Episode 774: Are You STILL Using Outdated Meta Andromeda Ad Strategies?

February 10, 2026

If your campaigns aren’t scaling as you’d like and CPMs keep rising, it’s time to refresh your social media marketing strategy. In today’s episode, we explain in detail why creative diversification is the key to succeeding with Meta ads in 2026 and beyond.

We discuss how to break free from old, hacky methods like the Michigan Method and explain how the Meta algorithm is designed to do the heavy lifting, if you let it. We talk about the importance of running multiple, varied ads to speak to different segments of your audience and provide real examples of how this works in practice.

If you want to know how to evolve your approach, increase engagement, and set up campaigns that actually scale, you won’t want to miss this one. You’ll understand why “one-size-fits-all” advertising no longer cuts it and what to do instead.

In this episode:

05:37 How Facebook ads have evolved over time

11:16 Creative diversification explained

18:04 How to create different ICPs for Meta ads

23:42 Designing the right creative angle for each audience

28:24 Looking for ad hacks vs developing a strong brand

Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to Perpetual Traffic?

Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review!

READ THE TRANSCRIPT:

Are You STILL Using Outdated Meta Andromeda Ad Strategies?

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:13:03
Ralph
Got clients saying, why are you guys, why aren’t you shutting off these ads over here? And your ad like, I’m like, shut the hell up. Let us do our job. Two weeks, they like, oh, I guess you guys actually know what you’re doing. Our CPA is down 40%.

00:00:13:05 – 00:00:25:16
Lauren
If you’re finding yourself not scaling the way that you want to, you see that your CPMs are rising, the efficacy of your marketing is going down. These are some of the ways that you can evaluate from the mother ads side.

00:00:25:16 – 00:00:29:04
Ralph
This is how you succeed in 2026 and beyond.

00:00:29:04 – 00:00:42:18
Ralph
Hello and welcome to the Perpetual Traffic Podcast. This is your host, Ralph Burns, founder and CEO of tier 11. Alongside my amazing Columbia based co-host Lauren Heap.

00:00:42:18 – 00:00:44:13
Lauren
Through our the founder of Mongoose Media.

00:00:44:13 – 00:01:18:11
Ralph
So glad you joined us here today. If you’re a marketing manager, Director of marketing or VP of marketing, you have come to the right spot because today we’re going to comment, one of our most popular YouTube videos. If you haven’t subscribed to the Perpetual Traffic YouTube channel, Lauren, you should over at perpetual traffic.com/youtube. Absolutely. And it is all about, you guessed it, Meta Andromeda because people don’t seem to get this yet, I think.

00:01:18:12 – 00:01:46:08
Ralph
I mean, we’ve done so many shows on how to approach meta today. As we record this in January of 2026, I believe it’s 2026 already, and you’re in Columbia and I’m in New Zealand, and we still somehow figured out a way to actually record this show. Was either one of us, like halfway around the other side of the world.

00:01:46:10 – 00:01:47:17
Lauren
People still are.

00:01:47:18 – 00:02:18:23
Ralph
I’m in the future. I’m actually 18 hours in the future from where you are. If I’m not mistaken, because the future is all about this meta Andromeda thing. If people still don’t get it, Lauren, they don’t get it. They’re like, oh, I’m going to do like the old Michigan method thing, and I’m going to break up all my campaigns and I’m going to force rank everything, and I’m going to shut off these ads because they don’t have any conversions, and I’m going to just mess up the whole algorithm, and they’re screwing themselves because we’re hearing this all the time.

00:02:19:01 – 00:02:37:17
Ralph
And so I think, yes, we’ve gone very, very tactical. We’ll leave some links in the show notes if you want to get really, really techie in the weeds. We’re not getting that way today. And the rebroadcast that we do of the ad lab with myself and John, we get plenty techie, and you and I can get techie too.

00:02:37:18 – 00:02:55:09
Ralph
But today is more about how you need to think about this thing. And I know you’re seeing the same kinds of things maybe in your prospect calls and then your client calls. Clients resisting. I mean, I’ve got clients saying, why are you guys, why aren’t you shutting off these ads over here? And your ad like, I’m like, shut the hell up.

00:02:55:14 – 00:03:12:20
Ralph
Let us do our job. We know more than you do. Is sorry to sound arrogant, but like, that is what it is. And then they’re like, two weeks later, like, oh, I guess you guys actually know what you’re doing. Our CPA is down 40%. Seriously, like that’s happened on at least 3 or 4. They’re not all like that.

00:03:12:20 – 00:03:31:12
Ralph
One in particular is that way, although we love our clients, the point is this is that people still don’t get it. And I think this is a pretty good mouthpiece to explain that to them. I think of this as like a an internet marketing megaphone here on perpetual traffic, because we reach hundreds of thousands people every single month.

00:03:31:14 – 00:03:41:14
Ralph
And I want to get this out because this is how you succeed in 2026 and beyond. Thoughts? Comments, confessions.

