Client’s Facebook Ads Campaigns Suddenly Spending Almost Nothing. What to do?

As a campaign manager, it’s really frustrating when you create a great ad campaign, but it doesn’t spend the budget as planned. It’s even worse when you spend almost nothing, especially during big shopping events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It can feel like you’ve hit a roadblock.

In this blog, we’ll talk about why your Facebook Ads might not be spending as they should and share simple steps to fix the problem.

What’s Happening with This Campaign?

You mentioned:

• Eye-catching graphics and top-quality sales copy.
• Set a $100 daily budget for a 4-day Black Friday-Cyber Monday campaign.
• By Sunday night, only $100 was spent in total.

Other important details:

• Audiences are properly sized — not too small.
• No spending limits in place.
• Billing settings are all correct.
• Other campaigns in the same account are also underperforming.
• Campaigns for other clients are running smoothly.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone — many advertisers experience similar issues, especially during busy shopping seasons when competition is fierce. Let’s break this down.

1. The Possible Culprits

a. Audience Overlap or Fatigue

If the campaign targets an audience that overlaps with other active ads, Facebook may prioritize those other campaigns or limit delivery. Even if there’s no direct overlap, similar messaging shown to the same audience could lead to lower performance.

What to Do:

• Use the Audience Overlap Tool in Ads Manager to see if your audiences are overlapping.
• Refresh your creatives and messaging if they’ve already been shown a lot in other campaigns.

b. High Competition for Ad Space

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are notoriously competitive. Ad inventory demand skyrockets, and smaller budgets often lose out to higher-spending advertisers.

What to Do:

• Increase your daily budget slightly if possible to remain competitive.
• Test targeting less competitive interests or demographics.

c. Ad Relevance or Low Engagement

Facebook uses ad relevance scores and engagement metrics to decide which ads to prioritize. If your ad doesn’t get clicks or interaction quickly, it might be throttled.

What to Do:

• Test a different creative or headline to boost engagement.
• Use a strong call-to-action (CTA) that aligns with your audience’s Black Friday urgency.

d. Learning Phase Issues

New campaigns go through a “learning phase” where Facebook tries to optimize for your objectives. During this phase, performance (including spend) can fluctuate.

What to Do:

• Avoid making frequent changes to the campaign, as it resets the learning phase.
• Be patient for at least 48–72 hours after launching or adjusting campaigns.

e. Account-Wide Issues

Since your other campaigns in this account are also spending less, there might be a broader account issue:

• Ad Account Health: If the account has a low quality score or previous policy violations, Facebook may throttle its campaigns.
• Technical Bugs: Sometimes, a glitch on Facebook’s side impacts performance.

What to Do:

• Check the Account Quality section in Business Manager for flags or warnings.
• Report the issue to Facebook and request a manual review of your account.

2. Immediate Steps to Troubleshoot

Here’s how to systematically resolve the issue:

Step 1: Double-Check Campaign Settings

It’s easy to overlook a setting. Double-check:

• Ad Placements: Are you targeting all placements, or are certain high-performing placements like Instagram being excluded?
• Schedule: Ensure the campaign is active and running during your desired timeframe.
• Optimization Goal: Are you optimizing for the right result, like purchases or clicks?

Step 2: Expand Your Audience

While you mentioned the audience isn’t too small, narrow targeting can still limit ad delivery, especially during competitive times.

• Test a lookalike audience (e.g., 1%–3%) based on recent purchasers or website visitors.
• Broaden geographic or age targeting temporarily to increase reach.

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Step 3: Create a Campaign with Broad Targeting

If all else fails, try launching a quick broad-targeting campaign to test whether your ad account can spend normally.

• Use a simple audience, like all users aged 18–65+ in your target region.
• Test with one or two ads only, ensuring the creative and copy are clear and engaging.

Step 4: Monitor Auction Insights

Use the Auction Insights tool in Ads Manager to understand how your campaign is competing.

• High competition may require a higher Cost Per Result (CPR) threshold to push your ads into circulation.

Step 5: Duplicate and Relaunch

Sometimes, duplicating the campaign into a new ad set or ad account can bypass bugs or issues.

• Keep everything the same, but launch the duplicate in case the original is stuck in a delivery glitch.

3. Long-Term Fixes for Better Spending

a. Regularly Audit Ad Account Performance

Check for any systemic issues, like:

• A dip in account quality.
• High-frequency ads showing to the same users repeatedly.

b. Diversify Your Platforms

Don’t rely solely on Facebook. Running ads on other platforms like Google or TikTok can provide additional reach and reduce reliance on a single channel.

c. Build a Strong Retargeting Funnel

Retarget users who’ve interacted with your business before, as they’re more likely to convert:

• Website visitors.
• Add-to-cart users.
• Email subscribers.

d. Test During Off-Peak Times

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are intense, but you can test your strategies during less competitive times to gather data and refine your approach.

What About Facebook Support?

You mentioned support wasn’t helpful, and unfortunately, that’s common. To get better results:

• Be persistent and escalate your ticket.
• Ask for a manual review of your ad account.
• Join advertiser communities (like Facebook groups) to share insights and solutions.

Final Thoughts

Campaigns suddenly spending less is frustrating, but it’s often solvable with the right approach. Focus on diagnosing issues methodically, adjusting your strategies to the competitive environment, and making Facebook’s system work in your favor.

And if all else fails? Take a breath, grab a coffee, and remember: even seasoned advertisers face these hiccups. You’ve got this!