Meta Advantage+: The "Creative is Targeting" Doctrine

The Death of Detailed Targeting

The fashion brand had a 6-person team spending 30+ hours weekly managing 47 ad sets with granular targeting: "Women 25-34 interested in Yoga + Sustainable Fashion + Plant-Based Diet." Their blended ROAS was 2.1x and declining. The skeptical CMO forced them to test one Advantage+ Shopping Campaign with broad targeting (18-65+, all genders, no interests) and 15 creative variants. After 4 weeks, the ASC outperformed their entire manual setup: 3.4x ROAS, 67% lower CPMs, and zero time spent on audience management. The algorithm knew their customers better than their targeting hypotheses ever did.

Remember 2018? You would spend hours building "Lookalike Audiences" based on "Top 5% Time on Site" or intersecting "Golf Enthusiasts" with "Luxury Car Owners." Those days are dead.

Privacy changes (iOS 14+) destroyed the granularity of those signals. If you are still manually selecting audiences in 2025, you are fighting the algorithm, not leveraging it. The best targeting is now no targeting—with the right creative.

Meta's Advantage+ campaigns with broad targeting typically outperform interest-targeted campaigns by 30-60% on ROAS—because lower CPMs and AI optimization outweigh any targeting precision you think you have.

The Creative is Targeting Doctrine: "The algorithm knows who will buy better than you do. Your job is not to find the person; it's to give the algorithm the assets to convince them. Every ad is its own targeting strategy."

Advantage+ Sophistication Levels

Creative IS Targeting

In an Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC), you don't pick the audience. The ad picks the audience.

* If you run an ad featuring a dog: Meta shows it to dog owners.
* If you run an ad featuring a 50% off code: Meta shows it to coupon clippers.
* If you run an ad featuring a luxury lifestyle shot: Meta shows it to high-income users.

The "Creative is Targeting" Doctrine:

Don't filter your audience in the Ad Set settings.

Filter your audience with your Hook, your Script, and your Visuals.

Example: "The Dog Bed"

* Old Way: Target "Pet Owners" Interest. * New Way: Broad Targeting. Hook = "Stop your dog from destroying their bed." * Result: The AI finds people who stop scrolling at the word "Dog."

The Retention Trap (Budget Caps)

ASC is designed to get the highest ROAS possible.
The easiest way to get high ROAS is to engage people who already know you (Retargeting).

If you stick to the default settings, ASC will spend 40-50% of your budget on existing customers.
This is vanity ROAS. You are paying for sales you likely would have gotten via email or SMS.

The Fix: The 5% Cap

In your ASC settings, you must find "Existing Customer Budget Cap". * Default: No Cap. * Your Setting: Max 5%.

Force the robot to go out and hunt for new blood. Your ROAS will look lower on day 1, but your business will actually grow.

The ASC Testing Framework

Do not dump untested creative into your main ASC campaign. ASC is a scaling tool, not a testing tool.

Phase 1: The "Sandbox" (CBO Campaign)

Run a separate Broad Targeting CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization) for testing. * 3 Ad Sets (Broad). * 2 Ads per Ad Set (Distinct angles). * Goal: Find "Winner" creatives that get spend and sales.

Phase 2: The "Scale" (ASC)

Take verified winners from the Sandbox and move them into your main ASC campaign (Post ID transfer). * Budget: High. * Targeting: Broad. * Role: Profit generation.

Why Broad Wins

"Broad" means targeting:
* Age: 18-65+
* Gender: All
* Location: Country
* Interests: NONE.

Why does this outperform precise targeting?
CPM (Cost Per Mille).

* Interest Targeting CPM: ~$25 (You are bidding against everyone else who targeted "Golf").
* Broad Targeting CPM: ~$12 (You are bidding on the entire pool).

If your CPM is 50% lower, your ads can be half as effective and still be more profitable.
Math wins.

The 2025 Ad Stack

1x ASC Campaign: Spending 70% of budget. (Winners only).

1x CBO Testing Campaign: Spending 30% of budget. (Broad targeting).

0x Retargeting Campaigns: (Let ASC handle the tiny bit of retargeting needed).

Stop overthinking the settings. Make better ads.

2025 Trends Reshaping Advantage+ Strategy

Your Advantage+ Mastery Roadmap

90-Day Framework:

Month 1 - Setup: Create one ASC campaign with 5% existing customer cap, add 10-15 creative variants (mix of formats), and set proper CAPI integration for signal quality

Month 2 - Test: Build separate CBO sandbox campaign for creative testing, launch 10+ new concepts weekly, and graduate winners (Post ID transfer) to main ASC

Month 3 - Scale: Increase ASC budget as creative library expands, add fresh concepts weekly (avoid fatigue), and validate incremental ROAS with holdout testing

Ongoing - Iterate: Weekly creative refresh, monthly performance analysis by creative theme, and quarterly full account restructure if needed

The Simplification Principle: "The best media buyers in 2025 aren't managing complex ad account structures—they're managing creative production pipelines. Your account can be simple; your creative strategy cannot be."

Brands that consolidate to ASC + Testing structure typically see 20-40% efficiency gains from reduced CPMs and better AI optimization. Master Advantage+ with AdsMAA's creative analytics. Creative performance tracking, fatigue detection, and winner identification.