00:03:41:16 – 00:04:05:01
Lauren
Like, I mean, don’t get me wrong, like you’re saying, like you’re doing all these things and people are, you know, adverse to change, which has been happening and a lot of the changes that at least we deploy aren’t that new. I think a lot of, the components of when we were like, I’m stubborn on this, and I don’t to adopt new strategies, even though they’re not actually that new, like somewhere from like 2024 or 2025.

00:04:05:03 – 00:04:29:22
Lauren
I will give the caveat. If it’s working, don’t kill something that’s working. That’s like, that’s my goal. Hard. Stop your period. If it’s working, keep it and you can scale it and try it. But if you’re finding yourself not scaling the way that you want to, you see that your CPMs are rising. You’re watching that the efficacy of your marketing is going down.

00:04:30:00 – 00:04:51:07
Lauren
These are some of the ways that you can evaluate from the not an ad side that you can ask your agencies or ask your media buyers, or ask your team and say how might we evaluate to best leverage meta advertising and the programmatic AI behind the engine that retrieves ads to put in front of your ideal customer in the best way?

00:04:51:07 – 00:05:12:13
Lauren
So in this, like it’s a discussion of, I think a place where meta advertising has never made more sense in that, like, we won’t get super techie, but these are like, these are conversations you need to understand because some of the outdated ways that people have been doing. Ralph. And when we look into these accounts, it’s like, yeah, it’s like the Michigan method or like all all of these different past tactics like that feel like hacks.

00:05:12:15 – 00:05:37:02
Lauren
I think so much as, like I’m trying to hack my way to a silver bullet and it’s this, you know, cheap, quick money that is going to die on the vine and you’re going to scale broke. And so it’s, non-tech foundational conversations that you need to have to align with your marketing for your products or services as a whole, and then leveraging the programmatic that you’re investing in so high with.

00:05:37:02 – 00:06:04:03
Ralph
Yeah. And the funny thing is, is I don’t want to sound too ancient, but I guess I am, because they’ve just reminded me of my 15 year, Liberation Day this past week when I got fired from the corporate world. But I guess I have been doing this for 15 years now. The point is, is that I think I started advertising on on Facebook in 2011, 2011.

00:06:04:05 – 00:06:51:15
Ralph
And, I mean, I’ve never seen such a change in meta and meta or even back in 2011. They’re like, oh, well, let the algorithm do its work. And back then the algorithm was pretty darn good, believe it or not, like 14, 15 years ago. But the shift, I think now is that back then and even into the late 2000s into like 2010 into the 2000 and teens, the way to win on meta slash Facebook was to hack the algorithm was to, you know, do 700 ad sets with 80 campaigns and 640 ads.

00:06:51:15 – 00:06:53:07
Ralph
Like that was the worst.

00:06:53:08 – 00:06:54:23
Lauren
Ad accounts you had.

00:06:54:23 – 00:07:18:21
Ralph
Maybe even for exactly, exactly. And that like having multiple ad accounts in certain cases, for example. It does make sense. I have seen this. We have, you know, one client that spends over $1 million a month on meta and they have multiple ad accounts because they have so many different products and so many different categories, and it makes sense for them.

00:07:18:23 – 00:07:45:17
Ralph
The point is this, like, that’s a way the exception to the rule. And that would not be sort of a meta sanctioned, strategy. However, everything that we’re doing right now read the literature, we’ll leave links in the show notes for this is we’re actually doing what meta is advising us to do, which is so foreign to a lot of like old school internet or digital marketers is the only way for me to win is to hack the algorithm.

00:07:45:17 – 00:08:03:03
Ralph
And even John, who’s like the biggest sort of like John Moran, who’s been obviously been on the show many times, one of the biggest hackers of all time. He’s like, I’m just doing what the telling me to do now, which is crazy to think about it. And but people are still resistant to that because they’re like, oh, I don’t really trust them.

00:08:03:05 – 00:08:23:01
Ralph
You know? I still want to do it my own way. And they’re frustrated why they’re not getting results. We’re seeing that very clearly when we have discovery calls, we, you know, we see the work of other agencies or maybe internal teams. They’re just not realizing it yet because a people have a tendency to hold on to old habits and people don’t like change.

00:08:23:03 – 00:08:48:11
Ralph
And I think the only way that you evolve in this industry and or with the advent of AI, you know, whether it’s digital marketing or any other industry, is to adopt new technologies and adopt the like. The fact that, okay, I may have done it this way before, now I do it a different way. And I when I think back to all the different ways I’m quoting that we got results through Facebook and Meta, there’s like 7 or 8 different methodologies.

00:08:48:11 – 00:09:06:09
Ralph
And this is like the eighth or ninth. And I think we’ve been able to adapt through all those years. And that’s like patting myself on the back. But I’m just saying, like when we see something that works, like let go of how you’ve done it before, you know, the past does not necessarily equal the future. What the past does is change.

00:09:06:11 – 00:09:32:10
Ralph
If you’re constantly changing, future is like, there’s going to be more changes that come on down the line. But I do think that meta has figured this out. And the reason why they’re going to be spending $100 billion on AI infrastructure in 2027 is because of all this stuff, right now, because the algorithm is that smart and it involves less work, really, as long as you set yourself up for success.

