Meta says it wants to make your life easier. With its AI-powered Advantage+ tools, the promise is simple: hand over your targeting, creative, testing, and budget decisions and let the robots do the rest.
Sounds great in theory.
But in practice? You need to keep your hand on the wheel.
What Meta’s Actually Offering
Advantage+ is a suite of tools designed to streamline paid media. Here’s a quick breakdown of what it includes:
- Advantage+ shopping campaigns: Feed Meta your product catalogue and a few creative assets, and the system will auto-test combinations across placements and audiences.
- AI-generated text: Meta writes your ad copy, CTAs, and headlines using your product info and past performance data.
- Image and video variations: The system resizes, crops, or embellishes your assets to fit each placement.
- Automated targeting: You set a goal (e.g. conversions), and Meta finds the audience using lookalikes and interest signals.
- Budget optimisation: Meta shifts your spend to what’s working and provides automated reporting.
On paper, it’s everything marketers want: more efficiency, less grunt work, and a faster path to ROI.
So, what’s the problem?
Automation Isn’t Strategy
Here’s where things get tricky. Meta’s tools are efficient – but they’re also opaque. You plug in a few assets, and the platform makes hundreds of decisions you can’t see.
That means:
- You don’t know why an ad worked (or didn’t)
- You can’t explain your results to clients or stakeholders
- You lose control of your message, your visuals, and even your audience
It’s not time-saving – it’s insight-losing.
We’re not saying don’t use AI. But there’s a big difference between automation and abdication.
Let the Bots Help, But Don’t Let Them Lead
AI is brilliant for:
- Testing variations at scale
- Spotting underperforming creative early
- Budget allocation
- Refining audience targeting
But when it comes to strategy, storytelling, and brand tone, you still need a human behind the keyboard.
Because AI doesn’t know:
- What not to say in a cultural moment
- How to write copy that sounds like you
- When a joke is going to fall flat
- Why one word choice feels confident and another sounds pushy
And let’s be honest – we’ve all seen the AI-generated headline: “Get it before it’s gone!” It might convert in some cases, but it’s not going to set your brand apart. It’s generic. It’s forgettable. And it sounds like every other ad on the feed.
You’re Not Just Running Ads. You’re Training Meta’s AI.
Here’s another wrinkle. When you use Advantage+ tools, you’re not just launching a campaign. You’re also feeding Meta data that helps them improve their system. You’re essentially a test subject – and you’re paying for the privilege.
The result?
- Ads written by a robot
- Targeting chosen by a robot
- Reports that tell you what happened, but not why
That’s not a great position to be in – especially when your brand reputation and ad spend are on the line.
What Smart Marketers Are Doing Instead
We’re not anti-AI. In fact, we use AI every day in our own workflows – but we’re selective about where and how.
Use Meta’s tools to support your campaigns, not drive them. Keep control of:
- The message
- The tone
- The insight behind the ad
- The creative direction
That’s the stuff your competitors can’t replicate with a tool. That’s your edge.
Final Thoughts: Treat AI Like an Intern, Not a Strategist
If you’re short on time or scaling fast, Meta’s Advantage+ tools can absolutely help – but they shouldn’t replace your team’s thinking. Use AI for the grunt work. Keep the strategy and creativity where it belongs: with the humans.
AI might run your ads. But it won’t build your brand.
Need help figuring out which tools to trust – and when to step in? We’re here for that.
Let’s talk about how to blend automation with strategy so you can get the best of both worlds – without handing over the keys to your brand.
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