Marcus Burke is a Meta Ads specialist and full-funnel growth marketer. He joins the Price Power Podcast to break down how subscription apps should think about Meta's AI-driven advertising, creative targeting, and signal engineering in 2026.
Ten Key Insights from the Episode
1. Blended CPA is Irrelevant
A blended CPA (average cost per acquisition across all campaigns) is misleading and shouldn't drive your strategy. Different audiences, geographies, and campaign objectives have different economics.
Instead, focus on your target CAC for each funnel stage and compare actual CAC vs. target. A $15 CPA in one market might be great; in another, it's unviable.
2. Creative Format Determines Your Audience
Your creative format (video, static image, carousel) doesn't just affect performance—it determines who sees your ad. Meta's algorithm shows video to people interested in video content. It shows static images to different audiences.
Choose your creative format strategically based on your target audience, not just based on what performs well. The format is targeting.
3. Consolidation Kills Performance
Consolidating multiple campaigns into one "broad" campaign in hopes of simplifying management usually backfires. The algorithm performs better when you give it clear, distinct objectives and creative.
Keep campaigns separated by objective, audience intent, and creative type. This gives Meta's algorithm clarity to optimize better.
4. Signal Engineering is a Trap (If Done Wrong)
Optimizing on too-specific signals (e.g., "trial_started_with_3_sessions") reduces volume and makes learning harder. The Goldilocks signal is lower-middle funnel: clear intent, fast delivery, sufficient volume.
5. Paid Social Needs Different Onboarding
Users from paid ads have different expectations and behaviors than organic users. Your onboarding should reflect this. Paid users are motivated by your ad promise, so deliver on that immediately.
6. Find Your Aha Moment
Identify the single most important moment in your app where a user realizes "this app is awesome." Get all users to that moment as fast as possible. This moment drives retention and LTV more than any other factor.
7. You're Not Really Running Broad
Even when you're using "broad" targeting (no detailed targeting parameters), Meta's algorithm is targeting. It's just doing it based on behavioral data rather than explicit demographics.
This is actually better than manual targeting in most cases. Let the algorithm work. Give it good signals and stay out of its way.
8. Guide the Algorithm, Don't Force It
Your job isn't to manually control who sees your ads. It's to provide good signals and let the algorithm optimize. Set a clear objective (conversion, ROAS), provide good data, and let Meta find the right audience.
9. Multiple Price Points for Broad Audiences
If you're targeting a broad audience (wide demographic, wide geo), offer multiple price points. Some users will convert on $4.99. Others will only convert on $9.99 or $19.99.
Dynamic pricing or multiple product tiers let you capture the full spectrum of your audience. Stick with a single price and you leave money on the table.
10. Value Rules in an AI World
With Meta's AI-driven optimization, clear value communication is more important than ever. Your creative should communicate specific, tangible benefits ("Save 2 hours per week") rather than abstract benefits ("Improve your life").
AI algorithms can optimize on clear signals better than on vague aspirations. Be specific about value, and let the algorithm optimize toward your highest-value audiences.
Key Takeaway
In an AI-driven ad landscape, success comes from: (1) clear creative format and message, (2) good signals to feed the algorithm, (3) multiple monetization tiers for different audiences, and (4) letting the algorithm do its job without micromanaging.
The old playbook of narrow targeting, manual audience building, and heavy creative testing is dead. The new playbook is: give the algorithm clear objectives, good data, and multiple options (prices, creatives, audiences), then trust it to optimize.
