Meta Ads for Subscription Businesses

Three parts of Meta’s documentation speak to subscriptions directly: the standard events that mark a trial or a paid start, the metrics that count recurring payments, and the advertising rule on stating a price. Selling subscriptions in a Meta shop is limited to physical goods.

Which Meta events mark a trial and a paid subscription?

Meta’s list of standard pixel events includes two for subscriptions. Start trial is the start of a free trial of a product or service, for example a trial subscription. Subscribe is the start of a paid subscription. Meta’s example code for both includes value, currency and predicted_ltv. Lead covers submitting information, such as signing up for a trial, with the understanding that the business may contact the person later.

Meta’s guidance for business-to-business advertisers goes further. It suggests custom trial events, TrialStarted and TrialExtended, with value, currency, predicted_ltv and an expiration date. It describes predicted_ltv as the predicted lifetime value of a subscriber, as defined by the advertiser and expressed as an exact value. It also suggests a subscription_id parameter on events from the trial stage onward, if you have one.

What you can do: send Start trial and Subscribe at the moment each happens, with value and currency filled in.

How should you set the value on these events?

Meta says the default value and currency in standard event code is $0.00 USD, and you can edit it to reflect the true value of your conversions. Its rules for the value field:

• It must be a decimal number greater than or equal to zero.
• It may not include letters, special characters, currency symbols or commas.
• It uses a decimal point, whatever the currency or location.
• Currency is a three-letter code.

Meta says a set value helps you measure return on ad spend and optimize for value. If the amount varies, you can make the value dynamic. In its B2B table, Meta describes the Subscribe value as revenue or gross profit earned, and the value on its suggested custom trial events as the monthly, weekly or daily subscription value.

What you can do: replace the $0.00 default with a real number. Advice, not Meta’s rule: decide first whether your value means revenue or gross profit, and keep it the same in every event.

What do Meta’s subscription metrics count?

Meta documents three related metrics:

• Recurring subscription payments counts recurring subscription payment events. Meta says it is attributed to an initial subscribe event and may increase over time if payments keep arriving after your campaigns end.
• Recurring subscription payment value adds up the value parameters you set for the recurring payment event.
• Start trial conversion value adds up the value parameters you set for the start trial event. Meta says statistical modeling may be used where events cannot be measured directly because of partial or missing data. It also says that in some cases, such as results for ads delivered to devices using iOS 14+, the metric may not be calculated.

What you can do: read recurring payment numbers again after a campaign ends, and remember that Meta may model part of the trial value.

What does Meta require when you advertise a subscription?

Meta says ads for subscription services are subject to its subscription services requirements. The same applies to ads for products or services with negative options, automatic renewal, free-to-pay conversion billing products or mobile marketing. Meta’s example of a requirement is that you clearly represent the price of the promoted service.

In commerce, Meta says it permits physical product subscriptions through its commerce channels, but does not support digital products, including digital subscriptions, there. Listings may not promote the buying or selling of downloadable digital content, digital subscriptions or digital accounts.

What you can do: read Meta’s subscription services requirements before you write a free-trial offer, and show the price in the ad.

What stays the same as for any business?

Meta says its ad review system is designed to review all ads before they go live. Advice, not a Meta rule: because Meta says recurring payments can keep arriving after a campaign ends, compare a campaign’s first-payment numbers with its later recurring payments before you judge it.

FAQ

Should I send Start trial or Subscribe?

Send whichever matches what happened. Meta defines Start trial as the start of a free trial and Subscribe as the start of a paid subscription, so a business with a trial can send both at different moments. Both example codes carry value, currency and predicted_ltv.

Why did my recurring payment numbers change after the campaign ended?

Meta says the recurring subscription payments metric is attributed to an initial subscribe event and may increase over time if recurring payments continue after your ad campaigns end. A figure read early can therefore be lower than the same figure read later.

Can I sell a digital subscription in a Meta shop?

No. Meta permits subscriptions for physical goods in commerce channels but does not support digital products, including digital subscriptions, there. Advertising a subscription is a separate matter and must meet Meta’s subscription services requirements, including a clearly stated price.