Creatives today play a fundamental role in advertising, especially on Meta where it is necessary, based on the budget invested, to have a constant circulation of creative assets that allows, on the one hand, to guarantee the soundness of the account and, on the other hand, to continuously and incrementally test new offers and communication angles to intercept a very specific target with a clear message, thus acquiring new customers at the lowest cost.

One of the main aspects on which we see that is often lacking clarity is precisely this, namely understand how to organize creative strategy, then What types of creativity to develop so that they are relevant to achieving a certain objective, forecasting the necessary volumes in advance based on the phase in which the business is located and on advertising spending, all taking into account the evolution of Meta Ads and the updates that are constantly made available on the platform.

The objective of this article is precisely to clarify all these fundamental aspects, condensing the most important information that will help you manage your creative strategy.

Once you have finished reading these lines you will know exactly:

• How to Create Winning Ads
• How to make the creative process scalable
• Which formats to test with 10 practical examples
• What metrics to analyze to understand their real effectiveness

How to create winning Ads and make the creative process scalable

To create winning Ads, the starting point if you have an important data history is to analyze the Ads that performed best in a given period of time, trying to understand their common reasons and patterns, always keeping in mind what you already know about your different customer segments.
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To do this, you have several options:

• analyze data directly from the Ad Account, for example by creating a new report (Campaigns > Report > Create new report) inserting as filters the parameters that interest you particularly and prioritizing the results based on the volumes of orders generated and the cost per order, which is usually the main objective
  
  
• Use a tool like Motion.com that allows you to quickly create personalized reports and have the results visually clear by filtering the data based on the metrics you want to analyze, as in the example below:
  
  

Once this has been done, the first thing that will be extremely useful to you in the design phase of the Ads is the AIDA framework:

Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

‍In fact, the CEO's first objective is to generate care, involving the person who sees your sponsor arousing Interest with regard to your product and the offer you are offering. The natural consequence is Desiderio To know more by taking her to do theAction desired, in this case click on the call to action continuing the path on the site that will lead you to become a customer.

These are the main steps to start from that you should always keep in mind, which correspond to 4 specific metrics to analyze to evaluate the effectiveness of each of these aspects. We'll talk about it later below when we see how to measure the performance of your Ads.

Attention: it is important not to underestimate the first point, namely to generate attention in the public, all the more so today with the amount of content that each of us is subjected to every second.

In fact, this is the moment when you can and must make a difference in the eyes of potential customers, because if you cannot get their attention the next steps will not exist, so the person will not continue browsing the site and you will have lost the opportunity to acquire the customer.

It may seem like a small detail but this is precisely the beginning of the whole process, so make sure you give us - in fact - the right Attention 🙂

Let's see an example created with a French brand of non-alcoholic spirits to make everything more concrete:

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So we come to a second fundamental point...

How to make the creative design process scalable?

There are 3 things to consider at this stage:

• Offer
• Audience
• Angle and combination of benefits for the end customer

These 3 points must always be taken into account when designing a new creativity, which must in fact be based on the intersection between:

• What That is, the offer - what do I communicate and therefore what do I propose to my potential customers?
  
  
• Who That is, the audience - who exactly am I addressing? What market niche and to which of the different segments does my customer base form?
  
  
• How That is, as a vehicle my message - what is the so-called “angle” or the lever that I want to use to attract the attention of my ideal customer?

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These 3 elements together (Offer, Audience, Angle) form the CONCEPT or the idea behind the creativity to be developed and therefore of the message that I want to spread to intercept a particular segment of people.

Each of these aspects is essential for the success of creativity and what I always invite you to pay particular attention to is theOffer first of all.

As for theAudience a best practice to consider is to show directly in the Ads the target you are addressing, if the type of product and offer allow it, in order to let the visuals speak.

Here are a few examples:

Nella First Ad, relating to a brand that creates smart shin guards to track and improve performance on the field, the protagonist is a boy and the first clip is set right in a changing room, making it immediately clear who is the target who will use the product. All supported by the copy of the CEO itself, which emphasizes the outcome that the product allows us to reach.

Nella Second Ad Instead, we see an expectant woman sipping a good soft drink, both the voiceover and the captions help us to understand exactly what the pain point of the target is, new mothers and mums to be in the specific case of this CEO, that is, to finally be able to enjoy an aperitif even during pregnancy.

