What actually moves Meta performance now
Meta's targeting has been progressively simplified. Detailed interest stacking matters far less than it did, and broad targeting with strong creative frequently outperforms narrowly defined audiences because the algorithm finds responsive people faster when it is given room.
The consequence is that creative is now the main lever. An account producing four genuinely different creative concepts a month will nearly always outperform one running two adverts and endlessly adjusting audience settings. That is where we put the effort.
Our creative testing process
Testing is structured rather than scattered. Each cycle isolates one variable at a time, starting with the angle, because that is what produces step changes rather than marginal ones.
- Angle: the underlying argument. Problem-led, proof-led, offer-led, founder-led, comparison-led
- Format: static image, user-generated style video, carousel, motion graphic
- Hook: the first three seconds, which determine whether anything after it is seen
- Offer framing: how the call to action is positioned
Winners scale, losers are cut quickly, and the reasoning is written down so you are not asked to take changes on faith.
Managing fatigue
Meta creative decays predictably. Frequency rises, click-through rate falls, cost per acquisition follows a few days later. Because the decline is gradual, accounts often drift from profitable to unprofitable without anyone noticing the turn. We track frequency and click-through decay so refreshes are scheduled rather than reactive.
Tracking, and why your numbers will not match Ads Manager
Since Apple's privacy changes, a significant share of conversions are modelled rather than directly observed. Meta fills the gap with statistical estimation, and that estimation is generous toward Meta. Your Ads Manager figure will usually exceed the number of enquiries you can actually find in your inbox.
We install the Conversions API for server-side tracking, which recovers a meaningful portion of genuinely lost signal, and then reconcile the platform's reported numbers against your real enquiry volume. When those two disagree we report the lower figure, because that is the one you can bank.
Where Facebook ads fit
Meta is demand generation. You are interrupting someone who was not looking for you, which means volume at lower intent than search, and a longer path from first impression to enquiry. Judged by the same last-click standard as branded search it will always look worse, and cutting it on that basis is a common and expensive mistake.
It works best for visually demonstrable products, consumer categories, local services with a broad addressable audience, and remarketing to people who have already visited your site. For narrow B2B with a small total market, search and LinkedIn usually make more sense, and we will say so.
How we prove any of this
Every number on this site comes from an ad account we can open in front of you. On the strategy call we screen-share real Google Ads and Meta accounts with client identifiers redacted, so you see the spend, the conversions and the dates rather than a claim in a slide. If we agree there is a fit, we connect you directly with a current client in a comparable market and leave you to ask them whatever you want without us on the call.
You own your ad accounts and your reporting from day one. Nothing sits behind our agency login, so you can audit any claim we make about your campaigns, and you keep everything if you leave.