specific strengths

Native Facebook + Instagram combined reporting is a standout feature. Engagement metrics, reach, impressions, and paid performance in one cohesive view.

Pricing

Starts at €249/month ($289).

Free tier: The Free plan gives you basic reporting with limited credits.

Bottom line

Worth the premium for agencies where design quality matters.

10. Databox

Best for: Real-time KPI dashboards and goal tracking

Databox business analytics platform displaying real-time dashboards across desktop, mobile, and smartwatch

Image source: G2

Similarly, to get started with Databox reporting, you’ll first have the opportunity to connect whichever tools you want to pull data from.

The list is broad, and it includes Google Analytics, HubSpot, Google Sheets, Excel, Facebook Pages, and, of course, Facebook Ads.

Databox data source library showing Facebook Ads selected alongside Google Analytics and HubSpot

Once connected, Databox automatically generates a dashboard from the data it pulls from your Facebook campaigns. In this case, it produced a ready-to-use Facebook Ads Performance Overview dashboard straight out of the box.

Databox automatically generated Facebook Ads Performance Overview dashboard - Facebook ad reporting

From there, the dashboard is fully editable. You can click into any metric block, change the visualization type, adjust the date range per metric, and add or swap metrics as needed, all from a clean sidebar editor.

Once you’re happy with it, you can export it directly as a JPG or PDF with one click.

Databox dashboard editor showing Facebook Ads performance overview

Key features

  • Pre-built templates for Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Shopify, and more
  • Mobile app with push notifications
  • Goal-tracking against custom benchmarks
  • Automated alerts when metrics deviate from expected ranges
  • Multi-source blending in a single dashboard view

Facebook-specific strengths

Quick to set up and useful for daily performance checks.

Pricing

Paid plans start from $159/month (billed annually).

Free tier: 14-day trial

Bottom line

Databox’s reporting is simple and aesthetic. After only a few steps, your Facebook Ads report is automatically generated, and from there, you can edit any metric block and export it as a JPG or PDF with one click.

Quick Comparison Table

Here’s a quick glimpse into the 10 tools covered in this article, and key characteristics of each:

Tool Best For FB Integration Cross-Platform Free Tier Price Key Differentiator
TheOptimizer Reporting + campaign action Good Yes (native + programmatic) Yes $199/month Reporting tied to automation
Supermetrics Data into Sheets/BI tools Deep Yes (100+ sources) 14-day trial $57/month Raw data flexibility
Data Studio Free custom dashboards Via connector Yes Free Free Completely free BI
AgencyAnalytics Multi-client agencies Good Yes (80+ integrations) 14-day trial $20/month White-label automation
DashThis Simple client reports Good Yes 15-day trial $54/month Fastest setup
Madgicx Facebook creative analytics Native Meta only 7-day trial $45/month Creative intelligence
Funnel.io Data warehouse teams Deep Yes (500+ sources) Demo only Custom Data normalization
Triple Whale E-commerce attribution Deep + first party Facebook, Google, TikTok 7-day trial $129/month True ROAS accuracy
Whatagraph Visual client reports Good Yes Limited free plan $249/month AI report generation
Databox KPI monitoring + alerts Good Yes (70+ sources) 14-day trial $159/month Auto-generated dashboards

How to Choose the Right Facebook Ads Reporting Tool

The best reporting tool depends entirely on your role, workflow, and who you’re reporting to.

  • Solo media buyer or small in-house team: Start with Google Data Studio and a free Facebook connector. When manual reporting takes more than an hour per week, upgrade to Databox or DashThis.
  • Facebook-focused advertiser running active creative tests: Madgicx, for analytical depth on creative and funnel-stage performance.
  • Advertisers who want raw data in their own tools: Supermetrics, for pulling Facebook Ads data directly into Google Sheets, Google Data Studio, or any BI tool you already use.
  • Teams that need live KPI monitoring and alerts: Databox, for real-time dashboards, goal tracking, and performance alerts across Facebook and 70+ other sources.
  • Agency managing multiple clients: AgencyAnalytics, Whatagraph, or DashThis.
  • E-commerce brands: Triple Whale.
  • Data team with BI infrastructure: Funnel.io (then Google Data Studio or the analysis layer).
  • High-volume media buyer: TheOptimizer for an all-in-one dashboard, including campaign automation + reporting.