Nella third and last Ad a man with a recognizable style wears various jewels that give clues and consolidate his image. The target for the jewelry collection to which the sponsored one refers are precisely men from 40 years old who love rock, with strong and determined tastes with a rebellious soul.
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Returning to the third point, namely theAngle, it is always good practice to use the words and tone of voice that the customers themselves use, in order to creatively target a segment similar to the brand's best customers.

To do this, if you don't already have this information organized to consult, you can analyze the qualitative data collected over time, for example with post-purchase surveys and reviews left by customers over the time they tell about their experience with the brand and the product purchased, the aspects they particularly liked, how they use it, etc.

At this point we have seen:

• What are the starting points for successful Ads with the AIDA framework
• How to make the process scalable thanks to a combination of Offer, Audience, Angle

We just have to see which formats to test...

‍Which Ads formats to test

When it comes to formats (understood as static images, videos, carousels, collections, etc.) the truth is that there is no specific type that works better than others regardless, since the results can vary a lot from brand to brand and from product to product.

The ideal is to be able to test the different types of formats to collect sufficient data that allow us to know which to concentrate efforts and resources based on the response generated.

As far as creativity is concerned, there are also different types of format intended as a creative pattern.

In this regard, I want to share some creative tips that if you haven't tested yet, I recommend you try because they could allow you to obtain very different results than the current ones.

‍10 creatives to test with examples

Before seeing the 10 types of Ads to test, 2 important premises must be tested:

• Keep it simple, keep it clear
  Avoid unnecessarily complicating communication, if you can transmit the same message with a 15-second video instead of 30 do it, don't overcomplicate it.
  
• Creatives = targeting
  If targeting on Meta from a technical point of view was previously at the Ad Set level, where you selected the audience you wanted to intercept with your advertising campaigns (see, for example, the audiences by Interests and Lookalike), today the targeting has moved indirectly to the Ad level.
  
  In fact, it is precisely with creativity that you can segment different audiences, adapting communication specifically for certain people, conveying the right message at the right time, thus giving Meta the opportunity to deliberate and optimize in relation to the market's response to individual Ads.
  
  In fact, when we talk about Broad targeting, it does not mean intercepting anyone indistinctly, but studying different ways to convey the message adapted to the specific clusters of people you want to address.

And now let's move on to the 10 creatives you should test for your Ads...

‍How to

This type of video clearly explains how the product is made and how to use it.

They are educational Ads that allow you to preview the experience of using the product and anticipate possible objections by already providing the answers.

‍3 Reasons Why

Video that contains the 3 reasons why a person should choose the product and take advantage of the offer immediately.

This content should contain the brand's Unique Selling Proposition (USP), listing the differentiating aspects that make it unique and that customers particularly appreciate.

‍Unboxing

This video allows us to share the shopping experience and the exact moment when the customer will receive the order at home.

It's a great way to surprise by previewing the unboxing moment with details of what they'll find inside the package. This content is often created in combination with two other types of creativity whose details can be found below, namely User Generated Content (UGC) and Product Reaction.

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‍UGC

These are very short videos of a maximum duration of 60 seconds in which the person in question, usually a content creator or a customer, shows the product.

These contents are particularly useful for showing the product in action, as for the How to, but with the addition of important proof elements such as the inclusion of a person who knows how to give additional value to the content in question.‍

Product review

In this type of video, the protagonist is the narration by a customer who has already chosen the product and thus facilitates the purchase process of those who are watching.

Usually we try to respond to the various possible objections reported this time directly by the person who purchased and tried the product, not by the brand. For a more effective performance, it is advisable to also accompany the video with a voice over with the recording that reports when visible on the screen.

‍Comparison

As the word itself suggests, it is a comparison between the product you are selling and that of one or more competitors that your potential customer might consider in the buying decision process.

It's the perfect time to highlight the benefits of your product's key features and what you can achieve by choosing it over the competition.

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‍Grid Swap

Especially useful for eCommerce with numerous SKUs, these videos allow you to show various products in the same video, or even on the same screen.

An idea that in many cases has led to interesting results is to group the best selling products, or SKUs from the same collection even in the case of new product launches, or even products that can be purchased in bundles.

Slideshow

It consists of combining several photos creating a single video, always accompanied by captions within the visual that consolidate the narrative of the content.

It is a perfect video that allows you to maximize the rendering of winning static images tested previously, also excellent for combining different products to be presented within a single creative, presenting the options and the choice to the viewer.

