Our Instagram ad costs have doubled and we can't figure out why — is anyone else seeing this?

First thing you should check in Ads Manager is your Frequency metric. If frequency climbed over 2.5 or 3 over the last 14 days, your audience is sick of seeing those ads. Turn the campaign off and launch fresh with 3 brand-new video hooks.

Same niche here, targeting NY and California. Our CPM shot up from 22 to 36 USD as well. But once we started swapping out creatives every single week, CPM cooled down to 24 USD. Static images are dead, raw selfie-style talking head videos are the only thing converting.

You said you didn't change anything, and that's likely your exact problem. On social ad platforms, changing nothing means falling behind. If your competitors are testing dozens of new angles every week and you're running the same stuff from two months ago your costs will inevitably double.

Could there be an issue with your conversion tracking setup? If missing or duplicate purchase signals are being sent via the pixel or API, the algorithm might be getting confused with bid optimization and targeting the wrong user cluster. Have you checked your event quality match score?

everyone's dealing with the same thing. when the big brands pump massive budgets cpms for small businesses go through the roof. focus on vertical video, it balances out the costs a bit.

Don't get discouraged, these fluctuations happen all the time in e-commerce and consulting. Temporarily cut your budget by around 30 percent, and start running short video testimonials from your existing customers as ads. Content that feels organic usually brings down auction costs pretty quickly.

To sum up the discussion, the issue seems to be creative fatigue and audience saturation rather than general platform competition. Solution: 1) Switch to broad targeting, 2) Fresh video creatives, 3) Audit pixel data health.

Let me share my experience. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Absolutely. If I were to add anything: Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.

A page with low traffic might be reaching the right people. Look at where sales come from. If you post the result here, it will help others too.

We got stuck at the same point for a while. Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.

My perspective changed after experiencing that. Ranking is the result, search intent is the input. Look at intent first.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Let me summarize what's been said so far. When making decisions write down the worst-case scenario too, not just the best.

Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently. If I were you, I'd go this route.

How did you solve this? When making a decision first look at what data you have on hand.

People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Same here.

I've been dealing with this for a long time. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

We need to take it step by step. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

I'm in the same situation that's why I'm asking. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.