How should I plan my Meta budget for Black Friday as ad prices rise?
Our take
Meta's Q3 2026 results, published on 21 October, say the average price per ad rose 14% year on year and ad impressions across its apps rose 10%. Revenue was $64.60bn, up 26%, and Meta expects Q4 revenue of $73 to $76bn.
Higher prices mean the same budget buys fewer impressions. That is a cost to plan for, not a reason to panic.
My read: with Black Friday close, the brands that cope best judge campaigns on cost per sale and MER, and spend their effort on having more angles in the auction, not on watching CPMs.
Do this this week
Raise your Black Friday CPM assumptions and re-run the budget before the campaign starts.
Judge each campaign on cost per sale and MER, not on CPM.
Brief more angles for the same product, so the auction has more chances to find a winner.
Set your pass mark before you spend, so you know when to cut.
Rather we did it for you? See how we run traffic for Shopify brands.