Solved: Facebook Ads Not Optimising Due to Spend Limit

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out about your Facebook Ad campaigns. I've reviewed the situation you described and wanted to share some thoughts. It sounds frustrating when the spending limit kicks in, but honestly, I don't think the spend limit is your real problem here. It's actually giving you a chance to fix the foundations before you start spending more money.

The real issue is the inconsistent sales and lack of profit. Just letting the ads run for 24 hours by lowering the budget won't magically fix that if the campaigns aren't set up for profit in the first place. You need a more robust structure that can actually work, so when that limit is lifted, you're ready to scale profitably instead of just burning cash faster.

We'll need to look at your campaign strategy, not the spending limit...

Right, let's get straight to it. Your question is whether to lower your budgets to fit the $80 limit or ride it out. My honest answer? Neither. Both options assume your current campaigns are worth running, and from the sounds of it (being in the minus some days), they probably aren't.

Forcing an unprofitable campaign to run for 24 hours instead of 8 just means you spread out the loss over a longer period. It doesn't make it profitable. The Facebook algorithm is pretty good at finding buyers, even in a shorter window. If it's not finding them consistently, the problem is deeper. You're giving the algorithm a command to find you sales, but you're probably not giving it the right structure or message to do its job properly.

You're paying Meta to find you customers. But if your setup is messy, you're basically paying them to find you non-customers. The people who might see your ad in hours 9-24 are probably not some secret group of high-value buyers. If your ad and targeting are right, the algorithm will find the best people first. The spending cap is just a symptom. The disease is a weak strategy.

So, let's forget the spend limit for a minute and focus on what actually matters: building a machine that turns ad spend into profit, wether you're spending $80 or $800 a day.

I'd say you need to structure your account properly...

Your current setup with three different campaigns (a $100 CBO, a $50 CBO, and a $30 ABO for testing) sounds a bit all over the place. It's really difficult to manage and understand what's actually working when things are fragmented like that. For eCommerce, you want to think about the customer journey. You have people who've never heard of you, and people who've visited your site, maybe even added a product to their cart. You can't speak to them all with the same ad in the same campaign.

The best way to do this is with a simple funnel structure. This is how we structure all our successful eCommerce accounts. It's not complicated, it usually just involves two main campaigns:

1. A Prospecting Campaign (ToFu - Top of Funnel): This is where you find new customers. People who don't know your brand. Your budget is mostly spent here. You'll test different audiences based on interests and behaviours related to what you sell.
2. A Retargeting Campaign (MoFu/BoFu - Middle/Bottom of Funnel): This is for people who have already interacted with you. They've visited your website, watched your videos, or added items to their cart. These are warm leads, and it's often much cheaper to convert them.

By splitting it up, you can tailor your message. New people get an introduction to your brand. People who abandoned their cart get a reminder, maybe with a small discount. This seperation is what makes campaigns perform consistently. I've built a little diagram to show you what I mean.

You probably should fix your offer and ads...

Getting your campaign structure right is a huge step. But even with the perfect structure, your ads won't work if your message is wrong or your offer isn't compelling. The fact you're getting sales some days and not others suggests your creative might not be hitting the mark consistently.

You need to ask yourself a few questions and look at your metrics:

• Do you have a low Click-Through Rate (CTR)? If people aren't clicking your ads, it's a sign your images/videos or your ad copy are boring. They aren't grabbing attention in the feed. This is your first hurdle. You need to test different creative and hooks.
• Do you get clicks but no Add to Carts? If people click but don't add anything to their basket, the problem is likely on your product page. Are your photos good? Is the description persuasive? Is the price right? Is it clear what you're selling?
• Do you get lots of Add to Carts but no sales? This is a classic one. It usually means there's a problem in your checkout process. Maybe your shipping costs are a surprise and too high. Maybe your site doesn't look trustworthy enough for people to enter their card details.

For your ad copy, you need to stop just describing your product and start selling a solution to a problem. Use a simple framework like Problem-Agitate-Solve.

Example for a jewellery store:

• Problem: "Tired of wearing the same generic, mass-produced jewellery as everyone else?"
• Agitate: "It's frustrating when you want your style to stand out, but everything looks the same."
• Solve: "Discover our handcrafted pieces, each one unique. Express your true self. Shop the collection now."

This kind of messaging connects on an emotional level and works far better than just saying "Handmade necklaces for sale". You need to test different angles like this to see what resonates with your audience.

You'll need to focus on ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)...

Ultimately, this all comes down to numbers. You mentioned being "in the minus." The most important number for any eCommerce store is your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). It's a simple calculation: Revenue from Ads / Amount Spent on Ads.

If you spend $50 and make $74 in sales, your ROAS is 74 / 50 = 1.48x. This might sound okay, but you need to factor in the cost of your goods, shipping, and other business expenses. For most eCommerce businesses, you need a ROAS of 3x or 4x+ just to be comfortably profitable.

I've built a little calculator for you. Play around with the sliders to see how your daily spend and revenue affect your ROAS. It'll make it really clear what you need to aim for.

Knowing your numbers is everything. We've managed to get some pretty great returns for eCommerce clients, like a 1000% ROAS for a subscription box and a 691% return for a women's apparel brand. This isn't magic, it's just the result of a solid structure, constant testing, and a ruthless focus on profitability. Once you know what ROAS you need, you can make much better decisions about which ads to keep running and which to turn off.

This is the main advice I have for you:

So, what should you do right now, with your $80/day limit? You should use it as an opportunity to build a solid foundation. Pause everything you have running now. It's not working. Then, build it back up properly. I've put my exact recommendations for you in the table below. This is the plan to follow to find profitability before you worry about scaling.

Following this plan will give you a clear, organised structure. It allocates your limited budget intelligently, focusing most of it on finding new customers while still capturing the low-hanging fruit with retargeting. This approach will give you much clearer data on what's working and set you up for success when your spending limit increases.

I know this can seem like a lot to take in. It's one thing to understand the theory, but it's another to actually implement it, analyse the data correctly, and make the right decisions day after day. That constant optimisation is really where the hard work is.

If you'd like to go through your account together and get a more tailored plan, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session. We can have a proper look at your ads and website and give you some specific, actionable advice you can take away and use. It might be helpful to get a second pair of expert eyes on it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh