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Meta Ads in 2026: What Changed & How to Make Them Work

1. What Changed

Meta Ads now run on a new system called Andromeda.

Instead of advertisers manually defining targeting and optimisation rules, Meta’s system now makes most delivery decisions automatically.

These decisions are based on which ads are most likely to drive real business outcomes, not just clicks or short-term metrics.

This transition rolled out throughout 2025 and is now the default for all advertisers.

Why Meta campaigns may have felt different during the transition:

  • Old audience tactics stopped working
  • Performance became less predictable week to week
  • Tweaking campaigns didn’t improve results (and sometimes made them worse)

2. What This Means in Practice (The Key Shift)

Andromeda changes where performance comes from.

Instead of improving results by constantly adjusting campaigns after launch, Meta Ads now perform best when they are set up well upfront and given enough time to learn.

In practice, this means:

  • Interest targeting can still help guide delivery, but it no longer determines who sees your ads
  • Creative plays a much bigger role than targeting in driving results
  • Broader audiences outperform narrow, tightly controlled ones
  • Fewer campaigns with more data perform better than many small, fragmented setups

Simple rule: Performance now comes from better inputs, not more controls.

How these changes the work:

BEFORE

NOW

  • Launch ads quickly
  • Adjust audiences and budgets every few weeks
  • Try to fix performance inside Ads Manager
  • Do more strategic thinking before launch
  • Provide Meta with multiple creative options to test
  • Allow campaigns enough time and stability to learn and optimise

Important: When campaigns are changed too frequently, Meta can’t learn effectively and results stall.

3. What Needs to Be in Place Before Spending More

Before scaling spend, the following foundations must be solid:

  • Accurate conversion tracking properly
  • Clean, reliable conversion signals
  • Budgets that can remain stable
  • Sufficient activity volume for Meta to learn

Reality check: Smaller budgets can still work, but only with strong creative and realistic expectations.

4. Tools You’ll Hear About in Meta Ads

Flexible Ads

  • Let Meta test multiple headlines, text options, and visuals within one ad across different placements.
  • Give Meta more options to learn from and improve performance, especially when ads are shown in different formats.
  • Needs creative built to work across crops and placements, with multiple copy options (not a single locked version).

Advantage+

  • Campaign types that automate targeting, placements and budget allocation using Meta’s system.
  • Reduce over-control and allow Meta to direct spend where it’s most likely to drive results.
  • Needs solid conversion tracking, sufficient creative volume and comfort with broader targeting and automation.

Incremental Attribution (optional)

  • A measurement approach that looks at whether ads are driving new conversions, not just taking credit for existing ones.
  • Most useful for accounts with high conversion volume, stable budgets, and longer testing windows.
  • Not ideal for small budgets or low-volume accounts, as limited data can lead to unclear or misleading results.

5. What We Need From You (So This Works)

This is the most important part!

A. Think in Full-Funnel Terms 

Effective Meta Ads strategies build demand over time:

  • Awareness: Introduce your brand to new audiences
  • Consideration: Build trust and understanding
  • Conversion: Capture high-intent users

Conversions rarely come instantly from cold audiences – demand must be built first.

B. Creative Inputs 

For campaigns to perform effectively, they require:

  • Multiple creative concepts (not just one)
  • Ads designed to work across all placements
  • A mix of formats, especially short-form video
  • Clear, simple hooks in the opening seconds

Creative must be flexible, as Meta distributes ads across many placements.

C. Copy Options (Not Just One Line)

Please provide:

  • Multiple headline options
  • Multiple main text options using different angles, not minor rewrites

This allows Meta to match messages to users without constant manual changes.

D. First-Party Data (When Available)

Broad targeting works best, but your data still adds value. 

Helpful inputs include:

  • Customer lists
  • Lead databases
  • Email subscribers
  • Website visitors

E. Patience and Stability

To achieve consistent results:

  • Campaigns need time to learn
  • Budgets should not change frequently
  • Testing should happen through creative, not constant restructuring

Going forward this means:

  • We’ll plan campaigns together more carefully before launch
  • We’ll test through creative, not constant changes
  • We’ll build demand before expecting conversions
  • We’ll give campaigns time to learn before judging results

The Bottom Line

Meta Ads aren’t harder or less effective since Andromeda was rolled out. But they’ve become less forgiving of weak fundamentals and do require a small mindset shift.

Advertisers who succeed:

  • Invest in creative
  • Plan across the full funnel
  • Provide strong data inputs
  • Allow the system time to learn

At One Egg, we help clients adapt to this shift by guiding strategy, creative inputs and campaign structure – so Meta Ads drive sustainable growth, not short-term vanity metrics.

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