Free Facebook Ads Report Templates

If you’d like to test reporting templates yourself, here are 3 free options you can start trying right away:

Template 1: Supermetrics Facebook Ads Report Template for Google Sheets

Supermetrics Facebook Ads report template for Google Sheets

Get it here: Free Supermetrics Facebook Ads template

Template 2: Free Facebook Ads Report Template for Agencies

AgencyAnalytics Facebook Ads free template for agencies, freelancers, and marketers

Get it here: Free AgencyAnalytics Facebook Ads template

Template 3: Free Google Data Studio Facebook Ads Report Template

Free Google Data Studio Facebook Ads report template

Get it here: Free Google Data Studio Facebook Ads template

Finding the Best Facebook Ads Reporting Tool for Your Needs

Facebook Ads reporting comes down to one question: what decision are you trying to make, and what data do you need to make it confidently?

Agencies, for example, prioritize automation and white-labeling, so spending time manually formatting reports is a marginal problem. E-commerce brands need attribution accuracy; making budget decisions based on Facebook’s reported numbers is a revenue problem.

Media buyers managing high volumes need reporting that feeds directly into action.

Start with the free options if you’re in the early stages. Upgrade when your manual reporting time exceeds an hour per week, or when the decisions you’re making are limited by the quality of the data you’re seeing.

And if you’re managing campaigns at scale, look seriously at platforms that treat reporting and action as the same thing. After all, understanding your data is just as important as having access to it.

Looking to combine reporting with automation in one centralized space?

See how TheOptimizer campaign analytics works.

Try TheOptimizer for FREE

FAQs

What is the best free Facebook Ads reporting tool?

Google Data Studio is the strongest free option available. It’s a fully featured dashboard builder from Google that connects to Facebook Ads via a free connector.

How accurate is your data in Facebook Ads reporting tools?

The accuracy of your Facebook Ads data depends on the tool you’re using; however, most reporting tools pull directly from Meta’s API, so campaign-metric levels are accurate.

How long does it take to set up a Facebook Ads reporting tool?

Typically, it can take around 30 minutes to set up and edit a report, or even longer if you’re building it from scratch.

Can I use one reporting tool for both Facebook Ads and Google Ads?

Yes. Most tools on this list support cross-platform reporting out of the box. They pull data from Facebook Ads and Google Ads into the same dashboard, so you can compare performance side by side without switching between platforms.

Why do my Facebook Ads numbers look different in a third-party reporting tool vs. Ads Manager?

Metrics like spend, impressions, and clicks are pulled directly from Meta’s API and should match. The discrepancy usually shows up in conversion data, where attribution models, time windows, and iOS 14 signal loss can produce different numbers depending on which tool you’re using and how it counts conversions.

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Facebook’s model is fed by conversions and has enough data to make smart predictions, so CBO can find efficiencies you’d never find manually. That’s why this strategy works well for scaling winners with broad targeting and multiple placements. The problem with CBO for testing is structural. Facebook will often funnel the majority of your budget to one or two ad sets before your variations have gathered enough data to be judged fairly. As a result, the winners are chosen based on early, noisy signals. Meta’s model will favor ad sets based on initial traffic rather than their long-term potential. Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) Ad Set Budget Optimization assigns a fixed budget to each ad set. You have the control here; you decide how much each test gets, and Facebook can’t redistribute it. So, every creative or audience in your test gets a fixed spend, despite how other ad sets are performing. When you’re trying to figure out which creative performs better, you need an apples-to-apples comparison; same audience, same budget, same time window. ABO gives you that. It is the right tool for testing. But there’s a trade-off. As you scale and your test volume grows, manually monitoring individual ABO ad sets becomes overwhelming. That’s why media buyers now separate testing from campaign scaling to ensure that both ABO and CBO serve their best intentions. ABO for testing, and CBO for scaling. Run your creative tests in ABO campaigns with isolated ad sets. When a creative proves itself, based on your own conversion data, graduate it to a CBO scaling campaign. Facebook Campaign Structures for Creative Testing The whole point of a creative test is to find out what really works for your audience, not what Facebook’s algorithm decides to spend your budget on first. Everything about your structure should focus on that goal. Let’s have a look at the three Facebook structures for creative testing: Structure A: One Creative Per Ad Set This is the recommended default for most accounts doing serious creative testing. The setup is: Single ABO campaign One ad set per creative Identical audience and targeting across all ad sets Equal daily budget for each Every creative must compete on the same terms. When creative A, for example, has a 2x better CPA than creative B, and both have the same spend against the same audience, you’ve learned something that’s real. But when creative A just got more spending because Facebook’s algorithm liked it on day one, that’s biased, and you’re not learning anything that could make a difference. How to make this structure work in practice: Run each batch for seven days before making a judgment. This is where you prevent costly mistakes that many advertisers make. If you launch a new batch, say Tuesday, and pull results on Friday, you’re not making a proper comparison. For most businesses, weekend performance is different from weekday performance. So, if you shut down a batch after three days, you might be killing results that would otherwise appear on Sunday, for example. Keep each batch to 4–6 creatives at lower spend levels. I know it’s tempting to test more angles, formats, and hooks. But think about it this way. If you spend $20–$50/day per ad set, spreading the budget across 10–15 creatives means most of them will collect almost zero impressions. 4–6 is the sweet spot. Use ad set spending limits inside a CBO if you go that route. If you’re running this as a CBO, you’ll often run into a common pattern. Older ad sets with existing data absorb most of the budget while your new test batches starve. To prevent that from happening, set an ad set spending limit of 80–90% of the daily campaign budget per ad set. Structure B: One Creative Per Campaign This is the highest isolation testing structure. Each creative gets its own campaign with its own budget. Run one creative per campaign in one of […]

