The truth is, performance rarely shifts for just one reason. It’s usually a combination of variables inside your account (the choices you’ve made) and forces outside your control (the market and the platform). And when you’re staring at a dashboard that suddenly looks “off,” it’s easy to chase fixes that don’t address the real cause.
When results dip for my clients, I don’t start by changing everything at once. I start by diagnosing. There are three high-impact areas that most often explain the movement and give us the clearest next step: changes to objectives or targeting, creative changes, and broader platform trends.
1. Changes to Objectives or Targeting
When you compare performance month over month, first confirm you’re actually comparing like for like. If the setup changed, the metrics will change, often dramatically, and that isn’t necessarily a problem. For example, if last month you ran Reach campaigns with broad targeting, and this month you’ve shifted to Traffic or Site Conversions with retargeting, you’re asking the platform to do a completely different job. Reach is designed to find the cheapest impressions across a wide pool and conversion-focused delivery is designed to prioritize people most likely to click or purchase, which typically means narrower audiences, more competitive inventory, and higher CPMs.
That’s why the examples of results above aren’t an apples-to-apples comparison, and why CPM isn’t the north star for Traffic or Conversions. In many cases, paying more per thousand impressions is an expected tradeoff to drive higher-intent actions. The better question is whether the shift improved the KPIs that match your goal: CTR/CPC for Traffic, and CPA/ROAS (or cost per purchase) for Conversions.
2. Creative Changes (or Lack Thereof)
When performance declines, one of the first things to assess is the creative currently running. Creative arguably has the greatest influence on performance: shaping how consumers perceive a brand, how they engage with it, and how well they remember it. When ads run for an extended period, typically a month or longer on most social platforms, they can suffer from creative fatigue. At that point, users have seen the same ad repeatedly, and it begins to blend into the background of their feeds.
Keep in mind that while creative fatigue can drag down performance, introducing new creative can also lead to a short-term dip. As new ads begin to scale, performance often lags during the first week or two. During this time, the platform’s algorithm is learning which audiences are most likely to respond based on the objective or tactic in play. Once that learning phase stabilizes, performance typically improves.
3. Platform Trends
While we have direct control over campaign objectives, targeting, and creative, not every factor influencing performance is within our control. External trends can have a significant impact, ranging from seasonality and cultural shifts to broader economic conditions.
The good news is that a lack of control doesn’t mean a lack of options. If you’ve evaluated all the levers available to you and still can’t identify the cause, your next step should be to connect with your platform representatives. They can provide valuable insight into broader trends they’re observing across the platform. Are performance declines widespread across advertisers? That may point to a larger cultural or economic shift, signaling the need for updated messaging or adjusted targeting. If the impact is isolated to a specific vertical or tied to seasonality, the solution may be more tactical such as implementing bid caps to help stabilize KPIs during periods of volatility.
A dip in performance doesn’t always require an immediate overhaul: it requires clarity. By first asking the right questions about objectives and targeting, creative, and broader platform trends, you can move from reactive changes to intentional optimizations. These three areas won’t explain every fluctuation, but they consistently surface the most meaningful insights and next steps. When you slow down to diagnose before you optimize, you’re far more likely to protect performance, avoid unnecessary disruption, and make changes that actually move the needle.