A big roadblock I often see with both clients and businesses that have smaller marketing budgets is creative development.

I totally understand wanting to have the best creative possible out there to reflect how a team feels about their brand. This sentiment is especially prevalent among founders, and for good reason. At the same time, when a business doesn’t have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on creating ads, those aspirational movie trailer shots aren’t always realistic.

That’s why I love working with clients to help put together scrappy creative. It might not seem as “polished” or “professional” but surprisingly enough I usually see that it performs pretty well. Below I’ll breakdown two tactics and tools that I use to help clients put together cost effective creative that actually drives performance.

1. Use your phone!

There’s not always a need to invest in expensive software, camera equipment, or studio sets. Sometimes all you need is the phone in your pocket.

Not only do candid, seemingly messy pictures taken from a phone work well, but most times I actually don’t even open my camera. I’ve put together ads for clients by taking screenshots of images like the notes app, or a text conversation. These tend to perform well in terms of engagement and CTR, and my hypothesis is that these are familiar visuals which don’t look and feel like ads. They serve as a nice pattern interruption that captures someone’s attention as they're browsing or scrolling.

Sometimes I also use this site to put together crafted text conversations. It’s free and easy… doesn’t get much better than that.

2. Invest in Canva

While not technically free, a Canva pro license for one person costs $120 a year. That’s still dramatically less expensive than paying a designer to put together one static image.

Canva is easy to use with a drag-and-drop interface, and its AI capabilities are actually pretty effective when it comes to disassembling existing assets to use those pieces to create net new ads.

Additionally, I’ve found it really easy to create GIFs or videos that are basically animated slide shows when it comes down to it. This process has been really helpful for clients that have products in the software or information space. I’ve found that trying to capture all of the relevant marketing points needed for these products in a single image leads to an overwhelming ad.

Being able to break down a few points across multiple images/slides and string them together in one asset has helped to actually create ads that people are watching and interacting with.

Wrapping Up

You don’t need a fancy production set or large budget to create ads that people actually engage with. It’s possible to get scrappy with the tools you already have, or invest in some budget-friendly software to expand the value you can provide to your marketing team.

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.