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

Mar 18, 2026

Denis Paskalev, Director of Advertising and Meta ads expert, guides advertisers on modern Meta strategies. He discusses why there is no single perfect campaign structure. He covers creative testing methods, CBO vs ABO tradeoffs, and why one ad can monopolize spend. He explains vertical vs horizontal scaling and how to increase budgets without breaking campaigns.

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INSIGHT

There Is No Magic Meta Campaign Structure

There is no single perfect Meta campaign structure and obsessing over it wastes time.
Denis says focus on manageable control and other ingredients (creative, messaging, landing pages) that matter more than exact structure.

ADVICE

Split Campaigns When CBO Lets One Ad Dominate

If one ad hogs CBO budget and underperforms, split creatives into separate ad sets to control allocation.
Denis recommends moving other promising ads into another ad set so you can assign budget manually and test them fairly.

ADVICE

Use ABO For Controlled Creative Testing

Use ABO (ad set budget optimization) for creative testing so each ad set gets predictable spend.
Denis prefers ABO when testing to ensure every creative gets learnings instead of the algorithm favoring one winner.

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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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