Facebook Ads not delivering? Why it happens and how to fix it (2025)

Launching a Facebook Ads campaign takes its time—you picture your target audience engaging, clicking and converting. But then, the dreaded status appears in Ads Manager:

“Not delivering”, “Error”, “Rejected”, “Update required”.

Frustration sets in. Time is ticking. Your ad isn't reaching people. No impressions, no clicks, no conversions.

For marketers, this isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a major roadblock. Left unresolved, delivery issues can derail your campaign, wasting ad spend and killing momentum.

But don’t panic—this is fixable. This article breaks down multiple reasons why your Facebook Ads aren’t delivering and exactly how to turn things around. Let’s get your ads back in action.

Why are my ads not delivering on Facebook Ads?

There are several reasons why your ads aren't being served on the platform, ranging from budget and bidding issues to audience targeting mistakes, ad content violations or even technical glitches in Facebook's system.

Unlike ads with poor performance (such as low CTRs), this status signals that your ad isn’t being shown to anyone at all—zero impressions, zero clicks, zero conversions.

Seeing an error status in Facebook Ads Manager doesn’t mean your ad will be permanently off—it means something in your setup is preventing it from reaching your audience.

Regardless of the cause, when your ad isn’t delivering, it’s essentially invisible—wasting valuable time and delaying potential results.

Why you shouldn’t ignore this issue

If your ads aren’t delivering, your campaign can’t run, and it can happen again with other campaigns simultaneously.

That means your cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and other key metrics stay at zero, but it also means potentially wasted ad budget allocation and opportunity costs.

For results-driven marketers, this status is the equivalent of sitting in rush-hour traffic with a flat tire—you’re going nowhere fast. The sooner you identify the issue, the quicker you can get your ads back in front of the right people and drive results.

How to tell if Facebook Ads are not delivering

Before troubleshooting, you need to confirm what is Facebook actually flagging. Campaigns, ad sets and single ads each have distinct delivery statuses that impact visibility and engagement.

In the Facebook Ads Manager, hovering over delivery status icons provides more information about each asset at all levels so you can take action. Here’s how to pinpoint the issue step by step:

1. Navigate to Facebook Ads Manager

Log into your Facebook Ads Manager and open the campaign dashboard. This centralized command center lets you monitor all your campaigns, ad sets and individual ads at a glance.

2. Check the delivery column

The Delivery column is your key indicator of whether an ad is running properly. Here, you’ll see different statuses, including:

• Active: Your ad is running and being shown to users.
• In Review: Facebook is still processing and approving your ad.
• Learning: Facebook systems are looking and optimizing the best way to show ads
• Rejected: Your ad violates Meta’s advertising policies. If you have this status, you’ll see one of these rejections:
  • Ad set errors in the Campaign column
  • Ad error in Ad sets column
  • Rejected in Ads column
• Learning Limited: Your ad is running, but not optimizing effectively.
• Not Delivering: Your ad has stopped running due to an issue, has been turned off or has finished its course of delivery.

Depending on what you see and what Facebook flags, you’ll have to look further.

3. Cross-check your ad account for other flags

Sometimes, ad delivery issues stem from broader account-level problems, such as:

• Payment failures: Expired or declined payment methods can pause all campaigns.
• Ad account restrictions: If your account has been flagged for violating policies, it may impact delivery.
• Pixel or event tracking errors: If your conversion events aren’t set up correctly, Facebook may struggle to optimize your ads.
• Budget constraints: Your daily or lifetime budget may be too low relative to audience size or competition.
• Bidding strategy issues: Overly restrictive bid caps or target costs can prevent auction participation.
• Audience competition: Multiple ad sets targeting identical audiences can cause internal competition, where Meta prioritizes one at the expense of others.

Once you confirm that your ad isn’t delivering, understanding the root cause quickly ensures you can fix the problem and get your campaign back on track.

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11 common reasons your Facebook ads aren’t delivering—and how to fix them

Facebook Ads can stop delivering for a variety of reasons, but the good news is that most issues have clear solutions. Below, we break down the 11 most common reasons why your ads might be stuck—and exactly how to fix them.

1. Your ad is still under review

The problem

Every Facebook ad goes through a review process to ensure it complies with Meta’s advertising policies. If your ad is stuck in review, it won’t start delivering—meaning lost time and potential revenue.

