Meta's ads AI might be damaging your brand

Beware of these random "enhancements"

Meta ads are a powerhouse for scaling businesses, but it's also a powerhouse for wasting money if you’re not strategic. The advice to "trust the algorithm and the AI" sounds great until Meta starts slapping AI music on your videos and cropping your assets in a weird way.

But - don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Meta’s machine learning is incredibly powerful, but only if you know how to guide it. Striking the right balance between automation and strategy is where real growth happens.

Let’s break down how to leverage Meta without letting it sabotage your brand.

Use the new bells and whistles - but keep them on short leashes

Meta’s advantage+ shopping campaigns (asc) automate audience targeting and optimization, stripping you of the ability to specify targeting beyond demo (age, gender, location). This often times does in fact yield better performance versus standard campaigns. And they'll do all sorts of crazy things to try and yield it - including brand damaging ones. If left unchecked, you risk:

• ads appearing in low-quality placements like in-game banners or marketplace.

• auto-generated copy and messaging with random AI music.

• creative "enhancements" that undermine your brand's professionalism - like oversaturating hues and slapping weird links onto the bottom of your ad that you can't control.

The move: use asc and broad targeting but manually control placements and creative formats. turn off auto-enhancements to safeguard your brand identity.

Consolidate campaigns—strategically

Meta’s algorithm thrives on data, making campaign consolidation essential in 2024. Running dozens of micro-campaigns with minor tweaks just starves the system.

What works:

• fewer campaigns with larger budgets.

• broad targeting to let the algorithm find the right audience.

• consolidated ad sets with varied creative.

The move: consolidate campaigns by buying intent or product category. you still want to keep your campaigns delineated somehow - and product category is often times the best way. that said, you don't need a prospecting + retargeting for each category. one full funnel campaign is often sufficient. keep your structure clean and simple. just make sure you're measuring new customer acquisition metrics.

Creative is still king

Meta’s algorithm can’t compensate for poor creative. advantage+ can find your audience, but it can’t sell a bad ad. relying on meta to "optimize" your creative often leads to amateurish results.

Avoid:

• auto-cropping or reformatting by meta.

• dynamic creative that mismatches visuals.

• auto-generated music

The move: upload intentional creative variations. focus on authentic user-generated content, bold graphics, and scroll-stopping hooks within the first three seconds.

Control placements—don’t let meta decide for you

Meta pushes advantage+ placements to scatter your ads everywhere—which can backfire. your premium brand could end up between cat videos on facebook watch.

The move:

• start broad but monitor placement performance.

• cut low-performing placements (audience network is a common culprit).

• prioritize feeds, stories, and reels where users engage.

Audit regularly to ensure your budget is driving real results.

Recap:

• trust the algorithm and asc to scale, but don’t hand over the reins. Stay in control of your brand, creative

• consolidate campaigns intelligently, not haphazardly

• prioritize impactful creative over meta’s auto-optimizations

• audit placements to eliminate waste.

Check this list to leverage Meta’s new campaigns as a growth engine—not a budget drain.