The Top Three Mistakes You Are Making with Paid Meta Ads
Paid advertising on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) can be a powerful way to reach your ideal audience, increase brand awareness, and drive conversions. But if you’re not using the platform’s full capabilities, you could be leaving money on the table. Here are three common mistakes business owners make with Meta Ads—and how to fix them.
You’re Just Boosting Your Posts
Boosting a post might seem like the easiest way to advertise on Meta, but it’s not the most effective. When you boost a post, you’re limited in your targeting options and campaign objectives. You’re essentially telling Meta, “show this to more people,” but without fine-tuning who those people are.
What to Do Instead: Use Meta’s Ads Manager to create full-fledged campaigns. Ads Manager allows you to:
Set specific objectives (such as conversions, leads, or website traffic)
Choose detailed audience targeting based on behaviors, interests, and demographics
Test different creatives and ad formats to see what works best
By using Ads Manager instead of simply boosting posts, you gain more control over your budget, targeting, and overall campaign effectiveness.
You’re Relying Too Much on Advantage+ Campaigns
Advantage+ campaigns can be a great tool when you’re just starting with Meta Ads. They use machine learning to automate targeting, creative placement, and bidding, which can be helpful for beginners. However, they shouldn’t be your long-term strategy.
Why? Because you lose control over important aspects like where your ads are being placed, who they’re being served to, and what’s actually working.
What to Do Instead: Use Advantage+ campaigns for initial learning, but once you’ve gathered some data, transition to manually built campaigns. This will allow you to:
Optimize targeting based on actual results
Choose ad placements strategically
Adjust your messaging and creative based on real performance insights
Having more control means better efficiency and higher returns on your ad spend.
You’re Not Spending Time on A/B Testing
A/B testing (also known as split testing) is one of the most critical components of a successful Meta Ads strategy. Without it, you’re essentially guessing what works best, rather than making data-driven decisions.
What A/B Testing Helps You Learn:
Which audience segments resonate the most with your ads
What types of creatives (images, videos, or copy) perform best
Which ad placements (stories, feeds, reels, etc.) drive the most engagement
What time of day or days of the week your ads perform best
What to Do Instead: Always be testing! Set up structured A/B tests within Ads Manager by testing one variable at a time—whether it’s the creative, audience, placement, or call to action. Over time, these insights will help you refine your campaigns and maximize your ROI.
Final Thoughts
If you’re making any of these mistakes with your Meta Ads, don’t worry—it’s never too late to course-correct! By moving beyond boosted posts, taking control of your campaigns instead of relying on automation, and investing time in A/B testing, you’ll set yourself up for more successful, efficient, and profitable advertising.
Want to optimize your paid Meta ads and get better results? Let’s chat—I’d love to help you fine-tune your ad strategy and maximize your return on investment!
About Amy Meeuwsen Creative
Hi! I am Amy, the founder of Amy Meeuwsen Creative. With close to a decade of experience in digital marketing, I help businesses level up their marketing and free up their time. I specialize in SEO, Paid Ads, and Marketing Audits