Here's what happened and exactly what you need to do about it.

What is the Andromeda Update?

Andromeda is Meta's new ad system. Think of it like this: the old system matched your ads to people based on who you targeted. The new system matches your ads to people based on what's in your creative.

In simple terms: Your targeting doesn't matter as much anymore. Your creative matters way more.

Meta now reads your images, videos, and text to figure out who should see your ad. The algorithm looks at what's actually in your content and shows it to people who are likely to engage with that specific type of content.

Why Your Ads Might Be Struggling

After Andromeda rolled out, many advertisers noticed:

  • Winning ads suddenly stopped working - Ads that were profitable for months started costing more with worse results

  • Costs went up - CPAs increased even though nothing changed in the campaigns

  • Scaling became harder - Campaigns that used to scale smoothly started having delivery issues

  • Creative dies faster - Ads that used to work for 6-8 weeks now burn out in 2-3 weeks

If any of this sounds familiar, Andromeda is probably why.

The 5 Changes You Need to Make Right Now

1. Simplify Your Campaign Structure

Stop creating 10 different ad sets with different audiences. That old strategy is dead.

What to do instead:

  • Use one broad ad set instead of multiple narrow ones

  • Remove most of your audience exclusions

  • Let Meta choose placements automatically

  • Trust the algorithm to find your customers

Think of it this way: you're giving Meta a bigger playground to find the right people for your ads.

2. Create Way More Creatives

This is the most important change. You need more creative variety than before.

Old way: 3-5 ads per campaign New way: 10-20 different creatives per campaign

But here's the key - they need to be actually different, not just small tweaks. Don't just change the headline color. Create completely different angles:

  • One ad focused on social proof

  • One showing the product in action

  • One highlighting urgency or a deal

  • One explaining the problem you solve

  • Mix formats: videos, carousels, static images

The more diverse your creatives, the better Meta can match them to the right people.

3. Refresh Creatives Every 1-2 Weeks

Creative fatigue happens twice as fast now. If you used to update ads monthly, you're already behind.

New schedule:

  • Check performance weekly

  • Replace underperforming ads every 1-2 weeks

  • Always have new creatives ready to test

  • Don't wait for ads to completely die before replacing them

4. Fix Your Data Tracking

Andromeda relies heavily on accurate data. If your tracking is messy, the algorithm can't learn properly.

Quick audit:

  • Make sure your Meta Pixel is firing correctly

  • Set up Conversions API if you haven't already

  • Remove any duplicate events

  • Verify your domain in Meta Business Suite

Clean data helps Meta understand what's working and optimize better.

5. Scale Gradually (This is Critical)

One of the biggest mistakes after Andromeda is scaling too aggressively.

The rule: Increase your budget by 20% per day maximum. Not 50%, not double - just 20%.

Why this matters:

  • Doubling your budget overnight resets the algorithm's learning

  • The system needs time to adjust to new budget levels

  • Sudden changes cause delivery issues and cost spikes

Example: If you're spending $100/day and getting good results, increase to $120/day tomorrow, then $144 the next day, and so on. It feels slow, but it's the most reliable way to scale without breaking performance.

What Results to Expect

When you make these changes, here's what typically happens:

Week 1-2: Things might feel unstable as Meta's algorithm learns. This is normal. Don't panic and change everything.

Week 3+: You should see:

  • More stable costs

  • Better click-through rates (15-25% improvement is common)

  • Smoother delivery

  • Easier scaling

The Bottom Line

Meta has fundamentally changed how ads work. The old playbook of perfect targeting and a few winning ads is dead.

The new playbook is simple:

  1. Broader targeting

  2. More creative variety

  3. Faster refresh cycles

  4. Clean tracking

  5. Gradual scaling (20% per day max)

Your creative is now your targeting. The sooner you accept this and adapt, the sooner your ads will perform well again.

Stop trying to tell Meta who to target. Instead, create great content and let Meta's algorithm find the right people for it.

Struggling with your Meta ads after Andromeda? Join EcomSteps for weekly strategies on navigating the latest platform changes and scaling profitably.

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