The Pubcast with Jon Loomer

For fifteen years Jon has written every word on his blog, so publishing an AI-generated post cut against everything he believes about content. But the master brief behind it was consolidated entirely from his own work and labeled as AI up front. Jon explains why transparency and a real problem to solve are what separate useful AI content from the empty kind.

Advertisers treat every drop in performance as creative fatigue, but what they're actually seeing is Meta shifting delivery from remarketing audiences to prospecting. That initial boost from low-hanging fruit isn't sustainable, and the decline that follows is normal, not a sign your creative is exhausted. Jon explains why creative fatigue is far less common than it used to be, how to use audience...

Once campaign construction is simplified, it's just you and your ads, and advertisers tend to either micromanage everything or freeze up and do nothing. Jon explains why starting with one or two ads is enough, how to evaluate performance in aggregate rather than obsessing over individual winners, and when to shift focus from creating more ads to fixing your landing page.

Jon's profile was incorrectly flagged for suspicious activity while posting in his own private Facebook group, and after identity verification failed without explanation, he was locked out of group activity with no timeline or recourse. He wasn't violating any rules, and Meta isn't even claiming he was. Jon explains why this experience exposes how broken Meta's AI-driven moderation and verificatio...

Meta ads misinformation spreads because it pays in clicks and impressions, and advertisers with the smallest knowledge foundation are the most susceptible. Jon uses the customer lifecycle strategy feature as a case study in how one screenshot and unverified claims about new superpowers went viral, only for the feature to do nothing new at all. He explains why believable misinformation is the most...

Today's question is about whether to split worldwide targeting into separate ad sets grouped by CPM when promoting a low-cost digital product on a $100 daily budget. That approach can help with lead campaigns, but purchases change the equation since Meta shouldn't waste budget on countries that don't convert. Jon explains why starting with a single ad set and monitoring the country breakdown makes...

Following best practices and simplifying campaign construction doesn't guarantee results, and advertisers who do everything right still get anxious when they're not constantly tweaking settings. Jon explains why your energy belongs on the ads, your offer, and your landing page rather than campaign complexity, and why these three things in that order are where you'll make the most impact.

Most advertisers obsess over placement performance, demographic distribution, ad-level micromanagement, and data discrepancies between Ads Manager and other platforms, but Jon spends almost no time on any of it. Jon explains why these seven common concerns are rarely worth your energy when optimizing for conversions, why the exceptions are narrower than most advertisers think, and where to focus i...

Advertisers love restricting demographics, removing placements, and splitting budgets across ad sets, but most of these decisions are based on feelings rather than data. Jon explains why every change that adds complexity should be tied to a specific measurable problem, why Meta's algorithm already handles most of what advertisers try to control, and why value rules should be your first move before...

Today's question is about how advertisers should approach AI tools like Claude's new connection to Meta ads. AI has enormous potential for creative development, but it's not a replacement for knowledge. Jon explains why advertisers without a strong foundation will just execute bad strategies faster, why creative is the most promising use case, and why treating AI automation as a magic pill is the...

Struggling ad accounts keep making the same mistakes, from undefined audience segments and unnecessary remarketing to inflated conversion results and overcomplicated campaign structures. Jon explains the most common problems he sees when auditing accounts, why each one reflects a misunderstanding of how Meta's algorithm works, and how to fix them.

Today's question is about how to decide when new Meta features like push delivery or AI platform connectors are worth testing. New features carry risk because there's no track record for effectiveness or problems to watch for. Jon explains why your appetite for risk matters most, why you should only experiment when you have a specific problem to solve rather than tinkering when results are already...

Advertisers fixate on delivery details like which ads Meta shows, placement distribution, or age skews, but rarely ask the most important question: is this actually a problem tied to bad results? Obsessing over inconsequential quirks almost always leads to unproductive tinkering that destroys consistency. Jon explains why you need to separate real delivery problems from gut-feeling complaints, why...

Today's question is about what to do when one ad takes 50% of your budget and performance starts declining over time. Jon explains why uneven budget distribution isn't necessarily a problem, how push delivery can test whether Meta's allocation is correct, and why creating new and uniquely different ads is almost always the real solution over micromanaging which ads get spend. Want your question to...

The biggest challenge in Meta advertising isn't any single feature or update, it's the relentless pace of change that makes best practices obsolete within months. Jon explains why he stopped creating training courses after producing two that became immediately irrelevant, how he built an ad briefs library that stays current by pulling from his most recent content, and why solving the shelf-life pr...

Today's question is about the right funnel strategy for high-ticket consumer products on Meta. Cheaper leads don't automatically mean cheaper conversions, and a small discount may attract the wrong people while missing buyers who would purchase without one. Jon explains why optimizing straight for the purchase should always be tested first, why a tightly connected lead magnet beats a generic disco...

Advertisers are quick to shut off ads when results look bad, but poor short-term performance isn't the same as wasted budget. New businesses and first-time advertisers are building awareness and data even when early numbers look awful. Jon explains why overreacting to initial results is usually a mistake, when you're actually wasting money through high volumes of junk traffic or mismatched demogra...

Today's question is about whether adding too many ads to a single ad set can actually hurt delivery. Meta removed its old recommendation of no more than six ads per ad set, but that doesn't mean more is always better. Jon explains why starting small with a couple of creatively diverse ads and adding more only when needed is the smarter approach, why the delivery algorithm may get lost when it has...

Two new features are changing how Jon creates ads. Push delivery lets you force spend to any existing ad to get answers, eliminating the need to start every new ad with a creative test. And the new creative workflow lets you combine multiple images and videos into a single ad with customizable text and URLs per creative, consolidating what used to require dozens of separate ads. Jon explains why b...

Today's question is about the recommended structure and access levels between a client and agency when onboarding. Setting this up incorrectly can lead to serious problems, including getting accounts banned. Jon explains why the client should own all of their own assets and add your agency as a partner rather than a person, what access levels to grant for each asset, and why sharing login credenti...

Meta has spent years removing advertiser control over targeting and placements, so actively encouraging value rules seemed contradictory. But it makes sense when you see where things are headed. Jon explains how a new test version lets you bid based on custom audience labels for lead quality and customer value, why value rules fill a knowledge gap the algorithm can't solve alone, and why they'll r...

Today's question is about whether to exclude existing customers from your ads when you want to acquire new ones, and how to do it. Meta retargets existing customers by default, which isn't automatically a problem because those people convert easily and keep your costs down, but it can mask real performance or lower your average order value. Jon explains why you need to confirm there's an actual pr...

Advertisers love to blame Meta when results tank, pointing to outages, Advantage+ enhancements, and automated settings as proof the platform is out to get them. There's a little truth in every complaint, which is exactly why they spread, but they're also excuses that keep you from finding actual solutions. Jon explains why blaming Meta makes you look like an amateur to clients, how to troubleshoot...

Today's question is about whether a brand new ad account, Facebook page, and pixel need any special treatment before running sales campaigns. Conventional wisdom says to build followers first, run awareness campaigns, or season the pixel with top-of-funnel activity. Jon explains why these recommendations are nonsense and often counterproductive, how building low-quality engagement early can poison...

Agencies that hide ad accounts from clients claim their campaign setup is proprietary, but modern best practices mean minimal campaigns and simplified structures that aren't worth hiding. The real value an advertiser brings isn't something a client can copy by looking at your settings. Jon explains why hiding your work destroys trust, why the fear of being replaced means you need to rethink where...