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Facebook CBO (Campaign Budget Optimisation): When and How to Use It

Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO) sets your budget at the campaign level and lets Meta distribute spend across ad sets based on performance. Use CBO when you have multiple ad sets and want Meta to automatically allocate more budget to the best performer. It works best with ad sets of similar audien

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Quick Summary

Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO) sets your budget at the campaign level and lets Meta distribute spend across ad sets based on performance. Use CBO when you have multiple ad sets and want Meta to automatically allocate more budget to the best performer. It works best with ad sets of similar audience sizes and when you trust Meta's algorithm to identify the best audience. Use ad set budgets when you want to guarantee specific spend on each audience or during structured testing.

Process Flow

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Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these 4 steps to complete this guide

1

How CBO Works

Instead of setting budgets on each ad set individually, you set one budget at the campaign level. Meta's algorithm decides how to distribute that budget across your ad sets in real-time, putting more money behind better-performing ad sets.
2

When to Use CBO

When you have 3+ ad sets testing different audiences. When ad sets target similar-sized audiences. When you want to scale and let the algorithm optimise allocation. When you have enough total budget for each ad set to get meaningful delivery.
3

When to Use Ad Set Budgets

When doing structured A/B testing and need equal spend per audience. When one ad set is much smaller than others (CBO might starve it). When you need to guarantee minimum spend on specific audiences. When you are just starting and want full control.
4

CBO Tips

Set ad set minimum spend limits if you want to guarantee each ad set gets some delivery. Monitor that CBO is not putting all spend into one ad set and starving others. CBO works best when all ad sets have similar potential — if one audience is clearly larger, it may receive disproportionate spend.

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