April 20, 2026

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

Best Performing Verticals for Top Performing Native Ad Platforms (with Examples)
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Best Performing Verticals for Top Performing Native Ad Platforms (with Examples)

Performance marketers are always looking for new and innovative ways to get the best results possible, especially when designing their new offers. Coming up with a winning ad time after time again can be quite challenging. With tools such AdPlexity, that process becomes far easier. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best-performing offers and verticals, on some of the top-performing native ad platforms in the market. What is Adplexity? AdPlexity is a spy tool that allows you to see which are the best-performing ads and verticals currently or during a specific time period. You can choose between plenty of filtering options, such as type of device, country, language, traffic source (as we’ll do in this article), etc, to find what’s working in the space you want to target.                       Images displaying some of AdPlexity’s filters. Top Verticals in Outbrain Let’s take the following offer and review it (we’re focusing on performance in 2023 alone). As you can see below, you can view the chosen image for the ad, as well as its title and a few quick indicators, such as this offer having received 3690 hits in the past 89 days. If you click on the offer, you’ll enter a more detailed view panel, in which you can see other indicators that can be useful to you. You can see for example that this offer has been performing quite well throughout the week, with a minor dip on Thursdays and Fridays. For another offer, we can see that 100% of its traffic has come from iPhone devices, and furthermore, we can see from which publishers (this can help you with blacklists) and which placements the majority of traffic has come from.  Some of the top-performing verticals in Outbrain for 2023 have been: News about celebrities, cars, health routines, travel and dental products among others. Here are a few more examples: Top Verticals in MGID Let’s look at some offers that are performing quite well in MGID. The offer below has received more than 9000 hits in the past 10 days, the vast majority of that traffic coming from Android tablets devices. What’s interesting if we look into more details (see graph below), is that it performs quite well on the first three days of the week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and has a considerable drop on the other days. This dental offer, on the other hand, performs the same on all days of the week, except for Saturday when it sees a drop. For this offer, thanks to AdPlexity (feature in Beta), we can even see the offer’s bid history, with the bid for it averaging at $0,03. Some of the top-performing verticals in MGID for 2023 have been: Losing weight, dental, beauty products, etc. Top Verticals in RevContent The first example we’re looking at from RevContent, is this dog food offer which has performed extremely well, with more than 200k hits in the past 4 months. For this offer we can see that the traffic it has received is quite well distributed between different types of devices (with an even distribution between mobile and desktop). Interestingly enough, you can see that some publishers have performed significantly better than other ones, with the first and second ones having a 10% difference from the third best-performing publisher. In this second offer, we can see that in January it performed quite well compared to other months, with a dip in February, but picking up pace once more in March. For more details, check AdPlexity.com. Some of the top-performing verticals in RevContent for 2023 have been: Home gadgets, cars, travel, diets, trading, etc. Top Verticals in Taboola Let’s look at some offers in Taboola. The first one you see below for example gets 60% of its total traffic from tablet devices (both Android & iOS devices). While the second offer gets the largest chunk of its traffic share from iPhone devices, and 35% of total traffic from one publisher alone. AdPlexity gives you the opportunity to see such details and quickly jump on trends. Some of the top-performing verticals in Taboola for 2023 have been: Dental, travel, software, health, tech, etc. Top Verticals in Yahoo Lastly, let’s look at a few Yahoo offers. The first offer has performed really well in April and in May, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays. With its traffic being well-distributed between different devices. Most of the traffic however, 74%, has come from a single widget. The second offer, has received most of its traffic in April, losing steam in May, and performed better between Tuesday and Saturday. Almost 80% of its traffic came from one publisher alone and three particular widgets performed significantly better than other ones. Some of the top-performing verticals in Yahoo for 2023 have been: Gaming, housing, beauty, trading, dental, etc. Bonus: Search Arbitrage One vertical that has been performing extremely well in recent times across all native traffic sources, is search arbitrage. We just released a mega 200-page guide on all you should know about Search Arb, and how to profit from this new mine that keeps delivering. Currently, TheOptimizer is the only optimization and automation platform that supports some of the main Search Feed Providers (Tonic, Sedo, System1, Domain Active and Bodis). Giving marketers and search arbitragers alike an opportunity not to miss. Conclusion While you have all your campaigns run automatically with TheOptimizer, you now have plenty of saved time to focus on your creatives and your offers, making them the best they can be. If you’re having a bit of a hard time figuring out what will perform better, give AdPlexity a try. It’s a fantastic tool that gives you a view into the best-performing offers across the internet and insights into their success.

