Data-Driven Creative Best Practices

Whenever possible, I like to lean on data to guide my paid media decisions. This is particularly true when providing creative recommendations to clients.

As I’ve discussed in the past, industry benchmarks aren’t always great, so I like to use first party data from previous tests that I’ve run with clients. Below I’m sharing some of the creative “best practices” that I’ve implemented with clients based on their own data.

Use A Pain Point Hook For Cold Audiences

Video ad hooks can be critical when trying to capture an audience’s attention, especially if that audience hasn’t had a previous interaction with the brand behind the ad.

I’ve done quite a bit of hook testing with one client, exploring hooks around aspirations, demographic acknowledgements, and more. However, we found that some of the best performing ads featured a hook that called out a pain point that were common among our target audience.

During one test across multiple hook types, the pain point hooks performed the best, which was evident by:

• A 6% stronger CTR than the average across all ads

• A 9% stronger hook rate (3 second views / impressions) compared to the average across all ads

• A 21% more efficient CPL compared to the average across all ads

Not only did the pain point hooks do a better job of grabbing someone’s attention, they also converted leads more efficiently than our other ads.

Although this is just one example, it’s clear that sometimes pain or frustration can be a strong motivator for driving action.

Focus On Clarity Over Creativity

Sometimes boring is better.

As a marketer, I know the temptation to try to bring a high level of creativity to ad design.

However, sometimes cleverness can hurt an ad’s clarity.

A recent series of creative tests with a client provided some more insight here. During one round of creative testing both the visual aesthetic and script of a set of video ads was fairly straightforward. Some simple subtitles, and a quick b-roll clip here and there.

In comparison, during another round of creative testing the visual aesthetic of these ads was much more stimulating, and the script itself was more tied to the visual component of the ad than the offer itself.

Interestingly enough, the more “boring” ads saw a conversion rate from lead to customer that was 18% higher than the more aesthetically pleasing ads.

Ads that are clear, and maybe a little ugly, can certainly go a long way.

This is only one test, but I’ve got a hunch it’s a fair representation for many creative + audience combinations.

Create Ads That Don’t Look & Feel Like Ads

Some of the most engaging ads I’ve run for clients don’t look or feel like ads at all.

More specifically, thought leadership ads on LinkedIn for one client have driven a 714% stronger engagement rate this year compared to standard sponsored content ads from the company page against the same audience.

My hypothesis is that because these ads present as regular posts from the team member’s account, viewers don’t glaze over them as much as they might “regular” ads that clearly present as an ad.

This concept also supports the popularity and success of many UGC (user generated content) ads.

I believe there can be a lot of value in opening up Zoom, or a camera on an iPhone, and starting to record. It’s simple, cost effective, and can clearly generate marketing results.

Wrapping Up

While all of my “best practices” are specific to some of my individual clients, I believe that the concepts represented in the data I shared are worth testing in your own paid media campaigns.

Designing ads around an aesthetic, or even logical framework is one thing, but using data to drive decision making can provide you with a more concrete foundation to make stronger creative recommendations.

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.