The most significant change in how we approach Meta advertising is that Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) are now treated almost exclusively as scaling campaigns, not testing grounds. A year or two ago, it was common to throw a mix of new and old creatives into an ASC, set a budget, and let the algorithm figure it out. That approach has become inefficient for scaling. The platform's algorithm now relies so heavily on creative to find your audience that feeding it unproven ads at a high budget is a recipe for wasted spend.
What works now is a two-part system: a dedicated testing environment and a separate scaling campaign. On the 2X eCommerce Podcast, both Marin Ištvanić and Sam Piliero refer to this as a “graduation program.” You start by using Adset Budget Optimization (ABO) campaigns with lower daily budgets to test your new creatives. This is your sandbox for finding what actually resonates with customers. An ad only becomes a “winner” after it proves its performance, for instance, by maintaining a stable CPA for at least three consecutive days.
Once you have a proven winner, you “graduate” it. This is the key step. You take the post ID of that winning ad, complete with all its likes, comments, and shares, and you move it into a dedicated Advantage+ Shopping Campaign. Marin Ištvanić made the point on Ecommerce Coffee Break that because you’re only importing proven ads, there’s a much lower chance the campaign will fail. This is the new media buying strategy that de-risks high-spend scaling. You’re giving the ASC algorithm a running start by feeding it creative that you already know works.
When it comes to actually scaling the budget past $1,000 a day, the process needs to be patient and deliberate. Marin Ištvanić warns against making drastic jumps. Doubling the budget from $500 to $1,000 can shock the system and reset the learning phase, wrecking your performance. The better path is gradual budget increases. If you’re at $500, try scaling to $700, letting it run for a few days to stabilize, and then pushing to $950. This incremental approach respects the algorithm and allows it to scale more predictably.
Finally, don't overload your scaling campaign. Just because you have a high budget doesn't mean you should cram it with ads. As Manel Gomez explained on Ecommerce Coffee Break, an ASC campaign will likely only put significant spend behind one or two of its best ads anyway. He suggests limiting your ASC to a maximum of five ads to avoid diluting the budget. This forces you to be disciplined about only graduating your absolute best creative and ensures your budget is focused on what’s driving results. Combining this focused creative testing, the graduation model, and patient budget increases is how you effectively scale past that $1k/day mark.
