Why Your Facebook CPMs Are So High Right Now and How to Actually Fix Them

If you’ve been running Facebook ads lately and noticed your CPMs going through the roof, you’re not alone. I’ve been getting messages left and right from people in my Inner Circle program and those going through my 7-week live training Master Internet Marketing freaking out about their cost per thousand impressions skyrocketing. It’s affecting pretty much everyone right now.

But here’s the thing: while everyone else is panicking and shutting down their campaigns, there’s actually a way to work through this and come out ahead. Below I break down exactly what’s happening with CPMs right now and give you real strategies businesses I’ve worked with are using to deal with it.

What’s Actually Causing High CPMs on Facebook Right Now

First, let’s talk about what’s actually going on. CPMs are high right now for a few different reasons, and understanding why is the first step to fixing the problem.

• Competition: More businesses are advertising on Facebook than ever before. According to recent data, Meta’s advertising revenue continues to climb as more businesses compete for the same inventory. When I first started running ads years ago, Facebook was still relatively new for advertisers. Now? Everyone and their mother is running campaigns, which means there’s way more competition for the same ad space.

• Algorithm sophistication: Facebook’s algorithm has gotten more sophisticated. They’re better at identifying which ads are going to perform well and are prioritizing those ads in the auction. If your ads aren’t engaging, you’ll pay more to get them shown.

• Economic factors: The economy plays a role too. When businesses are doing well, they spend more on advertising. When there’s uncertainty, some businesses pull back while others double down trying to capture market share. Right now we’re in a weird spot where certain industries are spending heavily while others are struggling.

When competition goes up, prices go up – basic supply and demand.

Stop Blaming the Platform and Look at Your Own Campaigns

When CPMs rise, people often blame Facebook. They’ll say the platform is broken or that Facebook is trying to squeeze more money out of advertisers.

Facebook is a business and they want to make money. But if your CPMs are high, it’s usually because there’s something wrong with your approach — not because Facebook is out to get you.

I’ve seen accounts in the same industry, targeting similar audiences, with wildly different CPMs. The difference? The quality of their creative, their offer, their targeting strategy, and how well they understand their audience.

The people who complain the loudest about high CPMs are usually running the same tired ads they’ve used for months. They’re not testing new creative, refining targeting, or adapting to platform evolution.

So before you blame Facebook, take a hard look at your campaigns. In my experience, there’s almost always room for improvement.

Why “Better Creative” Is the Fastest Way to Lower Your CPMs

If there’s one thing that will lower your CPMs more than anything else, it’s better creative. I cannot stress this enough.

Facebook wants to show ads that people actually want to see. When your ad gets high engagement, Facebook rewards you with lower costs. When people scroll right past your ad or hide it, you’ll pay through the nose.

The problem is most people put out really boring creative: stock photos, generic copy, and ads that look like every other ad in the feed. Of course your CPMs will be high if your creative isn’t connecting.

You need to test new creative constantly — multiple new ads every single week. Try different hooks, different images, and different video styles. See what resonates with your audience.

I’ve noticed user-generated-content-style ads almost always outperform polished, professional-looking ads. People don’t want to feel like they’re being sold to; they want content that feels native to the platform.

So instead of a perfectly lit product shot with heavy graphics, try a simple video shot on an iPhone. Make it look like something a regular person would post. That authenticity matters right now.

Targeting Adjustments That Can Reduce Wasted Ad Spend

Another huge factor in your CPMs is targeting. If you’re targeting too broadly, you’re wasting money showing your ads to people who will never buy from you.

Facebook has been pushing broad targeting for a while — and in some cases broad targeting works well, especially if you have a lot of conversion data for the algorithm to learn from.

But if your CPMs are high and your campaigns aren’t performing, you probably need to tighten things up. Think about who your actual customer is — not who you want them to be, but who actually buys from you. Get specific about demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Use your existing customer data. If you’re not uploading customer lists and creating lookalike audiences, you’re missing one of the most powerful targeting tools Facebook offers. First-party data has become increasingly valuable as privacy changes limit third-party tracking.

Lookalike audiences based on your best customers will almost always have lower CPMs than cold targeting because Facebook knows these people are more likely to engage with your ads and convert.

Your Offer Needs to Be Strong Enough to Cut Through the Noise

When ad costs are low, you can get away with a mediocre offer. When CPMs are high, your offer needs to be absolutely dialed in.

If people see your ad and the offer doesn’t immediately make them want to click, you’ll struggle. Your offer needs to be compelling enough to cut through all the noise in the feed.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to discount heavily or give things away for free. But you do need to clearly communicate the value you’re providing and why someone should care right now.

