Meta Omni Ads Are Changing the Game for Retail Performance Marketing

When Meta released OmniAds, most brands shrugged it off as another update in the endless parade of campaign tweaks. But this one’s different.

OmniAds finally gives advertisers the ability to optimize not just for online conversions but also offline. Think in-store purchases, point-of-sale data, and physical retail activity.

For brands with a brick-and-mortar presence, that means Meta no longer stops learning the second a customer leaves your site.

Offline Conversions: From Blind Spot to Strategic Signal

Before OmniAds, Meta’s optimization engine only cared about what happened online. You could upload offline events manually or pass them in via CAPI, but they weren’t really influencing targeting. That’s changed.

With OmniAds, you’re telling Meta to optimize for both online and offline purchases. The results?

Kevin Goodwin, VP of Strategy at New Engen, shared on the Conversion Tracking Podcast that his team saw “video game numbers” after rolling it out – including a 307% increase in offline purchases for one client and over 700% for another.

Real Lift or Just Meta Being Meta?

If you’ve worked in performance marketing long enough, you know to take Meta-reported lifts with a grain of salt.

Kevin’s team did too. They backed up those numbers using MMM (media mix modeling), internal reporting, and top-line sales. The lift held – not just in Meta’s UI, but at the register.

The key? Expanding the algorithm’s learning pool.

Once Meta started receiving offline conversions, CPMs dropped. The algorithm found new, lower-cost segments. And even though the campaign wasn’t optimized for online purchases, those went up, too.

“We just had way cheaper reach,” Kevin said. “Our cost to reach a thousand people dropped in half, if not more.”

No Overhaul Required — But Strategy Matters

If you’re already running dynamic product ads or creator campaigns that perform well online, you’re not starting from scratch.

Those same creatives can drive offline conversions. Kevin found success layering in store-specific language or showcasing in-store experiences via UGC to bridge the gap between ad and aisle.

But creative isn’t the only lever.

You need a clean offline conversion feed flowing into Meta.

For Shopify stores using Elevar, it’s a simple settings toggle. For everyone else, make sure your method (whether API, automated pipeline, or SFTP uploads) can support real-time or near-real-time data.

Attribution Is Generous — Validate with Real Reporting

Meta will over-attribute. That’s not news. What’s new is how you validate. Kevin laid out a three-part process:

1. Check Meta’s breakdown of online vs. offline conversions.

2. Layer in MMM or GeoLift to get an agnostic view of performance.

3. Compare it against actual revenue hitting the bank.

Don’t rely on a single tool. Kevin compared it to a “kaleidoscope” approach to measurement – and he’s right. This isn’t about one dashboard. It’s about multiple angles pointing to the same story.

Watch for Demographic Drift

One surprise from the OmniAds tests? Audience skew. Kevin saw campaigns shift toward a younger demographic once offline signals came into play. That’s not always a bad thing – but it’s worth tracking.

As Meta’s reach expands, you’ll want to make sure the right people are coming in, not just more people. Keep an eye on geo, age, income brackets, and purchasing behavior. Growth is only good if it aligns with your customer base.

Weighting Signals for Smarter Optimization

If your offline business dwarfs your online sales (say, 80/20 or 90/10), the signal weight Meta receives can get lopsided. You’re feeding the algorithm a buffet of one thing and a side of another — and then expecting balance.

Kevin recommends experimenting with conversion value weighting or segmentation. You might pass in only high-value offline orders, or weight online conversions slightly higher to balance the scale.

“You can constrain the feed,” he said, “to port in only certain types of purchases or values if you want to go optimize more precisely.”

Test First. Then Scale.

Not every brand is going to see a 300% lift. But the unlock is real. If you’re running on Meta and have a retail presence, you owe it to yourself to test this.

Start small. Validate results. Then scale with confidence.

This isn’t a trend. It’s a structural shift in how Meta reads and responds to conversion signals. And if you’re not feeding those signals, someone else’s ad is showing to your next customer.