00:09:32:10 – 00:09:37:08
Ralph
And I think that mind shift is something that people have really been struggling with.

00:09:37:10 – 00:09:58:21
Lauren
I’m going to say something that is going to piss off some people and sorry, but I think a lot of it is justification of the wall. I think it’s easier to show that, look, I’m doing the work. Look at all these extra things I’m doing. So let me justify my role on the account where I think there is an evolution that we should spend.

00:09:58:22 – 00:10:17:16
Lauren
I’m not saying spend less time on the campaigns, I’m just saying spend less time on pushing the budgets and spend more time investing on the angles, the messaging, the ads themselves, understanding what’s happening on the destination that you’re sending people to. You need to know the before the click and the off or click experience. The before the click.

00:10:17:16 – 00:10:37:03
Lauren
I’m talking about like how is the ad performing? What’s our click through rate, what our CPMs like, what is our leading indicators that this is giving us quality sentiment? Do you have engagement on the ads? Do you have a team that’s responding to the as I argue all the time, that common fund ads are the equivalent of reviews on Amazon, people don’t buy without creeping the reviews.

00:10:37:03 – 00:11:03:18
Lauren
If you have comments on your ads and you are not using the comments in a way to leverage that individual to become a customer and all of the looky loos to become a customer, you’re you’re missing out largely. So I, I just I think a lot of it is justification to show you that I’m doing the work where I think a lot more of the work is actually in the mental creation of the ads and the CRO evaluation of what happens after the ads.

00:11:03:20 – 00:11:15:22
Lauren
And that’s where your energy should be spent. So sorry for those that know it to be true.

00:11:16:00 – 00:11:49:13
Ralph
It is true. And at the center of all of this is creative diversification. I like ads and people understanding what that really means is true, diverse, creative. And we’ve talked about plenty of times here, the different ad types that we use internally. There’s a document from meta which we’ll leave links in the show notes for that, which shows exactly what what meta considers similar ads.

00:11:49:13 – 00:12:17:08
Ralph
And, if you’re just changing the background and have the same product picture with slightly different copy with the same angle meta looks at, that is the same ad, even if you might say very different things in the copy, you might have different colors on your badge that says, you know, whatever the price is off or whatever the deal is.

00:12:17:10 – 00:12:54:07
Ralph
Meta is looking for ads that are image ads. They’re looking for face to camera, and they’re looking for founders story ads. They’re looking for even, you know, and there’s a lot of resistance on this. And we see this right now is AI ads. Overreliance on AI ads is something that I think there is a backlash within the social media landscape right now, but it is a part of like we have a, you know, a client that, you know, we created ads that were like, it’s a dancing water bottle, like it’s a part of creative diversification.

00:12:54:07 – 00:13:18:03
Ralph
Is it the thing that’s going to get the sale? No, it’s another piece to the puzzle to engage the right type of audience that they may or may not convert on that ad, but is a way in which we’re asked to get in front of the right type of customer, you know, features and benefits, ads, face to camera ads, like I said, even whitelisting through, you know, creators.

00:13:18:03 – 00:13:42:18
Ralph
We’re seeing that with one of our larger client accounts right now. We’re not doing any UGC for them. They’re whitelisting everything through all these people that just love their product. And then we’re reusing those ads as our creator content and meta looks at that is very different versus their biggest competitor us comparing us versus them. Like this is what we’re talking about.

00:13:42:18 – 00:14:03:05
Ralph
Like they’re engaging on the the creator content sort of whitelisting ad, but then they’re actually buying on the US versus them ad. And that’s what real diversification is all about. It’s hitting people at different angles at the right time, and then not necessarily shutting off the ones that are getting all the impressions.

00:14:03:05 – 00:14:05:01
Lauren
Shut off anything.

00:14:05:03 – 00:14:17:11
Ralph
Don’t shut off anything because, yeah, that’s a killer. And that’s one of the other like most popular episodes that we actually have. It’s like, don’t shut off your winning ads. And we’ve we’ve talked about that.

00:14:17:11 – 00:14:20:21
Lauren
We’ll even come trough your looping ads. So I want you to be right.

00:14:21:00 – 00:14:21:11
Ralph
Good point.

00:14:21:15 – 00:14:22:16
Lauren
Good point. If we.

00:14:22:18 – 00:14:23:15
Ralph
Don’t shut off, at.

00:14:23:16 – 00:14:49:23
Lauren
Least about the creative diversification, the different angles, like the way that I like to describe it, is like there’s two scenarios. There’s a Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors, and then there’s we’re trying to court a customer to marriage. Right. Or like, you know, does stick it in because that’s funny. And so when you’re creating the creative diversification or, you have like, you’re, you’re Baskin Robbins, you have people that have different flavor, favorite flavors of ice cream, like, what’s your favorite ice cream?

00:14:49:23 – 00:14:50:20
Lauren
What’s your go to ice cream?

00:14:50:21 – 00:14:57:20
Ralph
I would say Rocky Road. It’s right up there. Okay, great. You don’t even know what that is. That.

00:14:57:20 – 00:15:01:11
Lauren
Has marshmallows in it. Oh, that’s moose tracks.

