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301 PodcastAuthor: Marcus Engel
The interview podcast for the hottest up and coming entrepreneurs, artists and creators. Get inspired with two weekly episodes, presented by your host Marcus Engel. Language: en Genres: Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Self-Improvement Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Scaling from 10K to 250K Months with Meta Ads (From a $50M Ad Buyer)
Episode 97
Thursday, 4 December, 2025
In this episode, I sit down with Ahmed Kamel, one of the top performance marketers in Europe, to break down why ads “stop working,” how to fix them, and the exact creative and targeting system he uses to scale brands from 10K → 50K → 100K → 250K months and beyond. Ahmed has driven half a million dollars in a single day, managed six-figure monthly budgets, and produced 524% year-over-year growth for brands by thinking like an investment manager, not a traditional “media buyer.” We get into: - Why most founders diagnose their ad problems wrong - The creative mistakes 90% of Meta ad accounts do - The right way to structure campaigns in 2025–2026 - Why traffic campaigns are “window shoppers” and what to run instead - The growth ceilings at 10K, 50K, 100K, 250K months (and how to break them) - Meta’s Andromeda update and the end of weak AI creatives - How to test with a €1,000/month budget, step by step - Why overproduced ads fail and simple UGC wins - The metric founders obsess over that doesn’t matter - The 7-day fixes that immediately improve conversions Timestamps: (00:00) - Introduction and Record-Breaking Ad Sales (00:23) - The Role of an Ads Manager (00:43) - Comparing Bank Interest to Ad Returns (01:07) - The Reality of Marketing Guarantees (01:32) - Factors Influencing Ad Success (02:16) - Misconceptions About Advertisement (02:51) - The Problem with Overpromising in Marketing (03:15) - Testing and Iterating for Success (04:15) - Breaking Growth Ceilings (05:04) - Case Study: B2C SaaS Growth (06:05) - Different Growth Ceilings for Different Revenue Levels (07:03) - Challenges of Scaling High-Revenue Businesses (07:34) - Common Misdiagnoses by Founders (08:22) - Practical Steps When Ads Stop Working (09:22) - Setup vs. Creative Issues in Ad Campaigns (10:23) - Quick Funnel Check for Founders (11:40) - Elements of a Good Landing Page (13:59) - Do Ugly Landing Pages Sell Better? (15:02) - The Impact of AI on Ad Creatives (16:28) - Trends in Ad Creatives for 2026 (17:16) - Meta Andromeda Update and Its Impact (18:44) - Importance of Strong Creatives (19:45) - Effective Black Friday Creatives (20:45) - Industry-Specific Creative Strategies (22:20) - Simplifying the Buying Journey (24:42) - The Power of Storytelling in Ads (26:01) - Human Connection in Advertising (27:28) - Trusting the Algorithm vs. Data-Driven Decisions (29:30) - Audience Segmentation vs. Broad Targeting (30:57) - Thinking Like a Business Owner (31:58) - Building Trust with Clients (34:37) - Practical Advice for Small Budgets (35:42) - Example: Scaling a Podcast Course (39:14) - Overcoming Fear of Ads (39:47) - The Painful Truth About Scaling (40:30) - Bottlenecks for Founders (41:25) - Misconceptions About Ads (42:40) - Ethical Considerations in Advertising Connect with Ahmed: https://www.instagram.com/ahmedkamel_7/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-kamel-performance-marketer/ Follow Marcus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/301podcast Marcus: https://www.instagram.com/themarcusengel 💌 Business inquiries: studiobooking@weare301.comIn this episode, I sit down with Ahmed Kamel, one of the top performance marketers in Europe, to break down why ads “stop working,” how to fix them, and the exact creative and targeting system he uses to scale brands from 10K → 50K → 100K → 250K months and beyond. Ahmed has driven half a million dollars in a single day, managed six-figure monthly budgets, and produced 524% year-over-year growth for brands by thinking like an investment manager, not a traditional “media buyer.” We get into: - Why most founders diagnose their ad problems wrong - The creative mistakes 90% of Meta ad accounts do - The right way to structure campaigns in 2025–2026 - Why traffic campaigns are “window shoppers” and what to run instead - The growth ceilings at 10K, 50K, 100K, 250K months (and how to break them) - Meta’s Andromeda update and the end of weak AI creatives - How to test with a €1,000/month budget, step by step - Why overproduced ads fail and simple UGC wins - The metric founders obsess over that doesn’t matter - The 7-day fixes that immediately improve conversions Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction and Record-Breaking Ad Sales 00:23 - The Role of an Ads Manager 00:43 - Comparing Bank Interest to Ad Returns 01:07 - The Reality of Marketing Guarantees 01:32 - Factors Influencing Ad Success 02:16 - Misconceptions About Advertisement 02:51 - The Problem with Overpromising in Marketing 03:15 - Testing and Iterating for Success 04:15 - Breaking Growth Ceilings 05:04 - Case Study: B2C SaaS Growth 06:05 - Different Growth Ceilings for Different Revenue Levels 07:03 - Challenges of Scaling High-Revenue Businesses 07:34 - Common Misdiagnoses by Founders 08:22 - Practical Steps When Ads Stop Working 09:22 - Setup vs. Creative Issues in Ad Campaigns 10:23 - Quick Funnel Check for Founders 11:40 - Elements of a Good Landing Page 13:59 - Do Ugly Landing Pages Sell Better? 15:02 - The Impact of AI on Ad Creatives 16:28 - Trends in Ad Creatives for 2026 17:16 - Meta Andromeda Update and Its Impact 18:44 - Importance of Strong Creatives 19:45 - Effective Black Friday Creatives 20:45 - Industry-Specific Creative Strategies 22:20 - Simplifying the Buying Journey 24:42 - The Power of Storytelling in Ads 26:01 - Human Connection in Advertising 27:28 - Trusting the Algorithm vs. Data-Driven Decisions 29:30 - Audience Segmentation vs. Broad Targeting 30:57 - Thinking Like a Business Owner 31:58 - Building Trust with Clients 34:37 - Practical Advice for Small Budgets 35:42 - Example: Scaling a Podcast Course 39:14 - Overcoming Fear of Ads 39:47 - The Painful Truth About Scaling 40:30 - Bottlenecks for Founders 41:25 - Misconceptions About Ads 42:40 - Ethical Considerations in Advertising Connect with Ahmed: https://www.instagram.com/ahmedkamel_7/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-kamel-performance-marketer/ Follow Marcus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/301podcast Marcus: https://www.instagram.com/themarcusengel 💌 Business inquiries: studiobooking@weare301.com