Think about the transformation you’re offering. What problem are you solving? What result will someone achieve? Lead with that.

Test different offers. Maybe free shipping beats a percentage discount. Maybe a bundle deal outperforms a single-product promotion. You won’t know until you test.

How to Structure Your Campaigns to Avoid Driving Up Your Own Costs

How you structure campaigns can have a big impact on your CPMs. I see many people running messy account structures with too many ad sets competing against each other.

When you have a bunch of ad sets with small budgets all targeting similar audiences, they end up competing in the same auctions and driving up costs for yourself.

Consolidate your campaigns. Give Facebook more budget to work with in fewer ad sets. This allows the algorithm to optimize more effectively and usually results in lower CPMs.

I’m not saying put all your eggs in one basket. But if you have ten ad sets each spending $5 a day, you’re probably better off consolidating into two or three ad sets with larger budgets.

Use Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO). Let Facebook distribute budget to the ad sets that are performing best. The algorithm is good at this and will help you avoid wasting money on underperforming ad sets.

How Timing and Placement Choices Affect Your CPMs

CPMs aren’t consistent throughout the day or across placements. Understanding this helps optimize costs.

• Timing: CPMs are generally higher during peak times when more people are on the platform and more advertisers compete for space. If you’re in a competitive industry, you might get better results advertising during off-peak hours when there’s less competition.

• Placements: Instagram feed placements often have different CPMs than Facebook feed placements. Stories might be cheaper than feed in some niches.

I generally recommend starting with automatic placements and letting Facebook optimize. But if your CPMs are consistently high, dig into placement data and see where you’re actually getting results. You might be spending a ton on placements that aren’t converting – cut those out and focus your budget on what’s working.

Why Scaling Too Fast Destroys Your CPM Efficiency

When you find a campaign that’s working and CPMs are reasonable, the temptation is to scale it up as fast as possible. Aggressive scaling is one of the quickest ways to shoot your CPMs through the roof.

When you dramatically increase your budget, Facebook has to find more people to show your ads to. That often means expanding beyond your best audience and showing ads to people who are less likely to engage.

Scale gradually: 20 – 30% increases every few days, not doubling your budget overnight. This gives the algorithm time to adjust and find new pockets of your target audience without destroying performance.

And when you scale, keep testing new creative. Your ad will experience fatigue as it gets shown to more people. You need fresh creative in the pipeline to maintain performance as you grow.

The Long Term Approach to Managing Rising Ad Costs

Here’s the thing about high CPMs that nobody wants to hear: they’re probably not going away anytime soon. Digital advertising costs have been trending upward across platforms as competition increases. The platform is getting more competitive and costs are generally trending upward over time.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t be profitable. It means you need to be smarter about how you advertise.

The advertisers who will win long term are the ones who constantly improve their skills, test new strategies, and adapt to platform changes. If you’re still running ads the same way you did two years ago, you’ll struggle.

Invest in learning: courses, coaching, or spending time analyzing your own data to figure out what works. The more you understand how Facebook ads actually work, the better your results will be.

If you’re serious about mastering Facebook ads and building a real business, the Inner Circle goes deeper into the frameworks I use. For a more structured approach, Master Internet Marketing is a 7-week live comprehensive training that covers these systems in detail.

Results are not typical. Your results will vary and depend entirely on your individual capacity, business experience, expertise, and level of desire. There are no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience. The testimonials and examples used are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. We don’t believe in get-rich-quick programs. We believe in hard work, adding value, and serving others. As stated by law, we cannot and do not make any guarantees about your own ability to get results or earn any money with our information, courses, programs, or strategies.

What to Do This Week to Start Lowering Your CPMs

High CPMs are frustrating — I deal with it too. But sitting around complaining isn’t going to change anything.

You have more control over your costs than you think. Better creative, smarter targeting, a compelling offer, and proper campaign structure can dramatically improve your CPMs even in a competitive environment.

Start with your creative. That’s the biggest lever you can pull right now. If you’re not testing new ads every single week, start there.

Then review your targeting and make sure you’re not wasting money on people who will never buy from you. Use your customer data to build better audiences.

Finally, make sure your offer is strong enough to cut through the noise. When ad costs are high, you can’t afford to be mediocre.

The businesses thriving with Facebook ads right now aren’t necessarily spending less — they’re just getting much better results for what they spend. Focus on getting better results, and the CPMs will become less of a barrier.

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