00:15:01:11 – 00:15:02:00
Ralph
That’s a main.

00:15:02:00 – 00:15:19:18
Lauren
One. Oh, moose tracks is a mainstay here for this, but there’s gonna be people listening that’s like Gil Gross. I don’t like chocolate. Like, my favorite go to ice cream is I want a creamy mango sorbet. Creamy mango support as sorbet. I know it sounds like an oxymoron. And then I want some sort of, like, chocolate hazelnut caramel blend.

00:15:19:21 – 00:15:24:19
Lauren
I want them same. And I want gummy bears. What?

00:15:24:21 – 00:15:32:11
Ralph
I’d still eat it. I will eat any ice cream. However, I like the rocky road versus your. What was that again? Like there’s.

00:15:32:11 – 00:15:53:00
Lauren
Gum. I put hazelnut caramel ish kind of ice cream paired with a creamy mango sorbet with gummy bears, and then a raspberry chocolate sauce on top. That’s like my perfect ice cream. Okay, that’s there are people listening to being like, oh my gosh, why are you combining fruit and chocolate? That’s disgusting. Well, I, I eat M&Ms and Skittles at a 2 to 1 ratio.

00:15:53:05 – 00:16:09:20
Lauren
Okay. I want one skittle for every two chocolate Eminem’s. This is my specific palette, flavor and what I mean with creative diversification is for those that like Cherry Garcia, for those that like strawberry cheesecake, for those that like banana, what? Whatever. Okay, you have your own favorite flavor of ice cream and there’s going to be a specific.

00:16:09:20 – 00:16:12:18
Ralph
You don’t like Chunky Monkey? Are you kidding me? Chunky monkeys.

00:16:12:18 – 00:16:34:07
Lauren
Only they hate banana. I was terrified of. And I had a banana phobia for years, but I’m certain the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, episode where they had a banana phobia. I believe it was the writer that was around me and saw me freak out because someone threw a banana at me, and I like, disconnected from my cousin for years because he threw a banana at me and locked me in a bathroom, like, now.

00:16:34:09 – 00:16:43:15
Ralph
Oh my God. Yeah. Wait, I see information. Anyway, you’re making a you’re making your point. Okay, so the point is.

00:16:43:17 – 00:16:44:06
Lauren
You’re.

00:16:44:06 – 00:17:05:04
Ralph
Going to if you were a if you were an ice cream, if you are an ice cream, you cannot sell me and you the same way, even though we’re similar in a lot of ways, like you’re like two feet taller than me, and way more blunt. Like pink, like just like, think about the diversity just in this show.

00:17:05:04 – 00:17:10:04
Ralph
Just the differences, like how I’m sold and how you’re sold is completely different.

00:17:10:05 – 00:17:38:06
Lauren
Yeah. And that’s your favorite flavor? Yeah. You may make the Cherry Garcia, the strawberry cheesecake, the chunky Monkey, the, whatever that flavor ice cream is. And you might have a home run for that audience, but. So, like, you want to make creative diversification so that you’re Baskin Robbins, you have the blue moon, you have the chocolate fudge swirl, you have the you have options so that even though you don’t have my perfect flavor, you have enough options that appeal to me.

00:17:38:10 – 00:18:04:12
Lauren
So when you’re doing creative diversification, you’re creating to try to get the Cherry Garcia is. I use that because I’ve never met anyone that loves Cherry Garcia. But you’re trying to make the Cherry Garcia because those those people love it and will die by. And you’re creating evangelists, not customers. So that’s the one route where creative diversification is just making options so that you are an ice cream parlor with options so that even if it’s not their favorite flavor, they’re here to get something.

00:18:04:14 – 00:18:21:14
Ralph
And I think this is this is great. And we’ll we’ll leave another link in the show notes for this. I’m writing these down, because Cole actually went through this really well when he was on the show about, all right, where do you come up with these ideas? How do you figure out, like, oh, what’s your ISP will want?

00:18:21:14 – 00:18:28:14
Ralph
And it’s almost like there’s too many, like 31 different flavors. And then the variations of all those flavors, like, oh.

00:18:28:16 – 00:18:42:12
Lauren
That’s our mint challenge. You. We don’t have an ICP anymore. We don’t. Otherwise if you’re doing the ICP, you’re creating vanilla, vanilla, and that flavor of ice cream. Like, there aren’t people that hate vanilla, but there are very few people that die by vanilla. Like, that’s what I’ve never.

00:18:42:13 – 00:19:05:23
Ralph
What I’m saying is that when he did, his explanation of that’s it wasn’t one ICP, it was multiple ICP. It was a generalized ICP, but with 7 or 8 or 10 or 15 different either desire points or pain points. And I can help you with that is what I’m saying is that you’re like, all right, I’ve only been selling my ice cream one way.

00:19:06:01 – 00:19:22:16
Ralph
I’m just going to show the thing and say, hey, get it for 15% off. That will not work anymore. And all my ads are the same way. You’re probably the people that are filling out the applications for tier 11 and for and for Mongoose Media, because you’re not getting any results right now, because you’re not doing this now.

