Strategies
How advertisers actually run Meta ads: structure, audiences, creative, budgets, testing, and the old tactics that no longer work.
How to read these. A page labelled Documented by Meta follows Meta's own steps. A page labelled Advertiser method is common practice, not a Meta rule, so test it on your own account. Retired pages explain what stopped working.
- Account and campaign structure
- Audience strategies
- Creative strategies
- Budget, bidding and scaling
- Goal and funnel strategies
- Testing and measurement
- Retired strategies
Account and campaign structure (12)
How to lay out campaigns, ad sets and ads.
Account structureHow should I structure a Meta ads account?Advertiser methodAd sets per campaignHow many ad sets should a campaign have?Advertiser methodAds per ad setHow many ads should an ad set have?Advertiser methodAdvantage+ or manualShould I use Advantage+ sales or manual campaigns?Advertiser methodAgency client structureHow should an agency structure Meta ads for clients?Advertiser methodCampaign consolidationWhat is campaign consolidation on Meta?CBO or ABOCBO or ABO: which budget setup should I use?Multi-country ad structureHow should I structure Meta ads for many countries?Advertiser methodNaming conventionHow should I name campaigns, ad sets and ads?Advertiser methodNumber of campaignsHow many campaigns should I run on Meta?Advertiser methodStructure for many productsHow should I structure Meta ads for many products?Advertiser methodTesting and scaling campaignsHow do I separate testing from scaling on Meta?Advertiser method
Audience strategies (12)
Broad, retargeting, lookalike and customer-list approaches.
Broad or limited audienceShould I go broad or limit my Meta audience?Advertiser methodCross-sell and upsell adsHow do I run cross-sell and upsell ads on Meta?Customer list for adsHow do I use a customer list for Meta ads?Detailed targeting without limiting reachHow do I use detailed targeting without limiting reach?Advertiser methodEngagement retargetingHow do I retarget people who engaged with my business?Advertiser methodLocal area targetingHow do I target a local area with Meta ads?Advertiser methodLookalike source audienceHow do I pick a source audience for a lookalike?Advertiser methodProspecting and retargeting funnelHow do I build a prospecting and retargeting funnel?Advertiser methodValue-based lookalikeHow do I use a value-based lookalike audience?Video retargetingHow do I retarget people who watched my videos?Advertiser methodWebsite retargetingHow should I retarget website visitors on Meta?Advertiser methodWin-back adsHow do I win back lapsed customers with Meta ads?Advertiser method
Creative strategies (11)
Hooks, formats, testing and keeping ads fresh.
Adapting creative by placementHow do you adapt one creative for every Meta placement?Carousel storytellingHow do you tell a story with a carousel ad?Advertiser methodCreator and influencer adsHow do you run Meta ads with creators and influencers?Advertiser methodDiverse ad creative adviceWhy does Meta recommend diverse ad creative?Offers and discounts in adsHow do you use offers and discounts in Meta ads?Advertiser methodRefreshing ads before fatigueHow do you refresh Meta ads before creative fatigue sets in?Advertiser methodSocial proof in adsHow do you use social proof in Meta ads?Advertiser methodTurning organic posts into adsHow do you turn an organic post into a Meta ad?Advertiser methodUGC-style adsHow do you make UGC-style ads for Meta?Advertiser methodVideo ad hookHow do you write a hook for a Meta video ad?Advertiser methodWriting Meta ad copyHow do you write ad copy for Meta ads?
Budget, bidding and scaling (12)
Spending, bid controls and growing what works.
20 percent budget ruleIs the 20 percent budget rule real?Advertiser methodBudget guardrail rulesHow do you protect your budget with automated rules?Advertiser methodCost caps and bid capsHow do you use cost caps and bid caps?Daily budget per ad setHow much should you spend per ad set per day?Advertiser methodImproving ROASHow do you improve ROAS on Meta ads?Advertiser methodLowering cost per resultHow do you lower your cost per result on Meta?Advertiser methodMinimum ROAS bid strategyHow do you use a minimum ROAS bid strategy?Peak season budget planningHow do you plan Meta ads budgets for peak seasons?Prospecting vs retargeting budgetHow do you split budget between prospecting and retargeting?Advertiser methodScaling a campaignHow do you scale a winning Meta campaign?Advertiser methodSpending limits for riskHow do you use spending limits to control risk?Vertical vs horizontal scalingIs vertical or horizontal scaling better for Meta ads?Advertiser method
Goal and funnel strategies (12)
Sales, leads, messages, apps and awareness.
App install strategyHow do you run an app install strategy on Meta ads?Advertiser methodAwareness campaignHow do you run an awareness campaign on Meta ads?Advertiser methodFlash sale campaignHow do you run a flash sale on Meta ads?Advertiser methodIn-store sales measurementHow do I measure in-store sales from Meta ads?Lead generation strategyHow do you run a lead generation strategy on Meta ads?Advertiser methodMessaging or website adsWhen should you use messaging ads instead of a website?Advertiser methodNew product launchHow do you launch a new product with Meta ads?Advertiser methodOnline and in-store adsHow do I run Meta ads for online and in-store sales?Promoting an eventHow do you promote an event with Meta ads?Running catalog adsHow do I run catalog ads for an online store?Sales funnel on MetaHow do you run a sales funnel on Meta ads?Advertiser methodSending CRM lead stagesHow do I send CRM lead stages back to Meta?
Testing and measurement (9)
Tests, attribution and knowing what worked.
Ad Library competitor researchHow do you use the Ad Library to research competitors?Advertiser methodAudience testHow do you test audiences on Meta?Compare attribution settingsHow do you compare attribution settings in Meta Ads Manager?Holdout testHow do you run a holdout test on Meta?Meta ads KPIsHow do you set KPIs for Meta ads?Advertiser methodReading breakdownsHow do you read breakdowns without fooling yourself?Test durationHow long should a Meta ad test run?Weekly Meta ads reviewHow do you build a weekly Meta ads review?Advertiser methodWhat to test firstWhat should you test first on Meta ads?Advertiser method
Retired strategies (6)
Tactics that worked once and no longer do, and why.
28-day view attributionWhy did 28-day view attribution stop?RetiredDetailed targeting exclusionsCan you still exclude interests in detailed targeting?RetiredInstant Articles ad placementCan you still use Instant Articles for ads?RetiredMessenger Sponsored MessagesCan you still run Messenger Sponsored Messages?RetiredRelevance scoreWhat replaced the relevance score for judging ads?RetiredSensitive interest targetingCan you still target by health or religion?Retired
More playbooks
HistoryHow Facebook and Instagram advertising got here: every format, tool and rule change, in order.Open →RegionsHow Meta ads differ around the world: payments, taxes, rules, verification, languages and local products.Open →IndustriesHow Meta ads work for each kind of business: which tools fit, which rules apply, and what to watch.Open →ReferenceEvery metric, setting and policy term, by topic.All topics →