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The best Meta ads campaign structure is the one your spend can feed

For Shopify store owners and marketers running Meta ads, the best Meta ads campaign structure is not one layout. Janani Kumar, who founded Tilly, runs four across client accounts, and all four are correct for the account they are on.

Sign-up starts with a free audit of your store. A card is saved, not charged, and you get 100 credits. Then connect Meta and run the check.

A Meta ads campaign structure by spend level, worked out in Tilly from one store's numbers: winners and tests in one campaign
campaign layouts the structure advisor picks between, sale events included
5campaign layouts the structure advisor picks between, sale events included
credits for a Signal Grid: 3 angles by 3 formats, 9 ads
15credits for a Signal Grid: 3 angles by 3 formats, 9 ads
credits to check your current Meta campaigns: read only, nothing in Meta changes
0credits to check your current Meta campaigns: read only, nothing in Meta changes
free credits when you sign up (a card is saved, not charged)
100free credits when you sign up (a card is saved, not charged)

Her playbook, Meta Ads Structure by Spend Level, is the basis of Tilly's structure advisor, so this page is partly about how Tilly thinks. It is quoted from her own page, linked below, and the choice between the four comes down to spend, creative volume and how your account behaves. source, checked 11 October 2026

Separate testing from scaling: the default

If you are not sure which Meta ads campaign structure you want, the playbook's answer is this one. One CBO for scaling winners, with 3 to 4 ad sets to spread budget, and one ABO for testing, with one ad set per angle. source, checked 11 October 2026

That is where the CBO vs ABO argument ends: each has a job. The testing ABO gives every angle its own budget, so a weak one cannot be starved before you read it. And an angle is a reason to buy, not a format or a hook variant, so three edits of one clip belong in one ad set. source, checked 11 October 2026

  • One CBO for winners, spread over several ad sets
  • One ABO for tests, one ad set per angle
  • An angle is a reason to buy
  • Formats of one angle compete in one ad set
Two ads from one Myndr Meta set written by Tilly, each a different angle with its own picture, on phones
Real Meta ads written by Tilly for Myndr

One campaign with spend limits, at low or high budget

At low budget, two campaigns split an already thin budget into piles too small to exit the learning phase. The low-budget layout keeps one campaign with a winners ad set and a test ad set, and the min limit on the winners ad set is not optional. source, checked 11 October 2026

Meta puts the line in numbers: structure ad sets to reach a minimum of 50 events over a 7-day period, or costs per result can rise. At high budget the same single campaign holds a new test ad set per batch, and a test that performs has its max limit removed and becomes a scaling ad set. source, checked 11 October 2026

  • One campaign, winners and tests apart
  • Min and max spend limits on tests
  • A min limit on winners
  • Promote by lifting the max, not rebuilding
Tilly working out a Meta ads campaign structure from the store numbers: winners and tests in one campaign

Scale in ABO, for accounts that find pockets

The fourth layout has no CBO anywhere: you are the budget optimiser. It works when many tests do well in small pocket audiences, because those pockets add up and a campaign budget will not chase them. source, checked 11 October 2026

It is the most manual of the four, so it suits an account where someone, or something, makes budget decisions every day. Tilly only suggests it when it reads pockets on target in your own Meta results, not because a thread said so.

  • No campaign budget
  • Each working ad set scaled by hand
  • For accounts with small profitable pockets
  • Daily decisions, by you or by rules
A Myndr Meta ad written by Tilly, "See your pattern", with the picture Tilly made for it, in a phone feed
A real Meta ad written by Tilly for Myndr

How to choose, and how Tilly does the choosing

The playbook asks three questions. If two campaigns would each be below the spend that gets you out of learning, run a single campaign with spend limits. If you ship one new concept a month, run the low-budget single campaign and put the effort into creative. And check how your account actually behaves. source, checked 11 October 2026

Tilly's structure advisor asks the same questions of your numbers: daily budget, target cost per sale and new angles a month, with your pixel and audiences read from Meta. It answers with a layout, budgets, spend limits and the Ads Manager steps. A Signal Grid of 3 angles by 3 formats, 9 ads for 15 credits plus 5 per image made, fills the test ad set. Building it in Ads Manager, campaign by campaign, is covered in how to structure a Meta ads account for Shopify. source, checked 11 October 2026

  • Daily budget against the learning spend
  • New angles a month
  • How your account behaves
  • A Signal Grid to fill the tests
The Signal Grid in Tilly: three angles by three formats, statics ready and videos to record

See what your store is missing

Paste your store URL. Tilly reads the storefront, your reviews and your marketing, and comes back with a store score, your customer personas and a 30-day plan.

Sign-up starts with a free audit of your store. A card is saved, not charged, and you get 100 credits. Then connect Meta and run the check.

Shopify stores marketing with Tilly

  • Margaret's Fine Consignments
  • Creo Fleur Atelier
  • Brooklyn Transfers
  • Myndr
  • Whimsical What's It Press

Questions people ask

CBO vs ABO: which is better?

Neither, on its own. In the playbook's default layout, CBO scales proven winners and ABO tests new angles, each in its own campaign. source, checked 11 October 2026

What is the best Meta ads campaign structure for a new store?

A low budget usually means one campaign: a winners ad set with a min spend limit and one test ad set with min and max limits. Two campaigns would split the budget into piles too small to exit learning. source, checked 11 October 2026

How many ad sets should a scaling campaign have?

In the split layout, 3 to 4, so the budget is spread and one tired ad does not take the account down with it. source, checked 11 October 2026

Does Tilly build the campaigns for me?

No. Tilly suggests the structure with its budgets and spend limits, and you set it up in Ads Manager. It can write the ads that go in it and check your setup against it.

Can I change structure later?

Yes, and you should when the account changes. The playbook ends on it: literally just do what works for your account. source, checked 11 October 2026

Sources

  1. Janani Kumar: jananikumar.ca/blog/meta-ads-structure-by-spend-level/, checked 11 October 2026
  2. Meta: developers.meta.com/vr/resources/launch-ad-campaign/, checked 11 October 2026

Spotted a price or fact that has changed? Report an error.

Check your Meta campaign structure on your own account

Sign up free with the store audit and confirm the customer personas it finds. Connect Meta in Integrations, open Campaign structure under Ads and press Check my current setup. Tilly reads your campaigns and changes nothing.

Sign-up starts with a free audit of your store. A card is saved, not charged, and you get 100 credits. Then connect Meta and run the check.