A few years ago, scaling paid ads felt technical.

You’d sit inside Ads Manager for hours adjusting interests, layering lookalikes, excluding past buyers, testing 1% vs 3%. When performance dipped, the instinct was always the same: refine the audience.


Now, when performance dips, we rarely touch targeting first. In 2026, it’s very clear that targeting isn’t where your advantage sits anymore.

WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGED

Platforms like Meta, Pinterest and Tik Tok have moved heavily toward automation, such as broad or Advantage+ targeting.


The algorithm already has more behavioural data than any of us could ever manually layer.

So if everyone has access to the same targeting infrastructure, where does performance come from?
The answer is uncomfortable for a lot of brands. It comes from creative.

THE REAL BOTTLENECK WE SEE

When accounts plateau, the pattern is usually predictable.

The brand increases spend, they keep the same 4–6 ads live and maybe they swap out a headline or A/B test a different image.

Then CPM creeps up and ROAS softens.

WHAT “CREATIVE VOLUME” ACTUALLY MEANS

This isn’t about pumping out content for the sake of it. It’s about structured variation.

Different angles, problem statements, customer avatar, levels of awareness. and visual styles.


Some creatives speak to the practical buyer, some speak to emotion and others lean into aspiration or urgency. You don’t know which will unlock the next growth phase until you test enough variation.


And that’s the part many brands underestimate. Performance is rarely found in the first concept, it’s found in the tenth.

WHY BROAD TARGETING WORKS BETTER

When you run broad audiences on Meta, you’re giving the platform room to learn.
But without strong creatives, it’s impossible for the platform to do so.

The algorithm identifies which message resonates with which pocket of people. One hook pulls in a more value-conscious buyer. Another resonates with someone ready to upgrade. Another drives strong engagement but slower conversion.

Instead of forcing targeting to do the heavy lifting, you let creative generate demand.

THE MISALIGNMENT MOST BRANDS DON'T SEE

One of the biggest disconnects we see is between spend and creative production.
Spend goes up, but creative volume and velocity stays the same. Yet brands expect the algorithm to somehow maintain efficiency.


If you’re investing meaningful budget into paid media, creative has to grow alongside it. Not just more assets for the sake of it, but more angles, more perspectives and different ways of talking about the same product. 

It also means moving faster.


You can’t wait for a quarterly shoot and hope those assets carry you for three months, creative needs a rhythm. Concepts mapped out ahead of time and new variations entering the account before the old ones burn out.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR 2026

In 2026, the brands that grow steadily aren’t the ones with the most complex targeting structures. They’re the ones with a clear position in the market, strong understanding of their customer and a consistent creative testing cadence
.

The algorithm is powerful, but it can only optimise what you give it. Creative is your biggest lever right now.

If performance feels unpredictable right now, it’s worth asking whether the issue is really audience… or whether it’s simply that your creative engine hasn’t caught up to your growth goals.