Most underperforming ad accounts I audit for Kenyan SMEs don't have a bad campaign problem — they have a bad tracking problem. If the platform can't see what's converting, it can't optimize toward it. Here's the setup order that matters most.
Before touching campaign structure, confirm the Meta Pixel (and Google tag) is installed on every relevant page and firing the right event at the right moment — page view, add to cart, initiate checkout, purchase. Use the platforms' own test tools and walk your site as a customer would. It's common to find the purchase event firing on the cart page instead of confirmation, which inflates numbers and confuses optimization.
Browser tracking alone under-reports — ad blockers, iOS privacy, and slow mobile connections common across Kenya all lose pixel events before they reach Meta. The Conversions API sends the same event from your server, catching what the browser misses, and often recovers a meaningful share of "lost" conversions.
GA4 gives a platform-independent view, which matters when comparing Meta and TikTok side by side. The common mistake is leaving it on default events and never defining the conversions that matter — a loan application started, a specific product purchased. Define these explicitly instead of leaning on automatic "engagement" metrics.
Platform conversions, GA4, and your actual backend numbers will never match exactly — but they shouldn't be wildly apart. A monthly reconciliation catches tracking drift before it drives weeks of budget decisions on numbers that were quietly wrong.