It’s no secret that Advantage+ campaigns are a go-to for automation and reach. They’re designed to streamline, and when they work well, they’re a digital marketer’s best friend.
But sometimes, those “set-and-forget” campaigns start showing signs that they’re ready for a refresh.
If you’ve been feeling like your Advantage+ strategy isn’t delivering the same magic it used to, here’s a checklist of signs it might be time for a change.
CPA is Creeping Up — Fast
Is your CPA climbing higher than you expected?
One of the big perks of Advantage+ is how efficient it can be, but if your CPA is suddenly rising, it’s a sign something’s off. When CPA goes up, it usually means the ads are either reaching the wrong people or the creative isn’t clicking with the audience.
Pro Tip: Test different audience sets. You don’t want to manually change too much — Advantage+ thrives on automation — but a few adjustments in audience segmentation can make a big difference. And if you’ve been sitting on new creative, now’s the time to bring it in and see if it helps.
Low-Quality Leads Are Filling Up the Funnel
Imagine you’re running a campaign for a premium skincare line. Your Advantage+ ads are driving tons of clicks, and leads are coming in by the handful.
But, when it comes to actual sales, a lot of these leads don’t follow through. Instead, they’re mostly people looking for budget skincare options, not the high-quality products you’re offering.
If your funnel’s filled with low-quality leads, it could be a sign that Advantage+ is casting its net too wide. Unfortunately, this is quite common when running broad targeting, as it can often bring in people who don’t have strong intent to buy.
Solution: Let’s say you take a closer look and realize a lot of these leads are coming from audiences with interests like “budget beauty” or “discount skincare.” It makes sense — if these people are focused on finding deals, they’re probably not the best match for a premium brand. You can try excluding these audiences to avoid filling your funnel with low quality leads.
To bring in more qualified leads, you could also adjust your retargeting to focus on people who’ve shown more interest in your premium products.
For example, try creating an audience of users who’ve spent a longer time browsing your site, checked out product details, or clicked on ads highlighting your brand’s unique ingredients. These actions show a stronger intent.
Ad Fatigue Tanking Your CTR
Ahh, ad fatigue — the silent killer of campaign performance and something we've ALL experienced,
When your CTR starts to slide, it’s often because Advantage+ is prioritising a few top-performing ads and letting newer creatives sit on the bench. While this can keep performance steady, it can also cause potential viewers to scroll right past because they’ve seen it too many times.
Here’s a Fix: Rotate in fresh creatives in batches. Ideally, add variations that cater to both cold audiences and retargeted folks. This keeps the content fresh and helps prevent overexposure. A little variety goes a long way in keeping CTR healthy.
Your AOV Has Hit a Wall (or Worse, It’s Dropping)
If you’re watching your average order value (AOV) plateau — or even take a nosedive — it might be because Advantage+ is drawing in more bargain hunters than big spenders.
While that’s great for volume, it can make it tough to hit those revenue goals, especially when you’re aiming for high-value purchases.
How to Give AOV a Boost: Think about segmenting your audience to target the people who are willing to spend a bit more. For example, you can create a lookalike audience based on your top customers, the ones who already love splurging on your premium products.
Audience Saturation is Dragging Down Performance
Audience saturation is a classic “good news, bad news” situation.
Good news: your ads have reached a lot of people. Bad news: your frequency is rising, and those same people are seeing your ads over and over again.
If your CTR and conversions are lagging while your frequency creeps up, it’s time to refresh your targeting.
Quick Fix: Try layering in some interest-based targeting to bring new eyes to your ads. If your campaigns allow it, play around with geographic segmentation.
ROAS is Dropping
Meta’s algorithm updates can sometimes feel like a curveball thrown right at your campaign. You’re running along, hitting solid ROAS numbers, and suddenly — bam! — after an update, your ROAS is tanking.
It’s frustrating, but you don’t need to hit the panic button.
Example: Let’s say you notice that after a recent Meta update, your ROAS is swinging up and down. One day it’s solid, and the next it’s tanking. This often happens because Advantage+ is recalibrating to the new algorithm, and your ad targeting might need some minor adjustments to get back on track.
One thing you could try is shifting part of your budget to a “Traffic” or “Engagement” campaign while Advantage+ recalibrates.
For instance, if you were spending $1,000 daily on Advantage+, you could temporarily allocate $300 to a Traffic campaign that targets your core audience — the people who consistently engage with your brand. This way, you’re still reaching interested users while giving Advantage+ some time to stabilise.
After a week or so, check in on your Advantage+ performance. Chances are, it’ll be more consistent, and you can decide if you want to put your full budget back in or keep a mix of campaign types.
Scaling Feels Impossible
Advantage+ is great for consistent performance, but if you’re trying to push growth limits, it might start feeling a bit too rigid. Many marketers hit a wall when they try to scale these campaigns beyond a certain budget and end up with diminishing returns.
Scaling Strategy: Test manual controls or higher-budget limits to find that sweet spot where returns stop making sense. If scaling beyond a certain point just isn’t delivering the ROI, you might need to pair Advantage+ with manual campaigns to hit those larger growth goals.
Final Words
Advantage+ campaigns bring incredible efficiency to the table, but like any strategy, they aren’t foolproof. Keeping an eye on these signs can give you a head start on when it’s time to pivot and make adjustments.
So, digital marketers, keep testing, adjusting, and always stay one step ahead of your Advantage+ campaigns. The signs are there — and now you know what to look for.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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