Are You Really Targeting the Right Audience With Your Ads?

Let’s talk about a silent and expensive mistake I’m seeing business owners making with their ads lately so that you can avoid the same mistake…

You think your ads are being shown to your warm audience, your email list, people who’ve visited your sales page, maybe even those who watched your videos.

But in reality?

Meta™’s AI is quietly pushing your ads to people far outside of those custom audiences you set up.

And unless you know where to look, you won’t even realise it’s happening.

Let’s unpack why this matters and what to do about it.

The “Warm Audience” Myth

You’ve done the hard work.

You created a juicy lead magnet. Built a healthy email list. Set up your retargeting ads to nurture those warm leads.

Inside Ads Manager, you carefully selected your custom audiences: people on your list, people who visited your webinar page, and those who’ve been engaging with your content.

You hit publish.

Then… crickets.

Low clicks. No conversions. And your ad budget quietly drains away.

What went wrong?

Meta™’s Advantage+ Default Targeting

Meta’s current ad system is leaning heavily into AI and machine learning.

And one of their newer “features”, Advantage+ audience expansion, is on by default.

That means even if you select a specific warm audience, Meta™ may decide to show your ads to additional people outside that group, based on who it “thinks” might convert.

Sounds helpful in theory.

But in practice? If your ad was written for someone who already knows, likes, and trusts you… it may fall completely flat with a cold audience who has no idea who you are.

That’s wasted money. And it’s not obvious this is happening unless you are aware of it. I do monthly ad account audits in Abundant Ads Academy for members and on many occasions this has been happening without the advertiser knowing until I pointed it out.

Why This Hurts Your Results

If you have been in my audience a while and have been reading my weekly blog posts and emails you will hear me talk about this constantly – messaging matters.

The Webonize Marketing Framework teaches us to align content with each stage of awareness, from “Unaware” right through to “Most Aware.”

If your ad is designed to activate someone who already knows your brand and offer, it won’t work if shown to someone at the beginning of their journey.

That disconnect means:

• Cold leads seeing messages meant for warm audiences.
  
• Poor conversion rates.
  
• Higher cost per result.
  
• And a whole lot of confusion on why your marketing “isn’t working.”
  

How to Turn Advantage+ OFF

The good news? You can fix this.

But Meta™ doesn’t make it obvious.

Here’s how to double-check your ad setup and regain control over your targeting:

1. Go to the Ad Set level in Ads Manager.
   
2. Scroll to the Audience section.
   
3. Look for a button with a gear icon and the text “Further limit the reach of your ads.”
   
4. Press the button, then select “Switch Setup” to bring back the original manual targeting options.
   
5. Ensure Advantage+ Audience Expansion is turned off.
   

That’s it.

A few small clicks, but it can mean the difference between profitable retargeting and throwing money at the wrong audience.

When Precision Matters Most

Inside the Webonize Ads Framework, we don’t guess.

We strategically design each ad type for a specific stage:

• Video View Campaigns to attract cold audiences.
  
• Engagement and Lead Campaigns to nurture leads.
  
• Sales Ads for retargeting warm audiences.
  

When Meta™ blurs those lines without you being aware, the whole structure breaks down.

So if you rely on warm audience targeting, double-check your settings. Make sure your ads are speaking to the right people.

What About Cold Audience Targeting?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not against using Advantage+ audience expansion altogether.

In fact, when targeting cold audiences, I’ve found it can often outperform manual targeting.

Meta™ has access to more data than we do, and for finding new people who might be a good fit, Advantage+ can work beautifully.

But when it comes to warm audience targeting, precision matters. You’ve already done the work to build those relationships. You want your messaging to land with people who know you, not strangers.

That’s why awareness is key. Know when Advantage+ can help and know when it needs to be turned off.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to assume Facebook™ is doing what you tell it to do.

But with so many changes happening behind the scenes, you’ve got to be proactive.

A small setting like Advantage+ can quietly unravel your entire strategy if you don’t catch it.

Remember, you are the strategist with your ads and marketing, don’t let Facebook and the algorithm take control when you know better.

Take back control. Check your audience settings. And make sure your warm ads are actually being seen by warm leads. Want help auditing your setup? That’s exactly what we do inside Abundant Ads Academy, from strategy to setup and everything in between.