CBO or ABO — stop guessing by feel

CBO or ABO — stop guessing by feel

Picked the wrong one and your winner starves? Did this:

— Testing creatives or audiences? Run ABO (Ad Set Budget Optimization — you set spend per ad set). Forces even spend so you actually learn which ad set works.
— Scaling a proven set of winners? Switch to CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization — Meta splits the pool). It hunts the cheapest conversions across ad sets in real time.
— Mixing both stages in one campaign? That's the trap. CBO will dump 80% into one ad set and your other tests get $3.

Rule of thumb: ABO to find signal, CBO to press it.

Risk: CBO hides which ad set is dying until it's already eaten budget. Check breakdowns daily.

Try the switch on ONE proven campaign first.