00:19:22:16 – 00:19:32:01
Ralph
There is a limitation to it, actually. Really there isn’t. Because now you can put almost as many ads into an ad set as you possibly want. There used to be a limitation of 50.

00:19:32:06 – 00:19:44:00
Lauren
Well, now it’s like 150 ads. Yeah. So it depends because there have been some that have been like grandfathered in and, and like, you know, the thing that’s guaranteed with Matt is that there’s never a guarantee that there’s.

00:19:44:00 – 00:20:06:07
Ralph
Never a guarantee we’re actually seeing more than 150 in some cases. But anyway, the point is this is. Yeah. So the point is, is this is that there’s if you’re limiting to like that one I like who’s my one ICP. You’re, you’re and you’re one message and you’re one thing that you show the reason why you’re not getting results right now is because you’re not diversifying that you can even you’re.

00:20:06:07 – 00:20:06:21
Lauren
Selling, you can.

00:20:06:21 – 00:20:34:14
Ralph
Even kick. You’re you’re yeah, you can. And this is possible. You can figure out okay. And we’ve done plenty of shows on this where we’re selling dog supplements for an immunity supplement. And those those individuals have a dog that has this particular disorder. However, we’re showing seven different ways to explain the same thing is true creative diversification. So there is that.

00:20:34:14 – 00:20:59:03
Ralph
So you can’t have one ICP with seven different angles on it. And that’s still diverse creative as long as they’re not all images with just a picture of a dog, you know, and the product that we’re doing, like all kinds of other things talking about, like the evolution of why the product actually came to be, why the owner and the founder, you know, the came up with this product because his dog had this immunity disorder.

00:20:59:05 – 00:21:21:08
Ralph
The point is this is that you can have one ICP as long as you have diverse messaging that goes along with that and hits the audience in a slightly different way, with different angles and different visuals. And that’s what like at a base base level, you can do it that way. What you’re talking about is 31 different flavors, 31 different ways.

00:21:21:10 – 00:21:32:02
Ralph
Like is is sort of an example of how wide you can go. Absolutely. You don’t necessarily have to go into infinite possibilities, but like that’s where it’s at right now.

00:21:32:04 – 00:21:56:03
Lauren
And and you know, that way you’re describing the dog and having like, let’s say you’re going down that same ICP and just showcasing benefits and us versus them along that same category. That’s where I shift. So there’s the ice cream version and then there’s a stick it in my, which is where you think about when you’re courting someone and you’re going on a date, and it’s like you’re not proposing marriage on date one, at least predominantly in like us cultures.

00:21:56:03 – 00:22:16:22
Lauren
Right. So it takes, you know, one day, two day, three dates, seven dates, maybe before, you know, you decide to engage in the next level of your relationship. And it’s not that on the seventh date, because you took me to sushi, I have decided now we are going to level up our current relationship status. It’s a culmination of we went to a circus.

00:22:16:22 – 00:22:34:01
Lauren
We went on a hot air balloon ride. We I met your friends at a bar crawl. Like the combination of all the other dates that we had been on. Allow me to. Then on the final ad that I have encountered, or the final date, the seventh date that we went on, I’m ready to graduate to the next level.

00:22:34:01 – 00:22:55:07
Lauren
So that’s where it’s like in that method. It’s like the different creatives build up your reputation and you’re earning their trust. You’re buying their trust through your ads. And that’s where it’s going back to like, don’t turn off the low performing ads because it’s maybe on the seventh date or that seventh different ad that I saw. I decided to move my relationship with your brand to the next level.

00:22:55:09 – 00:23:14:19
Lauren
But if you’re a turn off the other ones, then all I’m looking at is a sushi day and I don’t know how you interact with your friends. If we do a bar crawl, I don’t know how you are when you’re drunk. I don’t know if you’re fun and child like imaginary. If we go to a circus like you don’t have enough and we’re in a day and age where, like, we’ve had a recession in 2023.

00:23:14:21 – 00:23:33:06
Lauren
People are like, using. I have a tap of a button. It’s not like their home screen icon on their apps. So they’re asking for more information than ever before. And part of that is you need to deliver that information, like you said, in a variety of different ways, and it can be for the same ICP. But you talk about a different featuring talk about a different benefit.

00:23:33:06 – 00:23:42:07
Lauren
So it’s providing different angles for that same person so that they can have it in that like seventh date model to graduate to the next step in their relationship.

00:23:42:07 – 00:24:05:16
Ralph
It’s really kind of simple, but it’s not simplistic. Or maybe it’s the reverse. It’s actually it’s because when you really think about if you break it down to how you’re talking about it is that you have to understand, like, oh, all right. Does this person like amusement parks? Are they going to be somebody that’s ever going to go on a roller coaster with you?

00:24:05:17 – 00:24:14:11
Ralph
Like, I found that out like a year after I, you know, was dating Jen. And I’m like, oh, she doesn’t like roller coasters at all. She will never it.

00:24:14:12 – 00:24:15:09
Lauren
Well flag.

00:24:15:10 – 00:24:41:18
Ralph
Oh no. No. Like I really enjoy roller coasters. So like before I decided to pop the question. At least I knew that. But it’s like, all right, that’s an extreme example. But think about your prospects as you need to expose yourself as much as possible. That literally, figuratively to who you are all about what you’re all about. And meta will pick up on all these signals.

00:24:41:20 – 00:25:08:00
Ralph
Like, for me, a guy my age, I see these ads now for because I once clicked on an ad for like facial creams. So I am getting inundated with it. And it’s fascinating to see all these companies now, like vying for my business and none of them are compelling because they’re all using the same goddamn angle. They’re like, oh, I rub it on my face and oh, look, you know, I’m getting chicks now.

00:25:08:01 – 00:25:17:13
Ralph
I’m in my, you know, 40s, 50s, whatever. You know, like, I’m married. Like, I don’t care like, about that. So. But they’re all ad that they’re all going after that angle.

00:25:17:14 – 00:25:27:19
Lauren
So you wish you saw an ad that says, like, it’s the facial cream you can wear at night that invites your wife to want to give you a kiss good night versus being like, oh my gosh, it’s not me. And you want.

00:25:27:19 – 00:25:45:19
Ralph
To. Guys like clearly have what? Like they are like I am. They’re all using like this divorcee angle. It’s like, oh okay, get into my Lamborghini with some hot chick and look at how clear my face is. And like, that’s not, that will never resonate with me. Like, I just it won’t like.

00:25:45:21 – 00:25:57:02
Lauren
But it’s like, it’s so safe to use that. Like, you can eat it right off. It’s like, you know, you sometimes forget and it gets in your, your your mouth. It’s okay. That could be a different angle.

00:25:57:04 – 00:26:15:04
Ralph
If you rub it in, you, like, get in your eye. Like I once like had like some sort of moisture as I got it on my eye. Like I had, you know, in a stadium I like, tell me about that. You know, tell you about how it’s made. What is it made of? You know, maybe the founder’s story, maybe why he actually did it.

00:26:15:09 – 00:26:28:01
Ralph
Let’s do an us versus them for all the other ads. And I’m saying it’s like there’s so much more as opposed to, like, the guy in the Lamborghini picking up the hot chick because he’s a divorcee. Like they’re all doing that angle now.

00:26:28:03 – 00:26:45:23
Lauren
Right? It’s raw compassion. I mean, maybe it’s working. Yeah, but imagine how much better it would work of like, the facial cream. Not so good. You have to hide it from your wife so that she’s not going to start stealing yours. Right? And it’s like when your wife regrets looking at her $500 facial cream and starts stealing yours.

00:26:46:03 – 00:27:06:20
Lauren
It’s like, remember, like, remember back when you were dating and your wife would steal your sweatshirts? Well, as a grown up now imagine your wife is stealing your your skin care. And it’s like the roles are reversed and you’re like, when your wife comes to you for skincare advice and you’re like, you can schlep it off and your friends like, it’s like there’s so much more that can be there’s so much that it is.

00:27:06:20 – 00:27:07:09
Ralph
A.

00:27:07:11 – 00:27:08:06
Lauren
Hybrid.

00:27:08:08 – 00:27:22:09
Ralph
But this is creative diversification. Like what we’re talking about is creative diversification. Now, you might want to show that an image, you might want to show it in a GIF. You might want to show it in a video. You might want to show it in a, you know, like some kind of like back and forth, like, you know, I forget what these are called.

00:27:22:09 – 00:27:27:17
Ralph
Like, you know, you got the angle of the person talking and then the other person is talking and then like one of them is like.

00:27:27:17 – 00:27:31:10
Lauren
I guess, type of style discussion. And they’re like, yeah.

00:27:31:12 – 00:27:36:10
Ralph
Why did you why did you just steal my facial cream? Because it was really good. And I.

00:27:36:10 – 00:27:38:05
Lauren
Didn’t steal your cream, I’d argue.

00:27:38:09 – 00:28:02:17
Ralph
Yeah, right. The real like an argument. Now, the point is this. It’s like that’s diverse. Instead of, like, one angle, one thing. That’s why I’m a bot. And I’ve even clicked on all of them just to see, like, are they going to show me something different? And it’s clear, like if meta had different, diverse creative, they would then figure out which ad to show me in my it’s primarily on.

00:28:02:21 – 00:28:23:15
Ralph
Yeah, at this point, but no, I get the same than that. And that’s the reason why they are not using creative diversification. So that’s an example of what not to do. It’s like one angle beat it over their head all the time. The same methodology, the same benefit, the same features. Oh my gosh that does not work. It worked before ten years ago.

00:28:23:18 – 00:28:29:15
Lauren
Which worked well. It’s like the forever going out of business sale sign, right? How long are you going out.

00:28:29:18 – 00:28:34:05
Ralph
For a while. You’re you’re blind to it. Yeah, completely. Great example.

00:28:34:06 – 00:28:52:09
Lauren
There was some movie where they had like it was I mean, it’s it’s funny and it’s an urgency sense, but that was like a hack. So like going back to like the outdated strategies, like looking for the hack versus trying to develop a brand. It’s going to potentially give you get rich fast vibes where that can be nice.

