The 6 Campaign Objectives
Your objective is the very first thing you pick, and the most consequential. It tells Meta's AI what kind of person to chase. Get it wrong and even perfect targeting and creative can't save you.
Meta has six ODAX objectives: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion and Sales. Meta finds people likely to take whatever action you optimise for, so the objective is your most important choice.
01What ODAX means
In early 2022 Meta replaced its old list of 11 objectives with six, under a framework called ODAX (Outcome-Driven Ad Experiences). The idea: instead of picking a tactic, you pick the business outcome you want, and Meta optimizes toward it.
| Objective | Meta optimizes for… | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Reach & impressions | Getting known; top of funnel |
| Traffic | Clicks & landing-page views | Sending people to a site or page |
| Engagement | Interactions, messages, video views | Building social proof, starting chats |
| Leads | Form submissions & enquiries | Service & B2B businesses |
| App Promotion | App installs & in-app actions | Mobile apps |
| Sales | Purchases & conversions | E-commerce & online selling |
Meta finds people likely to do the thing you optimized for. Choose Traffic and it finds clickers. Choose Sales and it finds buyers. Clickers and buyers are different people — which is why the objective is the most important choice you make.
02Quick tour of each
Awareness buys eyeballs cheaply — useful for launches and brand-building, but it won't hand you sales directly. Traffic gets people onto your website or WhatsApp; good for content or as a warm-up. Engagement grows likes, comments, messages and video views — handy for social proof and message-based selling.
Leads is the workhorse for service and B2B businesses — it captures enquiries, whether through an on-Meta form or on your site. App Promotion is purely for mobile apps. Sales is for when you want purchases; it requires your pixel/dataset so Meta can see and optimize for buyers.
03Which one is “yours”?
As a rough default: e-commerce leans Sales, service and B2B lean Leads, and a brand-new business with no data or website might start on Traffic or Engagement to warm things up. The next lesson turns this into a proper decision.
If a guide mentions “Conversions,” “Catalog Sales,” “Brand Awareness,” “Video Views,” “Messages” or “Lead Generation” as separate objectives, it predates 2022. Those were folded into the six above — for example, the old “Conversions” objective is now part of Sales.
- ODAX gives six objectives: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion, Sales.
- Meta finds people likely to do whatever you optimized for.
- Rough defaults: Sales for e-commerce, Leads for service/B2B.
- Old 11-objective names (Conversions, Catalog Sales…) are gone — ignore those guides.
Frequently asked questions
What are the six Meta campaign objectives?
Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion and Sales. They replaced the old list of eleven objectives under the ODAX framework in 2022.
Which objective should e-commerce use?
Usually Sales, which optimises for purchases and requires your pixel or dataset. Service and B2B businesses usually use Leads instead.
Is there still a Conversions objective?
No. The old Conversions objective was folded into Sales. If a guide lists Conversions, Catalog Sales or Brand Awareness as objectives, it predates 2022.
Return to the Meta Ads course hub for the full curriculum.