Why it happens

• Reviews take under 24 hours, but delays can happen, especially during high-traffic periods (e.g., Black Friday, holiday seasons).
• Ads using dynamic creative, special ad categories, or non-standard formats may take longer to process.
• If your ad is flagged for manual review, the wait time for some ads could be extended.

How to fix it

• Plan ahead. Submit your ads at least 48 hours before your campaign start date to account for review delays.
• Avoid making edits while the ad is in review—any change resets the review process and puts your ad at the back of the queue.
• Check your account status. If Facebook has flagged your ad account for policy violations, reviews may take longer or get stuck entirely.
• Escalate if needed. If your ad is stuck in review for more than 48 hours, contact Meta’s support team through Meta Business Help Center to request an escalation. Before doing so, consider checking the ad's status and any notifications in the Ads Manager to see if there are any substantial updates.

2. Your ad was rejected

The problem

Meta automatically rejects ads that violate its advertising policies, preventing them from being delivered. Even if your ad follows most guidelines, a single compliance issue—whether in the ad copy, imagery or landing page—can trigger rejection.

Common reasons for rejection

• Prohibited or restricted content. Industries like alcohol, gambling, cryptocurrency and healthcare have stricter regulations.
• Misleading or exaggerated claims. Promising unrealistic results, using false urgency or including deceptive before-and-after comparisons can get flagged.
• Landing page issues. If your ad links to a non-functional, misleading, or slow-loading page, Meta may disapprove it. The landing page content must align with what’s promised in the ad.
• Inappropriate content. Ads containing explicit language, violence, or shocking imagery will be blocked.
• Violation of targeting rules. Meta prohibits ads that suggest knowledge of a person’s personal attributes (e.g., “Struggling with debt? Get help today”).

How to fix it

• Review Meta’s ad policies thoroughly. Focus on sections relevant to your industry and ad format to pinpoint possible violations.
• Use the Meta Account Quality tool. This provides specific reasons why your ad was rejected and allows you to appeal the decision and ask for a review if you believe it was incorrect.
• Adjust and resubmit. Modify your ad content, imagery, or landing page to align with Meta’s guidelines, then submit it for review again.
• Ensure your landing page matches your ad. Any disconnect between your ad copy and landing page content can raise red flags.
• Avoid trigger words and phrases. Words that imply unrealistic results or personal targeting should be reworded to prevent rejection.
• Stay updated. Policies can change over time, and so are the guidelines for ads. Ensure constant compliance by keeping up with news and policy updates.

3. Issues with ad creative or content restrictions

The problem

If the ad creative—whether an image, video or linked post—becomes unavailable, deleted or restricted, your ads will immediately stop delivering. Facebook provides notifications or alerts in the Ads Manager when an ad stops delivering due to creative or content issues, but if you’re managing multiple accounts, this can get easily overlapped until performance drops to zero.

Common causes

• The linked post gets unpublished (e.g., a blog post, Facebook post or video you promoted is removed or set to private).
• The creative asset is deleted from your account or media library.
• Meta flags the image or video as violating advertising guidelines, restricting its use.
• The post is restricted due to audience settings, privacy settings or page-level restrictions that prevent it from being shown to certain users.

How to fix it

• Confirm the creative is live and publicly accessible. If it’s a blog post, video or external page, check its URL and visibility settings. If it’s a Facebook post, ensure it hasn’t been deleted or set to private.
• Use approved creative assets. Avoid using content that might get flagged for violating Meta’s guidelines (such as misleading claims, excessive text in images or restricted industry content).
• Regularly audit your active ads. Even if an ad was initially approved, ensure all linked content remains compliant and available throughout the campaign duration. Check the Account Quality tool to inspect any anomaly on the campaigns.

4. Account spending limit reached

The problem

Meta enforces account-wide spending limits that can unintentionally pause all ads once reached. Unlike individual campaign budgets, this limit applies to your entire ad account and stops all running ads—even if you still have a budget left for specific campaigns.

Why it’s hard to catch

• If not previously set, Meta doesn’t always send immediate alerts when your account-wide limit is hit or close to. If you’re actively monitoring your account, ads may stop without a clear explanation.
• Limits may have been set a long time ago and forgotten, making it an unexpected roadblock.
• Even if your campaigns show as “Active,” they won’t deliver until the limit is increased or removed.

