Media Buying Strategy V2

ABO to find the winner. CBO to scale the winner.

CORE PRINCIPLE

ABO and CBO are not competing choices — they're sequential tools.

ABO (Phases 1-2)

Used for comparing creatives and audiences. Forces equal budget distribution so data is fair. The moment you find the winner, ABO becomes a handicap.

CBO (Phases 3-4)

Used for scaling. Once you know the winning creative and audience, CBO lets Meta optimize delivery automatically. Stop managing budget manually.

THE 4 PHASES

1

Phase 1: Creative Test

Budget: $10/day
Duration: 3-4 days

Find the winning creative hook. You don't know what message works yet — test multiple angles.

STRUCTURE

  • →1 campaign ABO
  • →3-4 ad sets (Broad audience)
  • →1 ad per set (different creative/hook)

WHY ABO/CBO

Each creative needs equal budget to compare fairly. CBO would pick one early and starve the rest.

DECISION GATES

IF: CPA above $10 at $30 spend

KILL - Pause campaign

IF: At least 1 purchase + 1 ad with CTR above 2%

GO TO PHASE 2 - You have a signal

EVALUATION POINT

After $30 total spend

2

Phase 2: Audience Test

Budget: $15/day
Duration: 3-4 days

Find the best audience for your winning creative. You now know what hook works — find who responds to it best.

3

Phase 3: Validation

Budget: $25-30/day
Duration: 3-5 days

Confirm CPA is consistent at slightly higher spend. You have 1 winning creative + 1 winning audience. Let Meta optimize automatically.

4

Phase 4: Scale

Budget: $50/day+
Duration: Ongoing

Grow volume while defending CPA. Budget increases in 30-40% steps max. Never double overnight.

QUICK REFERENCE

KILL RULES

Phase 1 kill:$30 (0 purchases)
Phase 2 kill:$20 per ad set (CPA > $8)
Phase 3 kill:3 days (CPA > $6)
Scale alarm:2x baseline (2 days)

STARTING BUDGET

Product price above $25?

Start at $15/day instead of $10

Ran this product before?

Skip Phase 1, go to Phase 2 with best creative

New niche/category?

Add 1 extra day to each phase

KEY INSIGHTS

1.

Never skip a phase gate. The phases are short — Phase 1 costs $30 total. That's the price of knowing whether a product is worth Phase 2.

2.

Phase gates are the most important part. Every product gets a maximum of $30 before its first kill/go decision. This discipline stops you from wasting money on losing products.

3.

Your v1 problem was using ABO the whole time. Even in validation and scale, ABO prevented budget from consolidating around winners. V2 fixes this with sequential tools.

4.

Budget increases reset the learning phase. Never increase more than 30-40% at a time. Give Meta time to learn after each increase.

Ready to implement the strategy? Start with Phase 1 and follow the decision gates.