Episode 267: Meta Ads Q&A - What’s Actually Working in 2026

Episode Description

In this episode of the Smart Marketer Podcast, Molly Pittman is joined by Smart Marketer’s Director of Advertising, Denis Paskalev, for a live Meta Ads Q&A where they answer real questions from marketers about what is actually working with Meta ads in 2026.

From campaign structure and creative testing to scaling strategies and performance metrics, this conversation breaks down the modern approach to Meta ads in a world where targeting is driven more by creative, messaging, and landing pages than traditional audience targeting.

If you are running ads for ecommerce, SaaS, info products, or local businesses, this episode will give you practical guidance on how to structure, test, and scale campaigns in today’s Meta ecosystem.

“I think people are putting too much pressure on trying to figure out the exact winning campaign structure, where actually there are other things that are usually more important.” – Denis Paskalev

You Will Learn

• Why there is no single perfect Meta ad campaign structure and what actually matters more
• When to use CBO versus ABO for creative testing and campaign control
• How to handle situations where one ad receives most of the budget in Meta campaigns
• The difference between vertical and horizontal scaling in today’s ad ecosystem
• Why scaling often causes CPAs to spike and how to prevent it
• How creative, messaging, and landing pages now act as targeting signals for Meta
• The metrics to evaluate during the first one to three days of ad testing
• When to move a winning creative from testing to scaling campaigns
• Whether videos and static ads should be tested together or separately

Links & Resources

• Free Meta Ads Mini Class – https://smartmarketer.com/meta-ads-mini-class-v3/
• Smart Marketer – https://smartmarketer.com
• Molly Pittman – https://mollypittman.com
• Smart Marketer Podcast – https://smartmarketer.com/smart-marketer-show/
• Omnisend – https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend (Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months)

Time Stamps

00:00:21 – Introduction to the Meta Ads Q&A
00:01:08 – Ezra Firestone on Omnisend and Email/SMS Growth
00:02:11 – Molly introduces the live Meta ads Q&A session
00:03:13 – The truth about Meta campaign structure in 2026
00:04:14 – Why Meta sometimes allocates most of the budget to one ad
00:05:41 – CBO versus ABO for creative testing
00:06:56 – Vertical and horizontal scaling strategies
00:07:58 – Why increasing budgets can break campaigns
00:09:38 – When to move a winning ad from testing to scaling
00:11:18 – How long ads should stay in testing campaigns
00:11:32 – Metrics to evaluate during the first days of testing
00:13:14 – Testing static versus video creatives

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