A conversation I have been having lately, when auditing Paid Social Ads campaigns:
“The structure looks great!… for 2024. Unfortunately, this won’t work in 2026.”
“Why not?”
Those who are not in the industry suddenly think I’ve gone a bit too poetic when I mention….. Andromeda!
So I quickly have to clarify that this is Meta’s new retrieval-based, AI-powered ad retrieval and ranking system.
It replaced the previous ad infrastructure and represents the most significant change to how Meta serves ads in over a decade.
For those who like interesting facts: Meta chose the name as a poetic nod to the system’s sheer scale. Just as the Andromeda galaxy contains over a trillion stars and is constantly expanding, Meta’s algorithm was designed to search through tens of millions of potential ad-to-user matches in real time.
So, actually, the answer is poetic after all.
From Micro-Planets to Galaxy Signal Design
Until this galaxy revolution, Paid Social managers have been structuring their accounts based on heavy segmentation by audience and placement with separate ad sets for interests, lookalikes, and retargeting. And of course, with only up to 5-6 ads per ad set.
But Andromeda is significantly more advanced. It consolidates signals across audiences, placements, and behaviours to find conversion efficiency at scale. It needs “a good chunk” of data and “a good chunk” of creatives (so yes, we will need more than 5 ads per ad set).
Because in this large galaxy, our job is not to “control” performance, but to design systems that generate strong, clean signals for it.
Consolidation: The way to create strong, clean signals
Consolidation is key to creating these strong, clean signals. The algorithm is effectively searching through millions of potential ad-to-user combinations, so you want your data concentrated enough for Andromeda to detect patterns clearly. This enables faster learning and smoother scaling.
So instead of spreading the budget thin across multiple campaigns and ad sets, Meta increasingly rewards:
- Fewer campaigns
- Fewer ad sets
- More budget per learning system
- Broader targeting inputs
Campaign Structure Should Mirror Business Goals, Not Audiences
The first step in effective consolidation is structuring campaigns around business goals – not audience segments. This is the most scalable approach as it unifies signals towards the final business goal:
So, instead of: “TOF / MOF / BOF”
You should think:
- Acquisition vs Retention
- Lead vs Sales
- Geographic or operational constraints
Using Broad as Expanding Universe
If Meta needs consolidated data, broader targeting becomes the natural extension of that strategy.
We’re moving away from manual control, granular segmentation, and rigid funnel logic. Like it or not, Meta now has far more behavioural and predictive data on users than we can realistically process. This makes strict audience-based targeting increasingly obsolete.
A strong and diverse creative system is becoming the new targeting layer.
Creatives, the New Targeting Layer
Before Andromeda, audiences determined delivery. However, Andromeda now uses creative signals to determine which users should see an ad.
The goal of this retrieval engine is to create a “shortlist” of strong ads – not one universal winner, but a set of highly relevant variations that resonate differently across users. It is your hook and your message that determine audience qualification.
And this is where creativity and diversity becomes important: a “winning” ad for one person may be completely irrelevant for another, even if both share the same declared interest (for example, oily skin beauty products). Andromeda’s objective is to personalise delivery so the right user sees the right variation.
It’s no longer about quantity alone; it’s about meaningful variety.
The More Variety, the Higher the Chances of Finding Winners
Andromeda learns not only from clicks or conversions, but also from engagement patterns and interaction behaviour.
Small tweaks are no longer enough. Changing copy. Swapping backgrounds. Adjusting overlays. Reusing the same creator in slightly different shots. Meta increasingly interprets this as the same ad.
We are past the “find 7 differences” era. “Different” now means actually different:
- Different concepts and angles
- Different narrative frameworks (problem/solution, pain point, AIDA, testimonial-led, contrarian takes)
- Different formats (UGC, static, video, carousel)
- Different personas and funnel stages
Scaling Comes From Structured Creative Diversity
Talking about tapping into different personas, this is also one of the most reliable ways to scale.
Different people buy for different reasons (even if both have shown an interest in “interior decor”). The more motivators or hooks you put in front of Andromeda, the more chances it has to find a match.
Meta has even suggested in internal analysis that “different motivators unlock new audiences 89% of the time.” While this should be taken with caution, it aligns strongly with what we see in practice: creative variation drives expansion.
| Hooks | Proof Points | Persona | Messaging Inspiration | Key Shots |
| Problem / Solution | Easy clean / stain resistant / machine washable | “Mess-fatigued” households, first time home owners | “A rug that survives real life” | 1-15s reels showing real mess / quick clean-up moments |
| Discovery | Unroll moment / instant room transformation | Interior design lovers, renters, new home owners, home refresh shoppers | “This isn’t just a rug, it’s a room reset” | Wide angle room reveals, before/after transitions, unboxing and restyling reels |
| Design-led | Designed in the UK / aesthetic first / blends into interiors | Style-conscious,homeowners renters, Pinterest driven decorators | “Made to belong in your space, not compete with it” | Editorial style interiors, clean mid-range room shots, texture close ups |
| Style and comfort | Soft underfoots / cushioned feel / thickness | Comfort seekers, families spending time on the floor, pet owners | “Designed for the real life under your feet” | Feet-on-rug shots, lounging pets, cosy lifestyle moments, hard-floor contrast visuals |
| Safe / family living | Baby-safe materials / crawling / play-friendly | New parents, toddler households, safety conscious families | “Spills happen. This rug handles them” | Kids playing / reading lifestyle reels |
| Practicality | Machine washable / reversible /easy maintenance | Time-poor households, families with kids/pets, convenience first time buyers | “Wash it. Dry it. Back on the floor.’ | Corner pull-back demos, washing machine visuals, stain removal, quick reset room shots |
A strong scaling system usually includes:
- 3 – 4 fundamentally different hooks
- Distinct creative formats (UGC vs polished vs static)
- Different emotional triggers
- Different pacing and storytelling structures
However, before you roll out a completely new hook into your established campaign, you must ensure that you have tested it first. This is why a testing environment remains relevant and should continue to be part of your account structure.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Old structure:
- Campaign 1: TOF
- Campaign 2: MOF
- Campaign 3: BOF
Each has multiple ad sets and narrow budgets
New structure:
- 1-2 consolidated scaling campaigns
- 1 campaign focused on finding new people who will buy in your ecomm e-commerce store or submit a lead.
- 1 testing campaign
- Broad targeting (or minimal segmentation)
- Separate ad sets should only be used when there is a genuine difference in audience, objective, or, sometimes, budget allocation. For example: Distinct industries, significantly different audience profiles or geographic/operational requirements
- Each ad has a different purpose / hook
- Advantage+ placements fully enabled
- Retargeting often folded into the same ecosystem or significantly simplified
Start Building Galaxies, Not Micro Planets
The funny thing is that none of this is really about campaign structure. It is something more ‘poetic’, it’s about accepting that the system has changed.
For years, we built increasingly complex account structures – based on micro planets – to help Meta find the right people. Today, Meta is much better at finding those people than we are.
Our job is no longer to build endless audience combinations or separate every stage of the funnel into its own campaign. Our job is to create a galaxy that can feed the system with clear business objectives, enough data to learn, and enough creative variety to personalise the experience.
The irony is that campaign structures are becoming simpler while creative strategy is becoming more sophisticated.
We are spending less time organising audiences and more time understanding people. And honestly, I think that’s a much more interesting job.