How to fix it

• Check your account spending limits. Go to Billing & Payment Settings in Facebook Ads Manager to see if an account-wide limit is in place. Access "account spending limit," and adjust or remove the account spending limit as needed.
• Remove or adjust the limit. If you’ve hit the cap, either increase the limit or remove it entirely to allow your ads to resume. If you want to set a different spending limit for a specific campaign, go to your dashboard, find the campaign you want to edit, hover over the campaign name and click "Edit". In the "Campaign details" section, find "Campaign spending limit," set and publish.
• Monitor ad spending regularly. If you’re scaling campaigns, keep an eye on account-level spending to prevent unexpected pauses.

5. Budget or bidding cap issues

The problem

Facebook Ads operate in a competitive auction system, meaning your ad needs to bid effectively to win impressions. If your daily budget or bid cap is too low, your ad won’t compete well against others targeting the same audience. As a result, your campaign may remain active but fail to deliver.

Why this happens

• Bidding too low – If you’ve set a manual bid that’s too restrictive, your ad may not enter enough auctions to win placements.
• Daily budget constraints – A budget that’s too small compared to audience size won’t generate enough reach for meaningful engagement.
• High competition – If you’re targeting competitive industries (e.g., finance, e-commerce, or SaaS), low bids may struggle to gain traction.

How to fix it

• Use Facebook’s Lowest Cost bidding strategy. This allows Facebook to determine the most efficient bid based on available inventory and audience behavior.
• Increase your daily budget to match audience size and competition levels.
  • Example: A $5 daily budget won’t be enough to meaningfully reach an audience of 500,000 people. Increasing it to $20–$50 per day improves your chances of securing impressions.
• Adjust your bid cap if using manual bidding. Ensure it’s competitive by analyzing historical cost-per-result data in Ads Manager.
• Analyze industry benchmarks and historical campaign data to set budgets and bids that are competitive within your specific market, ensuring better ad placement and delivery.​

6. Overly narrow audience targeting

The problem

If your audience is too small, specific or restrictive, your ad may struggle to match with enough users, leading to low or no delivery. While hyper-targeting can be useful in some cases, going too narrow can limit Meta’s ability to optimize and serve your ad effectively.

Common mistakes that limit reach

• Targeting a single zip code or a very small geographic area with limited user volume.
• Over-segmentation of interests or behaviors, such as selecting dozens of niche interests instead of broader audience categories.
• Applying too many exclusions, like layering multiple detailed targeting restrictions reduces matchable users.
• Stacking multiple demographic constraints, such as age, gender and household income, in a way that dramatically limits the audience size.

How to fix it

• Loosen geographic restrictions. If targeting a small area, expand to nearby locations or use regional-level targeting instead of hyper-localized areas.
  • Note: Ensure that the broader areas still align with your target market to maintain relevance.​
• Broaden interest-based targeting. Instead of selecting dozens of micro-interests, combine larger, related categories to increase audience volume.
• Leverage Lookalike Audiences. Meta’s algorithm can identify users similar to your best customers, offering a way to scale while maintaining quality targeting.
• Use Advantage+ (formerly Broad Targeting). This lets Meta optimize audience selection dynamically, helping ads reach people most likely to engage.

7. High auction overlap within campaigns

The problem

If multiple campaigns target the same or similar audiences, they end up competing against each other in Meta’s auction system. So, instead of competing against other advertisers, you’re bidding against yourself, reducing efficiency, increasing costs and weakening overall ad performance.

Meta prioritizes one winning ad per auction, meaning your own ads can block each other from delivering.

Why it happens

• Similar audiences across multiple campaigns. If different ad sets or campaigns target overlapping audience segments, interest groups, lookalikes or demographics, they compete for the same users.
• Launching prospecting and retargeting campaigns without audience exclusions, leading to competition between new customer acquisition ads and remarketing efforts.
• Duplicating ad sets within a single campaign, fragmenting audience reach instead of consolidating delivery.
• Segmenting too aggressively. Breaking audiences into too many micro-segments rather than consolidating them into larger, more efficient ad sets.

How to fix it

• Use the Audience Overlap Tool. This feature in Facebook Ads Manager lets you compare audience sets and detect duplicate targeting.
  • Pro tip: Consider using Meta's Delivery Recommendations feature in the Account Overview section to detect and address auction overlap.
• Create audience exclusions where necessary. Ensure that retargeting campaigns exclude users currently in your prospecting audience and vice versa.
• Segment properly by funnel stage. Structure campaigns clearly, separating ToFu, MoFu and BoFu audiences without allowing overlap.
• Consolidate overlapping campaigns. If multiple campaigns target the same audience, combine them into a single campaign with diversified creatives and messaging.
  • Example: Instead of running two separate retargeting campaigns aimed at the same past website visitors, merge them into one broader campaign with different creative variations.
• Adjust targeting to reduce redundancy. Ensure ToFu audiences remain broad for maximum reach while lower-funnel campaigns are refined for efficiency.