00:28:52:09 – 00:29:10:22
Lauren
And I’m not saying it doesn’t work for some brands because you want to get that infusion of cash, but it’s like NFT is and it’s like crypto is like it’s a quick way, but if you don’t have success for it, you can find yourself really decline fast. And so what I love about meta, as now is it’s makes more sense.

00:29:10:22 – 00:29:29:05
Lauren
You want to make quality ads, you want to appeal to your buyers and show off everything like stop trying to make a tiny size menu. And from an ad, what I mean is, like there are 700 products on a lot of the Chinese restaurant menus that I go to where it’s like they’re just too much to watch from watching it all to one.

00:29:29:07 – 00:29:47:13
Lauren
Yeah, it’s a book you don’t want your ads to be. No, I’m not saying don’t do longform ad copy, or I’m not saying don’t tell a story. It’s just that you can diversify it and then like, extract it like, hey, we have the best out on wow, like in town. Or you’re talking about how, like, we have, like, spicy duck, all those different pieces.

00:29:47:13 – 00:30:11:15
Lauren
People are going to the restaurant for one particular dish. You don’t advertise. Well, I mean, one act be like, we have 700 different things. So something for everyone to be. You want to really distill in a simplistic way, almost like what they had done in mad era style. And I’m saying that be aware of like a 70s Deco background and like the mustache vibe and paisley button up.

00:30:11:15 – 00:30:13:01
Lauren
I’m totally here for this.

00:30:13:01 – 00:30:22:18
Ralph
Please keep that was in the 50s, by the way, to so are clear. Like I’m like totally 70s 80s right now. Anyway, keep going.

00:30:22:19 – 00:30:41:17
Lauren
No, I mean I just, I like that it’s, the change. Like back when, people were doing simple ads and you were you’re showcasing different elements, like you get to be cheeky, you get to be fun, and you get to really focus on the product and not the hack. That’s what I would say 2026 like you win by personalization and relevancy.

00:30:41:19 – 00:31:00:03
Lauren
And you will lose if you’re focused on the hack and not the actual product. Is your product good? Do you have testimonials that speak to it? Do you have a good? What happens at after the click is the destination great? Is the data flowing back into meta? Great. Put the energy. They’re not stacking these overcomplicated ad sets.

00:31:00:03 – 00:31:05:04
Lauren
We’re just multiplying the same ad. And you’re just saying going out of business going out of business, going out of business.

00:31:05:06 – 00:31:27:21
Ralph
Yep. Yeah. It’s so true. And that’s what creative diversification is all about. Like the going just the one thing if there’s one thing that we can conclude here is if you look in your ad account or your team looks in their ad account and they’re hitting everyone with the same angle, oh, it’s easy to set up. We have a client right now where they’re in this outdoor furniture space.

00:31:27:21 – 00:31:41:21
Ralph
It’s easy to set up is their only angle. And they’re like, why are my ads not working? They’re a new client of ours. Like, well, it’s because you’re hitting them with one angle. Like, that’s only one thing that one person of one type might it may or may not, but.

00:31:42:01 – 00:31:43:00
Lauren
Durability.

00:31:43:06 – 00:31:47:11
Ralph
Durability. Talk about sustainability. Is that.

00:31:47:13 – 00:32:15:07
Lauren
Level like, yeah, we have TVs outside in the backyard, like the only outdoor furniture that you’re going to actually fall asleep on because no one falls asleep watching TV outside, like those outdoor cushions suck. Or like, if it’s like outdoor furniture that’s made for the 64 plus community, the amount of small cushions that I’ve sat on where I have legs that fit A61 body, but I have a torso for a five foot two person like I don’t enjoy outdoor patio furniture because I’m like, my eyes are up to my chin.

00:32:15:07 – 00:32:37:00
Lauren
And so if you can have those diverse angles, you can like, you know, comfy enough to sit five people or fit your actuals. When my dad was six, eight and a half, he never fit on any couch, so he didn’t even try. But like imagine, like you can actually lounge out without lounging out your your bank account. Like there’s a lot more angles that you can apply to feels.

00:32:37:02 – 00:33:00:18
Ralph
Yeah, yeah. And that’s just one example of of many, many. Well, we’ll go into our shows about like what to look for. But the point is this is that the bottom line is like if you look in and you see one angle and you’re even bored by your own advertising, it’s time to diversify. You know, like, oh my God, I’m seeing the same thing over and over again, at least to like three or 4 or 5.

00:33:00:19 – 00:33:21:10
Ralph
They brainstorm with your team, hire a good ad agency obviously is like one of our solutions here. But for an internal team brainstorm this use I we’re going to link to the show notes. Here for the episode, Nicole actually gives away a free resource where you can do this sort of stuff on your own. It’s not that hard to do.

00:33:21:12 – 00:33:48:23
Ralph
The next part of this is measuring what really works. Or quoting works and making sure that you’re not making the mistakes after the fact. But, today’s show is really is all about just make sure that you’re not using these outdated strategies anymore. It’s 2026, and the Andromeda update came out in late 24. You know, we’ve spent personally over $50 million of our own money, of our own money on our own companies.