May 19, 2023

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

TheOptimizer Team

Top 10 TikTok Ad Trends to Watch in 2023
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Top 10 TikTok Ad Trends to Watch in 2023

TikTok was the leading app for consumer spending last year, with 92% of the users making purchases after watching a video on the platform.   With the number of downloads, daily users, and engagement rates increasing even further in 2023, more and more brands are advertising on TikTok. But this rapid growth means that the platform moves fast, and trends go in and out of style at a breakneck speed.  In this article, we will take a look at some of the top TikTok trends to watch out for in 2023, and how you can incorporate them into your own TikTok marketing strategy. The Three Driving Forces for TikTok Ad Trends in 2023 According to TikTok’s 2023 trend reports, there are three core forces driving TikTok ad trends this year.  Image by TikTok  1. The first trend force is all about entertainment through relatability and trust. Recent world events have led to people craving authenticity and connections more than ever. TikTok’s popularity boomed during the global lockdown, as people turned to social media for the human interaction that was missing from their everyday lives. In turn, this changed the type of content users prefer to engage with online.  Image by SensorTower Advertisements that come across as overly staged and “salesy” are on their way out, while content that feels native to TikTok is the new norm. In fact, 65% of over a billion TikTok users say they rely on online creators for their buying decisions. Simple advertisements featuring an honest and relatable figure will go a long way in 2023.  2. The second trend force is focused on joy and well-being. According to a recent study by Future Forum, over 40% of respondents report feeling burned out, with the percentage being even higher for people aged 18-29 years old. The younger generation is prioritizing their physical and mental well-being, and they prefer consuming helpful, funny and uplifting content. 3. Building up on the two previous points, the third and final trend force this year revolves around community building. Online users are looking for relatable, entertaining content that speaks to them on a personal level. They want to feel like they belong, like they are heard, and they seek to learn from other like-minded people. What are the TikTok Ad Trends for 2023? TikTok Ad Trend 1: Brands Are Investing More Money on TikTok Advertising  TikTok ad revenues are projected to hit $18.04 billion in 2023, and continue to grow by another $5.5 billion in 2024. With TikTok’s increasing relevance as a marketing channel, professional advertisers and brands will need to include it in their overall marketing strategy.  TikTok Ad Trend 2: User-Generated Content is Dominating TikTok Advertising User-generated content, or UGC, refers to content created by platform users instead of companies. This type of native content blends in with other videos on the app, and it comes across as more trustworthy.  Image by Trend.io On the other hand, it is also cheaper and easier for brands. Instead of paying professional creatives to shoot and run an ad, now they can pay a fee or commission to creators to post a video, often shot and edited on a smartphone.  You have probably heard this saying a thousand times, but TikTok is a creative-hungry platform. Ad fatigue is higher than for any other platform, so advertisers need to be flexible and adapt quickly.  UGC’s ability to be more engaging and flexible while costing less will make this type of content extremely popular on TikTok in the coming months.  TikTok Ad Trend 3: Storytelling Can Help TikTok Ads Stand Out  Storytelling has always been an important part of marketing. A good story has been proven to help people remember your core message longer, and to create a deeper connection with your audience.  Considering the trend driving forces we discussed earlier, online users are craving that feeling of deeper connection and understanding with the brands they purchase from. You can share your brand’s story (i.e., how it started), show how the product fits into a lifestyle or routine, and share results.  