Troubleshooting Meta Retargeting Ad Sets Not Spending

Issue: Your Meta retargeting ad set is active, but it is not spending.

This can happen when Meta does not have enough audience data to deliver the ad set. It can also happen if the campaign, catalog, dataset, or event flow is not set up correctly.

Why this happens:

Meta recently changed how audience targeting works for Automotive Inventory Ads, also known as AIA.

BuyerBridge now uses custom audiences in AIA playbooks to retarget shoppers who interacted with the selected vehicle set. Prospecting ad sets exclude this audience. Retargeting ad sets target this audience only.

Because these are custom audiences, Meta may need more matched users before the retargeting ad set can spend. This is more common when the product set is small or has limited recent activity.

What to check

1. Make sure the product set has enough recent activity

Retargeting depends on shoppers first interacting with your inventory.

Check the number of ViewContent events from Sales or Leads ad sets that use the same product set.

To estimate whether the audience is large enough:

1. Find the ViewContent events from the last 30 days.
2. Divide that number by the frequency shown in Meta.
3. If the result is under 1,000, the audience likely has not met Meta’s minimum threshold yet.

Some accounts may need more than 1,000 events because of Meta’s privacy and audience matching rules.

What to do next:

Give the prospecting ad set enough budget and time to build the audience. If Meta turned the retargeting ad set off because it did not spend, turn it back on in BuyerBridge after enough events have built up.

2. Set a minimum spend for the retargeting ad set

Meta may send most or all of the budget to prospecting if there is no minimum spend set for retargeting.

Recommended setting: 25% minimum spend

What to do next:

Add a minimum spend amount to the retargeting ad set. This helps reserve budget for retargeting instead of letting Meta push all spend toward prospecting.

3. Confirm Event Flow is sending content IDs

The dataset should send content IDs, not VINs.

Correct format:

2XXXXXXX

If Meta receives VINs instead of content IDs, it may not be able to match website activity to the catalog. This can prevent the retargeting audience from building.

What to do next:

Check Event Flow and confirm the dataset is sending content IDs in the correct format.

4. Confirm the correct dataset is connected to the automotive catalog

The correct dataset must be connected to the client’s automotive catalog in Meta Commerce Manager.

To check this:

1. Open Commerce Manager.
2. Go to the client’s catalog.
3. Select Settings.
4. Review the event sources connected to the catalog.
5. Confirm that the correct Dataset ID is listed.

What to do next:

If the wrong dataset is connected, update the catalog connection in Meta so the correct dataset is used.

5. Confirm the campaign is using the correct catalog

The campaign must use the correct automotive catalog.

To check this:

1. Open the campaign where the retargeting ad set is not spending.
2. Find the catalog being used by the campaign.
3. Click View to confirm it is correct.

For AIA Lead campaigns, check the catalog at the ad set level.

For AIA Sales campaigns, check the catalog at the campaign level.

What to do next:

If the wrong catalog is being used, create or update the campaign with the correct catalog setup.

6. Check for extra pixels or datasets on the website

Multiple pixels or datasets can send mixed signals to Meta.

What to do next:

If there are extra pixels or datasets on the website, ask the site provider to remove any incorrect or duplicate pixels.

If the ad set still does not spend

If the custom catalog audience still does not work after the steps above, you may need to replace it with a website custom audience.

Contact BuyerBridge Support if the issue continues. Include the campaign name, ad set name, catalog name, dataset ID, and what you found during troubleshooting. This helps our team review the issue faster.