8. Low engagement rates

The problem

Meta prioritizes ads that provide a positive user experience. If an ad receives low engagement (few clicks, reactions, shares or comments) or a poor relevance diagnosis, Facebook will limit its reach or stop delivering it altogether.

Why it happens

• Stale creatives. If an ad has been running too long without updates, engagement often drops, triggering lower delivery.
• Weak headlines or CTAs. Ads that fail to grab attention or clearly communicate value won’t drive interaction.
• Lack of emotional appeal. Ads that don’t evoke curiosity, urgency, or a connection with the audience tend to underperform.
• Poor visual hierarchy. If your design, text and layout don’t create a clear focal point, users may scroll past without engaging.

How to fix it

• Refresh your creatives regularly. Use creative analytics tools to measure assets’ performance. If engagement starts declining after weeks of running the same ad, swap in new visuals, headlines and copy.
• Use strong, clear CTAs. Whether it’s “Shop Now,” “Sign Up,” or “Get Your Free Trial,” make sure the next step is obvious and enticing.
• Make ads visually engaging. High-quality images, eye-catching motion graphics and contrast-driven design improve stopping power.
• Leverage Ad Relevance Diagnostics. Track Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking and Conversion Rate Ranking in Facebook Ads Manager to identify weaknesses.
• A/B test new variations. Run split tests on different headlines, images and video formats to find what drives the most interaction.

9. Optimization errors

The problem

Meta’s ad delivery system relies on optimization goals to determine who sees your ad and when. If your goal is too advanced for the audience or data available, the algorithm struggles to find enough conversions, leading to low or no delivery.

Why this happens

• Overly ambitious goals for new campaigns and accounts. If you're running a cold audience campaign and optimizing for purchases, but there’s no existing conversion history, Meta may have trouble finding enough qualified users.
• Lack of conversion data. The system needs enough past conversion events (at least 50 per week per ad set) to optimize effectively.
• Choosing an event too deep in the funnel too soon. Meta works best when gradually refining who sees your ads based on engagement history.

How to fix it

• Start with easier optimization goals. For ToFu campaigns, optimize for landing page views, link clicks or video views instead of purchases.
• Move to deeper goals as data accumulates. Once your campaign gathers enough conversions, shift toward events like add to cart, lead submissions, or purchases to improve efficiency.
• Use event tracking to support optimization. Ensure the Meta Pixel, API conversions, and event setup are functioning properly so the algorithm has clean, reliable data.
• Leverage Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns for e-commerce. This campaign helps Meta dynamically optimize placements and audience selection based on past performance.

10. Scheduling errors

The problem

Misaligned schedules at the campaign, ad set or ad level can cause ads to stop delivering unexpectedly. If start or end dates are incorrect—or if time zone settings aren’t properly accounted for—ads may fail to go live or stop running prematurely.

Why this happens

• The campaign-level end date is set to expire earlier than the ad set or individual ads, causing an automatic stop.
• An ad set’s start date is in the future, meaning the campaign is live, but specific ad sets haven’t started running yet.
• Time zone mismatches when running global campaigns cause ads to stop at unexpected times.
• Dayparting settings (scheduled delivery hours) prevent ads from running during certain periods, limiting impressions.

How to fix it

• Double-check all start and end dates. Verify that the campaign, ad set and its schedules are properly aligned and that no unintended expiration dates are set.
• Ensure your campaign isn’t set to end prematurely. Example: If your campaign end date was yesterday while your ad sets are still live, delivery stops immediately. For this, ensure that the ad set is using a lifetime budget, as this feature controls your spending based on your own settings.
• Review time zones for global campaigns. If targeting multiple regions, confirm that your scheduled run times align with your audience’s peak engagement hours.
  • Changing a time zone on a Meta Ads account deactivates the existing ad account, and sets up a new one with the desired time zone settings. In order to not lose your campaigns, set the correct time zone during the initial account setup.
• Adjust delivery hours strategically. If using scheduled delivery, ensure ads run during high-performing hours rather than blocking potential impressions.
• Extend campaign dates mid-flight if necessary. If you spot a misalignment, adjust settings immediately to prevent days of lost delivery.

