Welcome to our first written monthly breakdown of performance, brought to you by The Media Buyer.

You’re going to start getting more data from us. Quarterly breakdowns, holiday retrospectives, and more. I’m gonna start sending beyond our normal Thursday editions.

So let’s get started with April in review, shall we?

In this issue we're looking at aggregate April performance data across all the brands in Northbeam's dataset. We're comparing April 2026 performance to April 2025, for all brands that appear in both months.

And it doesn't look good. Things are more expensive and less efficient, basically.

May spend increasing +9.6% YoY is about what the IAB predicted, so no surprise there.

What is surprising is the almost equal increase in median CAC, up +9.7%. Let's explore what's going on.

In March Meta pushed an update to the algorithms, shaking up performance. Campaigns with fewer than 50 weekly conversions lost algorithmic priority. And creative refresh cadence now drives performance more than targeting. These changes are solidifying in April.

Prices for everyday goods went up 2.4% year over year and increased month over month in April. Consumers are stressed, and the K-shaped economy continues: low spenders pull back, wealthy spenders keep spendin’.

All these factors came together to butcher performance for a specific category of advertiser in April.

I grouped all of Northbeam advertiser data together and categorized them by monthly average media spend. I then compared their median revenue year over year, and the bar charts represent the average change for each category.

As you can see, smaller spenders got absolutely wrecked.

Meta commands >60% of the spend we track. So the above chart validates that Meta’s algorithmic changes aren’t just anecdotal. One could argue it’s never been more expensive for smaller advertisers just starting out.

Granted, vast improvements in AI, 3PL, manufacturing, etc. probably balance that out. But we’re talking about ads here, and damn bro, it’s expensive.

This is the average delta year over year for specific key metrics. I’ve grouped it by the company’s annual revenue.

This demonstrates the same thesis: it’s tough for the little guys. Spend was up +14.2% for businesses making under $5m a year, but their CAC is up +9.6%.

Most businesses across the bell curve saw CAC increases, but the $100m+ tier managed to break even.

This tracks. In recessions / bad economy vibes, consumers stick to what they know. Legacy and iconic brands are likely to have deeper brand equity, meaning they just pay less per customer.

If you already have $100m in revenue, your ad success snowballs.

But it’s not just about your spend and revenue. We see it when we examine AOV, as well:

Low AOV products got destroyed in April. Sure they improved on MER but that’s cause they have a ton of headroom compared to $500+ AOVs, where you have to fight for months in the consideration cycle.

But to be fair, the trend continues: CAC was worse for every AOV band. In this case, significantly worse for higher AOV products who stand to suffer more under increased CPM and auction costs.

If you have a high AOV product, your margins are typically better. But you’re paying more for retargeting and consideration, and compounding increases affect your math over time.

By revenue, my extremely loose advice:

< $5m per year: you got this. Focus on your creative production. And if you’re gonna use AI, get smart about it. Read up on Meta’s algorithmic changes and make sure you’re adapting - check your events and keep up the creative volume.

$5m - $10m: do you have one channel you can say you’ve “mastered?” If so, then it’s time to scale to another one. I recommend Axon to get you started - straightforward creative, captive audiences, and excellent reach, with no cultural understandings required. Send it.

$10m - $20m: Congrats, you’re probably spending $3m-$6m a year on ads, right? It’s time to get Northbeam. If you already have Northbeam, it’s time to get Northbeam Incrementality.

$20m - $50m: If your numbers are beating the median above, keep doing what you’re doing. And congrats, you’re leading the bell curve. If you’re below those targets, fix accordingly. Our Media Strategists can help.

$50m - $100m: Do exactly what the 20-50m people are doing. Except keep that creative pumping, keep the spend efficient, and start looking at MMM. Are you on TV yet?

$100m+: You probably have better ideas than me. But have you gone international yet? That’s the next great frontier if you can make it work. For businesses of this size, untouched pastures represent the biggest bang for your buck.

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