Olivia Kory, Chief Strategy Officer from Haus, walks through an 18-month review of 640 incrementality tests run by Haus to compare Meta’s Advantage+ campaigns with manual setups. She explains the shift from hands-on targeting to AI-led buying, why incrementality matters more than platform-reported conversions, and how Geolift holdouts estimate true lift without user-level data. The results show a strong overall impact from Meta, but mixed performance from Advantage+ versus manual, along with signs that mid-funnel optimization can change outcomes. She ends with practical cautions on interpreting automation results and the need to test by brand.

Takeaways

• Incrementality testing helps separate real lift from conversions that would have happened anyway.
• Meta tends to deliver measurable lift quickly, though attribution settings change what you see.
• Advantage+ performs inconsistently against manual campaigns and can skew toward low funnel intent.
• Mid-funnel signal engineering may broaden reach and improve omnichannel effects, but needs validation.

Chapters

00:00 Overview of the research question on AI buying and outcomes. 03:10 How Meta buying moved from manual controls to automated setups.

06:05 Why incrementality matters more than reported conversions.

09:00 Geolift holdout method and cross-channel measurement.

12:10 What the wider Meta test set shows about lift and timing.

16:05 Advantage+ versus manual results and efficiency gaps.

19:20 Possible reasons for the Advantage+ pattern and open questions.

21:10 Signal engineering and mid-funnel optimization approach.

24:20 Final cautions and how to apply testing to your own brand.

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