11. Performance goal is too ambitious

The problem

Meta’s performance optimization system relies on conversion signals to determine the best audience for your ads. If you set an aggressive goal too early—such as expecting ToFu audiences to immediately purchase—Meta struggles to find enough qualified users, leading to poor delivery.

Why this happens

• New campaigns lack conversion history. Without at least 50 optimization events per week per ad set, Meta can’t efficiently optimize for deep-funnel actions like purchases.
• Cold audiences are being pushed to convert too soon. Expecting first-time viewers to make an immediate purchase often results in low engagement and poor performance.
• Skipping intermediate engagement steps. Ads optimized for bottom-funnel actions (like purchases or lead sign-ups) may fail if users haven’t interacted with the brand previously.

How to fix it

• Start with simpler goals. Instead of optimizing for purchases right away, begin with landing page views, video views, or engagement to build awareness Starting with higher-funnel objectives like landing page views or engagement helps build the necessary data for Meta's algorithm to optimize for deeper conversion events effectively.​
  • Example: A video view campaign can introduce users to a product before moving them into a purchase-focused retargeting campaign.
• Leverage Facebook Ads' Learning Phase. If ads don’t reach 50 optimization events per week, consider switching to a higher funnel event (such as add to cart or view content) to improve delivery.

How to avoid future delivery issues on Facebook Ads

Success with Facebook Ads isn’t just about launching great campaigns—it’s about proactive planning and constant monitoring to prevent delivery disruptions before they happen.

Avoiding these issues requires strategic preparation, regular optimization and the right tools to keep your ads running smoothly.

Creative diagnostics after a Facebook delivery issue

Facebook Ads can be unpredictable—delivery issues can strike at any time, stalling your campaigns and wasting valuable budget. When Facebook stops delivering your ad, the reason can be a black box. Policy violations? Low engagement? Content issues?

While Superads doesn’t flag delivery errors directly, it does help when your creative is to blame.

If your ad gets throttled—or worse, rejected—Superads steps in with a post-mortem breakdown. It’s your creative audit assistant who helps you understand what went wrong and what to improve before spending more on a campaign, ad set or specific assets.

Spot the creative triggers behind poor delivery

Some delivery issues aren’t about budgets or targeting—they’re about creative that doesn’t connect, doesn’t convert or comply. Superads helps you:

• Analyze engagement trends across your ads. If an ad stops getting impressions, Superads can show you whether CTRs dropped, hook performance dipped or your message simply didn’t land.
• Break down underperforming ads by creative dimensions—like emotion triggers, CTA types or opening hooks—to pinpoint friction points.
• Compare rejected or paused creatives to top performers, so your team knows what not to repeat.

Rebuild smarter, not blindly

Let’s say Facebook stops delivering your ad due to low engagement or is flagged as non-relevant. Superads gives your team the context to course-correct:

• Why didn’t this visual or copy work?
• How did similar ads perform?
• What creative choices led to better reach or approval?

Instead of relaunching another guess, your team reboots with purpose.

Build a creative feedback loop

Superads helps create a closed loop between performance marketing and creative. When delivery fails due to creative, everyone sees the signals—and acts fast. That means:

• Fewer wasted iterations.
• Faster campaign recoveries.
• Smarter creative development, backed by data.

No, Superads won’t tell you when your ad is rejected. But when you know it is—and suspect the creative is the issue—it’s your fastest path to clarity, insight and a better next move, just like Oneflow did.

Checking results across multiple platforms—LinkedIn, Meta and others—can be time-consuming and complex, especially for those unfamiliar with each platform’s interface. Superads helps uncover insights that allow marketers to refine their strategy and maximize ROI.

Anand NambiarHead of Growth at Oneflow

Ensure consistency and efficiency with Superads

Without clear tools, marketers rely on trial and error. Sifting through Facebook’s native tools trying to pinpoint issues and performance indicators that actually work wastes time, budget and performance potential.

Superads remove the guesswork, forever.

Get top insights, actionable recommendations and a streamlined workflow for both creative and performance teams—so you can focus on scaling campaigns and driving better results.

If you’re serious about optimizing ad delivery, increasing conversions and eliminating wasted spend, Superads is the must-have tool in your marketing arsenal.

Try Superads for free today and experience the future of ad optimization—faster, smarter and fully automated.

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