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Before and After

What better way than a before and after to show the real benefits of the product?

But beware, it is essential to always respect Facebook's policy, which clearly states: “Ads must not contain 'before-and-after' images or images that contain unexpected or unlikely results. Ad content must not imply or attempt to generate negative self-perception in order to promote diet, weight loss, or other health-related products. Ads for health, fitness or weight loss products must be targeted to people 18 years or older.”

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‍Product Reaction

As happens in everyday life, seeing a particular reaction of a person following a specific event attracts our attention even in front of the smartphone...

If a person tastes a drink and is left with their mouths open, we unconsciously ask ourselves “Why? What sparked that reaction?” and let's keep watching the video to find out more. You may have seen this type of video and found yourself after several seconds watching the screen until you understand what it was about. It works just like that!

So to summarize, at this point you know:

• How to Create Winning Ads
• How to make the creative process scalable
• What new formats to test

We just have to see what metrics to analyze to understand the real effectiveness of your Ads!

‍What metrics to analyze to understand the effectiveness of Ads

To understand the effectiveness of Ads within your campaigns, there are some main metrics that it is essential to consider.

Some are platform metrics, which therefore make it possible to understand the goodness of the Ads themselves, others are business metrics that allow you to extend the overview even to what happens after a person clicks on the Ad, thus understanding the experience on your site that plays a fundamental role in generating the final conversion.

Remember that in any case, this second step, i.e. the experience on your site, also has an impact on platform performance.

In fact, you may initially have a very low cost per session with high volumes of traffic on your site, but if the users who arrive on the landing page have a negative experience - which translates, among other things, into high bounce rates, low volumes of additions to the cart and conversions - then even the pre-click cost on the platform will start to increase.

That said, what are the metrics to analyze to understand if you are doing a good job with your campaigns?

• Cost per link click, which, as the word itself says, allows you to know how much you are paying for each link click from the Ads to your site.
  
  
• Outbound CTR, or the% of impressions that generated a click that brought users to your landing page.
  
  
• Hook rate, calculated by dividing 3-second video Plays/impressions to know the exact% of views in the first 3 seconds of the video compared to all the impressions generated.
  
  This allows you to understand how relevant the hook you are working on is for that audience. A good Hook rate on average is around 24%.

• Hold rate, unlike the Hook rate, allows you to know the% of users who watched at least 15 seconds of your video (or the entirety of the content if the duration is shorter). It is calculated by dividing ThruPlays/impressions.
  
  You will then know not only how effective your Hook is but also and above all how relevant the content is for the person watching it.
  
  
• Cost per session, essential to know how much you are paying to generate a session and consequently starting from this metric you can easily calculate the budget you will need to achieve your goal, namely to generate x sessions knowing your Conversion Rate.
  

The main business metrics on which it is usually important to focus attention are:

• Blended CPO
• New customer CPO
• Average Order Value
• Add to cart rate & Conversion rate
• New customers% VS old customers%
• Net Profit
• WED

If you are interested in learning more about these metrics, knowing how to calculate them and possibly how to improve them for your business, in our blog you will find several articles about them, here are some:

• 6 Fundamental Metrics to Increase Your eCommerce Sales
  
  
• Conversion Rate: What it is and how to increase it
  
  
• Average Order Value (AOV): what it is and how to increase it to make your eCommerce grow

There are several tools that allow you to always have these metrics under control updated in real time and thus make decisions based on the results.

Depending on your needs, you can choose between different solutions:

• A dashboard created ad hoc on Looker Studio
  
  
• A Shopify App, such as BeProfit
  
  
• A more complete tool like Triple Whale, which in addition to a super detailed dashboard allows you to:
  - create segments to build personalized experiences
  - analyze the Lifetime Value of your customers
  - know the average time that elapses between the different orders
  - analyze the AOV of your eCommerce in detail

... And much more!

So to summarize, you should now know:

• How to Create Winning Ads
• How to make the creative process scalable
• Which formats to test with 10 practical examples
• What metrics to analyze to understand their real effectiveness

All this translates into a flow that starts from the conception of creativity to reach the analysis of the data and the reiteration based on the results collected:

If you want to improve the results you are obtaining, get the most out of the Adv budget and understand if you are leaving more opportunities for growth than you have already noticed, fill out the form below briefly telling us about your project, you will receive a reply email with all the details to schedule a call with our team of experts to see together how we can help you scale your business.