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 b