The Meta Ads Library Spy Guide: How to Reverse Engineer Competitors (2024)

The Open Secret. Meta forces every advertiser to be transparent. You can see every ad your competitor is running right now. Most people look at it and say "Oh, nice image." Pros look at it and see the Strategy.

Part 1: How to Access

1. Go to Meta Ads Library.
2. Select "All Ads".
3. Type the competitor's Brand Name.

Part 2: Spotting the "Winners"

You will see 50 active ads. Which ones are making money? Look at the "Active Since" date.

• Ad A: Active since Yesterday.
  • Verdict: Testing. Unknown.
• Ad B: Active since 3 Months Ago.
  • Verdict: WINNER.
  • Logic: Nobody pays to run an ad for 3 months if it isn't profitable.

Action: Take the Format and Angle of Ad B.

• Is it a UGC testimonial?
• Is it a "Us vs Them" chart?
• Steal the Framework. Not the Content.

Part 3: Spotting the "Scale" (Account Health)

Count the total active ads.

• < 10 Ads: They are small / struggling.
• > 50 Ads: They are scaling aggressively.
• Variant Count: If you see the same video with 10 different Headlines, they are using Dynamic Creative Testing. They are sophisticated.

Part 4: The "Eu-Creative" Trick

If you are in the US, look at ads running in Europe (EU). Why? Because the EU Ads Library shows Impression Count and Demographics (due to transparency laws).

• Find a global brand (e.g., Gymshark).
• Filter by "Germany".
• See exactly which age groups/genders they target.
• Apply that insight to your US campaign.

Summary

Before you write a single line of copy, look at the Top 5 competitors.

1. Find their longest-running ads.
2. Identify the common "Hook".
3. Make a better version. Don't reinvent the wheel. Improve it.