How do Facebook ad delivery and budget pacing work?

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1. Why are my Facebook ads not spending their budget?

   Nine fixes for a campaign that won't spend its budget, starting with Meta's spending limits and your bid.

2. Why are my Facebook ads not delivering?

   Eight checks for ads that aren't delivering, from the Delivery column to review, payment, schedule and bids.

3. How do I set a safe daily Meta ads budget?

   A worksheet that sets a safe daily ceiling from the cash you can actually spend.

Why is my campaign not spending its budget?

• Why is my Facebook cost cap campaign not spending?

  Whether a cost cap that won't spend is broken, how high to set the cost per result goal, and five fixes.

• Is my Facebook ad restricted by policy or by the auction?

  Whether a barely spending campaign is held back by a policy flag or by losing auctions, since the fixes run opposite.

• How do I tell if Meta is down or my account is broken?

  How to tell a platform-wide Meta fault from a problem in your own account before you cut budgets.

Why does one ad set get all the budget?

• Why is Meta spending my whole budget on one ad set?

  When a campaign budget is right to concentrate spend on one ad set, and how to protect a test.

• Why does my test ad set get no budget in a winning campaign?

  How ad set spend limits keep a test ad set funded inside a campaign budget.

Why are my catalog ads not delivering?

• Why are my Meta catalog ads not delivering?

  A feed-health checklist for catalog ads that stall: disapprovals, missing fields and stock.

• How do I check my Meta product catalog for errors?

  A field-by-field check of your catalog's IDs, prices, stock and GTINs.

Is my targeting too narrow, or competing with itself?

• What does it mean when Meta says my audience is too small?

  What Meta's audience-too-small warning is measured against, and the order to fix it.

• What is the minimum source audience size for a Meta lookalike?

  The source sizes Meta documents for lookalike audiences, and what quietly changes the result.

• Should I use Advantage+ audience or interest targeting?

  How Advantage+ audience differs from interest targeting, when interests should stay hard limits, and how to test both.

• Should I use broad or narrow targeting on Meta?

  A test for whether broad or narrow targeting suits your account.

• How do I check and fix audience overlap on Facebook?

  What audience overlap is, how Meta handles your overlapping ad sets in the auction, and how to measure and reduce it.

Is my bid strategy holding delivery back?

• How do I choose a Meta bid strategy?

  A matrix of Meta bid strategies, what each trades off, and when to avoid it.

• Which Meta bid strategy should I use?

  How to choose between cost cap, bid cap and minimum ROAS from your contribution margin.

• Should I use value optimisation or purchase optimisation?

  When value optimization buys revenue you don't keep, and when purchase count protects margin.

• Should I use manual bidding on Meta in 2026?

  When to put a cost cap or ROAS floor back into an automated account without breaking learning.

Did a payment problem stop my ads?

• Why did my Meta ads payment fail?

  A diagnostic tree for failed Meta ad payments: account status, payment method, limits and currency.

• Why did my Meta ad spend suddenly stop with no error?

  A triage for billing faults behind a sudden drop in spend, from declined cards to spending limits.

• How do I know if a campaign is really failing?

  Checks that separate a losing campaign from a billing or delivery fault.

Why does my spend run above or below the budget?

• Why is Facebook spending more than my daily budget?

  How Meta paces a daily budget across the week, and how to tell normal pacing from a fault.

• How should budget pacing change as I scale?

  How budget pacing should change as monthly spend grows.

• Did my budget edit cause the performance drop?

  How to tell whether a budget edit caused a performance change or it was ordinary variance.

How fast can I raise my budget?

• When is it safe to increase my Meta ads budget?

  A readiness gate to pass before raising a budget: contribution, CAC and concentration.

• How much can I increase my Facebook ad budget?

  Safe budget steps and how often to take them, by monthly spend.

• What should I check before changing a Meta ads budget?

  Five account-health checks to run before you raise or cut a budget.

Why did my CPM or CPA suddenly rise?

• Why is my Facebook CPM suddenly so high?

  How Facebook CPM is set, whether the rise is yours or everyone's, and seven ways to bring it down.

• Did the Meta Andromeda update make my CPA go up?

  What Meta has published about Andromeda, and an order for diagnosing a CPA rise.

• Why does my CPA keep rising?

  Common reasons CPA keeps climbing, and steps to bring spend back in line with profit.

Where is my budget being wasted?

• What are the most common Meta Ads mistakes that waste budget?

  Ten setup mistakes that waste budget, each with its fix.

• What are the most common revenue leaks in a Meta ads account?

  Ten common leaks in a Meta ad account, and the fix that closes each one.