Most advertisers chase clicks and conversions. But when your goal is to build long-term brand recognition and assess the effectiveness of your creative, you need a smarter metric. That’s where Ad Recall Lift comes in—Meta’s performance metric designed to measure how many people remember your ad within two days of seeing it.
Ad Recall Lift is not only crucial for branding campaigns, but also for testing the quality and impact of your ads. If your ad is forgettable, chances are it’s also ineffective. With this guide, you’ll discover what Ad Recall Lift is, why it’s important, how to set it up, and how to use it in strategic ways—both in regular campaigns and Meta’s advanced Experiments tool.
What is Ad Recall Lift?
Ad Recall Lift estimates the number of people who are likely to remember seeing your ad if asked within two days. It’s not based on clicks or engagements. Instead, it relies on modeled data, behavioral signals, and in some cases, Facebook surveys (e.g. “Do you recall seeing an ad for Brand X?”).
You can measure Ad Recall Lift using three key metrics:
Estimated Ad Recall Lift (People)
What it means: The number of people likely to remember seeing your ad within two days.
Example: If your campaign has a reach of 10,000 people and 700 are estimated to remember your ad, that’s your recall lift.
Use it for: Measuring the effectiveness of your ad creative in making a lasting impression.
Estimated Ad Recall Lift Rate
What it means: The percentage of people reached who are likely to recall your ad.
Example: A 7% lift rate means 7 out of every 100 people reached will likely remember your ad.
Use it for: Comparing the memorability of different creatives or campaigns.
Cost per Estimated Ad Recall Lift (People)
What it means: The average cost to reach one person who’s likely to recall your ad.
Example: If you spend $350 and 700 people are estimated to recall your ad, your cost per recall is $0.50.
Use it for: Evaluating cost-efficiency in building brand awareness.
Why Use Ad Recall Lift?
Ad Recall Lift is most valuable when your campaign goal isn’t direct response (like clicks or sales) but long-term brand-building and message retention.
It helps answer:
Is your creative memorable?
Is your message sticking with the audience?
Is your brand top of mind for future action?
When to use it:
Launching a new brand, product, or service
Running top-of-funnel awareness or engagement campaigns
Testing the quality of creative assets without focusing on short-term performance
How to Optimize for Ad Recall Lift as a Performance Goal
Campaign Setup:
Objective: Awareness
Performance Goal: Maximize Ad Recall Lift
Creative Tips:
Use eye-catching visuals and emotionally resonant storytelling
Short-form video often performs best
Reinforce your brand message early in the ad
Frequency Tips: Aim for a frequency between 1.5 to 3 to avoid forgettable or fatiguing content
What to expect:
Recall rates of 5–15% are typical
Use cost per recall as a benchmark across campaigns—not just a fixed target
Using Ad Recall Lift in Experiments (A/B Testing at Scale)
You can run an Ad Recall Lift test in Meta’s Experiments tool. This differs from a basic A/B test in Ads Manager:
| Feature | Awareness Campaign + A/B Test | Experiments Tool (Brand Lift Study) |
|---|---|---|
| Targeting | Your selected audience | Entire geographic region |
| Method | Manually split test ad sets | Meta scientifically controls the test |
| Survey | No | Yes – Surveys shown to control/test |
| Budget | Flexible | High ($20K+ often recommended) |
| Goal | Compare creative/copy performance | Prove if your ad increased recall |
Why use Experiments:
Scientifically measures brand impact
Uses surveys to validate whether ads were remembered
Great for large-scale, statistically confident decisions
Why use Awareness Campaign + Ad Recall Goal:
Ideal for limited budgets
Lets you test with your actual audience
More control over your campaign and targeting
Strategy: Ad Recall Lift → Retarget for Conversions
Ad Recall Lift isn’t the end—it’s your warm-up. Use it to build brand memory, then follow up with performance.
How to activate the strategy:
- Run a campaign optimized for Ad Recall Lift
- Build a custom audience from viewers (e.g., video views or post engagement)
- Retarget them with a lead generation or conversion campaign
Why it works:
- Warm audiences are more likely to convert
- Lower cost-per-conversion
- Higher ROAS due to better awareness
Bonus Strategies
A/B test ad creatives using recall metrics to identify top performers
Use Ad Recall Lift as a secondary validation metric alongside engagement
Combine with frequency capping and smart placements to reduce fatigue and boost impact
Final Thoughts
If brand growth is your goal, Ad Recall Lift is your metric.
It’s not about clicks. It’s not about conversions. It’s about what sticks—and who will remember you when it’s time to buy.
Use it wisely to:
Test creatives
Build brand memory
Lay the foundation for long-term performance