00:33:49:01 – 00:34:09:21
Ralph
Before we started doing this on our own ad accounts for our clients. You’ve done is like, you get it this year as well. I get it like there’s a major shift here. This is not something that it’s just like, oh, we just thought of this yesterday. We’ve done dozens of shows on this. And I think in 2026, in order for you to get some sort of success, you’re going to have to start thinking differently.

00:34:09:23 – 00:34:19:00
Ralph
So we’ll leave the links in the show notes for past shows where you can get a little bit more tactical, but today is more about just a mindset shift. Anything to add before we conclude here?

00:34:19:02 – 00:34:38:11
Lauren
I would I mean, I think like there’s there’s a lot like the mindset shift of, if you’re leaning in on outdated stuff, like there’s obviously a lot of other ones to go like, this is a start of a conversation, not the end of one. But I think it’s, what’s Hoover vacuum? It took 999 tries before they built the most amazing vacuum ever.

00:34:38:11 – 00:34:57:23
Lauren
We need to start thinking about creative diversification and ads where if you have a stellar product, what is the angle or what is a diverse way you can get in front of different audiences? And, you’re just going to keep trying. It’s like in RB you assume most will fail, but if you don’t make options and then you lean on the one, the one could be good.

00:34:57:23 – 00:35:15:19
Lauren
But what if the next one or the 10th one could be amazing? You want to have these different angles you want to work with more, and if you’re spending more time figuring out who to target and which buttons to click and how to organize your ad account and all that stuff, you’re putting your time in the wrong focus.

00:35:15:19 – 00:35:35:21
Lauren
And if you’re the business owner who’s not running the ads and you’re you’re in overseeing and micromanaging all these changes because you’re the one that remembers outdated strategies. You learned a lot of these things. I would say it’s better to invest your time in ensuring that the product and that the destination when you send people to is good because the ad is not responsible for the whole sale.

00:35:35:21 – 00:35:58:00
Lauren
The ad is to curate a qualified audience, to introduce a product or service to, so that the landing page or the destination can finish the conversion. This is a team effort. You love it, and if you’re putting all of the effort in saying like the ad has to do the job, I’m going to say like another outdated thing, I’m have like, you need to create vacation, but you also need to have a hard conversation with yourself.

00:35:58:00 – 00:36:23:19
Lauren
Of is the ad maybe doing great? But then the destination that they’re getting to is falling flat. Like you. You just got to take ownership of the full funnel. And that’s why, like, I love advertising right now because it makes sense. You have a really good ad and then a bad website or a page that doesn’t load, or an experience that has 17 different upsells before you even have the chance to add to cart or, button that’s broken, where I’m like, I want to submit a lead.

00:36:23:19 – 00:36:47:20
Lauren
You just asked me 50 questions. You told me the easiest way for me to fix the plumbing problems and make my house worth ten times more, and you just now spent 20 minutes filling out a form. You lied. So that, you know, it’s a mindset shift of. It’s not just the ad, make more options for the ads, and be mindful that in 2026, like it’s actually fun and foundational.

00:36:47:22 – 00:37:07:23
Ralph
Well said. Well, we’re going to leave all links in the shownotes over at perpetual traffic.com. Of course, wherever you listen to podcasts, please leave us a rating in review. And we’ve got to read a couple in the next show where we keep saying that we are going to do it next show. That of course. So all of that is over a perpetual traffic.com, of course.

00:37:08:01 – 00:37:28:10
Ralph
Subscribe to our YouTube channel as well. But you already knew that. We really do appreciate you leaving. Any sort of reviews will respond to comments. We actually are responding to all our comments over on our YouTube channel now, so engage with us there. Tell us what you think. More shows like this, more tactical shows. We really appreciate your feedback and the insights.

00:37:28:10 – 00:37:41:08
Ralph
And we do this show for you, teach you how to do this stuff the right way through metrics that matter and growth that scales. So on behalf of my amazing Carl host, Lauren E Petrillo.

00:37:41:12 – 00:38:00:18
Lauren
Sal, and if you can tell me your favorite ice cream, someone tell me that Cherry Garcia is your favorite ice cream and you better believe it, because I’ve never met anyone who loves Cherry Garcia, so let me know for who else likes that mango chocolate caramel, hazelnut combo with gummy bears and a raspberry chocolate topping? You’ll be my favorite person ever.

00:38:00:18 – 00:38:06:07
Ralph
Jerry Garcia I would never order it, but of us in front of me, I would eat it. And it’s kind of.

00:38:06:09 – 00:38:09:12
Lauren
Pays for it. Like Hugo’s the way I choose this Jerry Garcia.

00:38:09:13 – 00:38:13:18
Ralph
Grateful Dead people, I like it, I like not I don’t think.

00:38:13:18 – 00:38:17:23
Lauren
This is a bear. Thinks of a gummy bears. Wait, that’s a band, right?

00:38:18:01 – 00:38:36:00
Ralph
Yeah, it is old. I think they’re all dead anyway. Oh, until next show. See you.

Episode 774: Are You STILL Using Outdated Meta Andromeda Ad Strategies?

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Are You STILL Using Outdated Meta Andromeda Ad Strategies?

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