Value Optimisation on Meta: Feeding Purchase Values Through CAPI

What Is Meta Value Optimisation?

Standard Meta bid strategies (Lowest Cost CPA) optimise to get the most conversions for your budget — all conversions are treated equally regardless of value. A £10 purchase and a £500 purchase are weighted the same in the algorithm's target.

Meta Value Optimisation (also called "Value" bidding) changes this: the algorithm optimises to find users who will generate the highest purchase value for your budget, not just the most conversions. This is particularly powerful for ecommerce stores where purchase values vary significantly across customers.

Requirements for Value Optimisation

For Meta Value Optimisation to work, your CAPI (and browser Pixel) must pass purchase values consistently:

• Every Purchase event must include value and currency
• Values must be accurate (real transaction amounts, not fixed values)
• Values must be consistent (always include/exclude tax and shipping in the same way)
• Sufficient conversion volume: Meta recommends 50+ purchase events per week with value data for Value Optimisation to work reliably

Configuring Value in CAPI Events

// CAPI Purchase event with value
{
  "event_name": "Purchase",
  "event_time": 1735682400,
  "event_id": "ORDER-789",
  "action_source": "website",
  "user_data": {...},
  "custom_data": {
    "value": 150.00,   // The actual purchase amount — not a fixed placeholder
    "currency": "GBP", // ISO 4217 currency code
    "content_type": "product",
    "contents": [
      {"id": "SKU-001", "quantity": 2, "item_price": 75.00}
    ],
    "num_items": 2
  }
}

The value field should reflect what the customer paid — gross revenue, not your margin. Meta uses this to learn which user characteristics predict high-value purchases, not to understand your profitability.

Enabling Value Optimisation in Ads Manager

1. Create a new campaign with objective: Sales
2. At the campaign level, enable "Campaign Budget Optimisation" (recommended)
3. At the ad set level → Conversion event: Purchase
4. Bid strategy: select "Maximize value" instead of "Lowest cost"
5. Optionally set a Minimum ROAS target (what average return on ad spend you want Meta to target)

Minimum ROAS vs Highest Value

• Highest value (no floor): Meta maximises total purchase value with your budget. Flexible, good for brands without a strict ROAS target.
• Minimum ROAS: Meta only bids when it predicts the purchase value will meet your ROAS floor. More constrained — may reduce volume but improves average return quality.

What to Expect

Value Optimisation typically results in:

• Higher average order value (Meta avoids low-value purchases)
• Higher CPA (the algorithm bids more aggressively for high-value users)
• Better ROAS (higher revenue per pound spent)
• Fewer total conversions (the algorithm trades volume for value)

This trade-off is worth it for businesses where revenue per customer varies significantly (£50 vs £500 orders) but is less valuable if all your purchases are roughly the same value (fixed-price products).

Summary

Meta Value Optimisation requires accurate, consistent purchase values in every CAPI (and Pixel) Purchase event. With 50+ weekly purchase events and value data, enable "Maximize value" bid strategy in Ads Manager. The algorithm will target users predicted to generate higher purchase values rather than just any conversion. This typically improves ROAS at the cost of lower conversion volume — the right trade-off for high-AOV businesses.

See our Facebook CAPI Setup service for value optimisation implementation.

Want to implement Meta value optimisation? Contact Adslytics.