Creative Testing Misconceptions

Creative testing is a critical component of most paid media campaigns. After all, there’s no point in spending money on ads if no one notices or interacts with those ads in the first place.

With that said, I’ve seen creative testing methods evolve over the past few years, and some of the concepts and frameworks that used to be “best practice” may no longer be advantageous to improving performance. Below I’ll break down two concepts that I believe could use a refresher, and explain how I approach these dynamics when working with my own clients.

A/B Testing

One of the oldest, and most straightforward creative testing methods is the good old A/B split test. The idea is fairly simple; show one audience ad A, and the other audience ad B. Then compare performance between the two audiences to determine which ad was more effective.

In some cases this methodology may still make sense, but I’d argue those use cases are becoming less common.

Buyer behavior has changed quite a bit over the past few years as buyers have grown wise to many common marketing tactics. Countless studies have shown that most buyers conduct some research before making a purchase. This research can take the form of checking out a brand’s website, looking at third party reviews, sourcing feedback from their community, and other evaluation methods.

Therefore, it’s unlikely that someone will make a purchase after seeing one ad one time. Trying to compare the performance of one singular ad against another singular ad wouldn’t make sense because people don’t make decisions that way.

When I work with clients to set up creative tests, I structure them so that we’re testing creative themes against one another. Each test cell will have multiple ads showcasing the offer from multiple angles, while the other test cell might have ads presenting the same angles, but doing so with a different look and feel.

For example, a brand in the fitness space might test three ads filmed against a studio backdrop, each with three different value propositions. The brand could then film those same three value propositions, but in their gym space. Testing the three studio ads against the three gym ads would allow this brand to help prospects conduct their research by showing multiple value props, while also understanding if ads perform better when filmed in a studio or in the gym.

Frequency and Fatigue

As an extension from the above concept around A/B testing and buyer behavior, ad frequency is another metric that causes some confusion in conversations that I have with clients.

The more “traditional” notion is that a higher frequency means ads are more likely to experience ad fatigue and see reduced performance. While this can certainly be true at the individual ad level, I like to point out that a higher overall frequency at the audience level can actually be beneficial to paid media performance.

As I highlighted above, buyers typically need multiple interactions with a brand before they decide to make a purchase or become a lead. Therefore, it makes sense to develop multiple different ad variations that present a brand’s offer from several angles.

When taking this approach, it wouldn’t help to have a weekly frequency of 1 with 5 different ads in rotation. Prospects won’t learn much about the brand in that situation. I’d actually argue that if a brand has 5 ads in rotation, a weekly frequency of 10 for the set of ads could be quite effective.

When an audience feels like a brand is suddenly everywhere, that brand can take advantage of a few psychological principles to increase interest among those prospects. In my opinion, the key is to make an audience feel like a brand is everywhere, without also coming across as repetitive.

Wrapping Up

The traditional concepts of A/B testing and ad frequency might not be as relevant when applied against modern buyers.

My recommendation is to test ad themes in cohorts, while at the same time leveraging a relatively high ad frequency in combination with solid creative diversity.

Both of these concepts can help a brand to better educate a target audience around that brand’s offer, and ultimately improve paid media performance.

Have questions, considerations, or critiques? I’d love to hear them! If you’re reading this via email, just hit respond. Otherwise, you can find me on LinkedIn.