TikTok ads that tell a story will stand out more and convert better than ads that lack the storytelling element. TikTok Ad Trend 4: More Authenticity in TikTok Product Demos and Tutorials  Product demos and tutorials can be very useful, and something that is working really well right now are ads where a creator or customer is using the product and naturally embedding it in their video.  Image by TikTok Based on TikTok’s recent research, 75% of users who took an action as a result of TikTok (for example purchased a product after seeing it on the platform), agree that a creator showcasing a product is more useful than reading online reviews.  TikTok Ad Trend 5: Well-being is More Important Than Ever for TikTok Advertising  The population, especially the younger generation, is prioritizing their physical and mental well-being more than ever. They are seeking out healthier food options, fitness tips, and raising awareness about mental health. Image by TheTab If possible, you should strive to create a story that showcases how your product promotes well-being and leads to a better lifestyle.  TikTok Ad Trend 6: Using Humor and Memes Improves TikTok Ads Performance    Incorporating humor in your ads can make them more memorable, and it causes a positive association between your product and the viewer.  According to TikTok, 4 in 10 users admit that uplifting content is a key motivator when it comes to making a purchase. Image by TikTok You have probably seen or used memes before. This type of humorous content, often involving references to current pop culture, can improve your ad’s performance. If you are using relevant memes, users tend to share it more often with each other, comment and generally engage more with your content.  TikTok Ad Trend 7: Using Popular Audio Clips on TikTok Boosts Engagement  Popular audio clips are songs, sound effects or snippets of spoken words (e.g., from shows, movies, interviews) that are trending on TikTok. Incorporating these sounds in your TikTok ads can skyrocket your engagement.  You can find trending sounds on TikTok’s Creative Center, but an even easier way is simply typing “trending sounds” on TikTok’s search bar. You can incorporate these sounds into your ads through lip-syncing, comedy sketches, or dance challenges.  TikTok Ad Trend 8: Picking a Niche is Crucial for TikTok Advertising  When discussing the three TikTok trend forces, we mentioned that community building will play an important role in 2023.  In order for the community feeling to be established, you will need to stimulate a sense of belonging and understanding within your audience. The best way to do that is by segmenting your target audience into specific niches, and creating different ads to cater to each niche.  There are many free tools out there, such as this one by HubSpot, that can help you create a detailed buyer persona if you do not have one already.  Image by HubSpot For every product you are promoting, you must have a clear idea of who your target customer is, what they like or dislike, and what their pain points are.  TikTok Ad Trend 9: Educational Content Gains Popularity on TikTok  TikTok’s most recent trend research shows that 92% of users who took an action as a result of TikTok said that they learn new things from the platform.  The younger generation is turning to TikTok to ask questions, and the hashtag #EduTok is very popular with 155 billion lifetime views.  You can leverage this by creating educational videos that include your product or are related to it. For example, if you are promoting a new yoga mat, you can create a video with the top 5 yoga positions you need to try as a beginner.  By creating content that is entertaining and informative, advertisers are not only promoting their brands but also establishing themselves as a trusted source of information within their niche.  TikTok Ad Trend 10: Improved Search Function Can Benefit TikTok Ads  The last top trend goes hand in hand with the previous one. Nearly half of Gen Z users search for things on TikTok and Instagram rather than on Google. This demand for educational content has motivated TikTok to improve their search function even further.  This means that apart from crafting the perfect video ad, you also need to write a good caption which adds extra value (for example by […]

May 15, 2023

Sara Bregasi

Sara Bregasi

Content Writer