Reservation

Reservation is one of Meta's two buying types, called reach and frequency until October 2023. You book an awareness or engagement campaign up to six months ahead, and Meta quotes a fixed CPM and predicts reach and frequency before you pay. The other buying type, auction, prices impressions as they are bought. Reservation is meant for audiences of more than 200,000 people.

How does Meta define reservation?

Meta's About reservation page says it gives "the ability to plan and reserve awareness and engagement campaigns with a fixed cost per impression (CPM) and prediction on delivery outcomes", so "you know what you'll pay before you book your campaign." It is for advertisers who want to "Reach an audience of more than 200,000 people", "Have predictable reach for their ads", "Control how many times people see their ads" and "Plan and book campaigns in advance."

Meta's Glossary of reservation terms puts the difference in one line: "Auction buying type is through dynamic auction bidding. Reservation buying type is at a fixed cost."

What does reservation lock in?

Meta's buying-type comparison sets the two side by side:

The price holds with one condition: "The CPM you will pay for impressions won't change once you place your order, provided your campaign is not paused." The reach is a forecast. Meta says "delivery is not 100% guaranteed. We only charge you for the ads delivered."

Reservation still runs through the auction. Meta's setup page says the bid strategy is fixed "because Meta will automatically bid in the auction on your behalf and pace your delivery to align with your budget and campaign goals."

Which campaigns can use reservation?

Awareness campaigns with a reach, ad recall lift or ThruPlay performance goal, and engagement campaigns "with the performance goal of maximizing ThruPlay views for video", per the setup page. Placements are Facebook and Instagram. Meta gives no minimum budget. Inside a reservation campaign, target frequency needs at least 7 days, while a frequency cap has no minimum and "defaults to 2 impressions every 7 days".

What it means for your ads

• Changes cost you the quote. Pausing, or editing targeting, placement or ad format after publishing, means "your initial reach, frequency and fixed CPM will no longer apply", in About reservation's words.
• Creative is the safe edit. Meta's underdelivery page says you can "upload and edit ad creative during an active campaign without changing the campaign's predicted reach and frequency."
• Past ads shape the forecast. Meta says each prediction "depends on the past creative quality from the Facebook Page", judged on feedback from the past 90 days.
• Run more than one ad. Meta advises "2 or more ads or variations on an ad in each reservation ad set whenever possible", so delivery can shift to the stronger one.

Common mistakes

• Expecting better inventory. Meta: "reservation campaigns do not include premium or exclusive placements."
• Following old setup steps. One Meta page still says to reserve an ad set before creating an ad; About reservation says that requirement ended in October 2024. Auction vs reservation lists where Meta's pages disagree.

Sources

• About reservation — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Glossary of reservation terms — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Choose the right buying type for your brand campaign — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Set up a reservation campaign — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Troubleshoot reservation campaign underdelivery — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
• Choosing your frequency controls for a reservation campaign — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)

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Meta revises these pages without notice, so check the source before booking.

Terrads makes several distinct image and video ads for one campaign, so each reservation ad set has more than one ad to deliver.