What is Prospecting? Finding New Buyers with Ads
Also known as: acquisition ads, cold audience
Short answer
Prospecting shows ads to people who have never interacted with you, with the goal of finding new buyers. It costs more than retargeting, but without it your warm audience runs out.
Why prospecting must never stop
Retargeting can only sell to people already on the list. Prospecting fills that list. Switch prospecting off because its ROAS looks low, and two weeks later retargeting dies too, because no new people arrive.
Judging prospecting fairly
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| Prospecting campaign ROAS alone | Account-wide MER |
| Conversions within 1 day | Conversions within 7 to 28 days |
| Cost per first purchase | Cost per new customer against LTV |
Which audiences fit
Broad audiences with few restrictions often beat narrow ones, because the auction can find people who resemble your buyers on its own. What matters is that the conversion data arriving is clean, so the system learns from correct examples.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is prospecting ROAS always lower?
- Because prospecting audiences do not know you and need more touches before buying. Judge prospecting on new-buyer growth and on MER, not on campaign ROAS alone.
- How much budget belongs in prospecting?
- It depends on how fast you exhaust the warm audience. If retargeting reach stops growing while frequency spikes, your prospecting share is too small.
- What is the difference between prospecting and ToF?
- ToF names a funnel stage. Prospecting names a campaign goal, which is finding new people. A prospecting campaign almost always runs at the ToF stage.
Related terms
Your ad numbers are only as accurate as the data behind them
Konektor captures the Click ID and sends conversions that close on WhatsApp, over the phone, or in a shop back to the ad platform.