How We Create Winning Creative Strategy From Scratch

Happy Friday!

Today, I wanted to pull back the curtain and show you how we develop a creative strategy for new clients.

Whether you're a brand that's been around for years or you're just getting started, building a strong creative strategy is key to scaling profitable Meta and TikTok ads.

We recently onboarded a new brand and since they’re just launching, we had the opportunity to create a strategy from scratch. Here's how we do it.

Winning Ad Creative Breakdown With 4.15 ROAS and 50% Hook Rate

We've created, tested, and optimized several ad concepts with multiple variations.

In the second half of the year, our winning ads brought in over $400,000 in revenue with 4.25 ROAS and $95,000 in ad spend.

We were able to reduce CPA by 42%, and increased the average ROAS from 2.24 to 4.25.

You can read my detailed breakdown here or watch my Loom video in the same link.

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Step 1: Brand Onboarding

First things first: organization.

When we take on a new client, we start by creating a dedicated board where we store all the important details—brand guidelines, product features, target audience insights, and more. This becomes our central hub for everything related to the client.

For this new client, we didn’t have any past ads to review because they’re brand new to advertising.

If they had previous campaigns, we would analyze them to understand what worked and what didn’t. We’d look at metrics like ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and CPA (Cost per Acquisition) to find the top-performing ads that could guide our future creative decisions.

If you have ads that performed well in the past, it’s always a good idea to build on that success. But if you’re starting fresh, it’s about setting a strong foundation from the very beginning.

Step 2: Gather Inspiration

Once we’ve got a good handle on the brand, the next step is to gather creative inspiration.

If the client has ads they love or they think worked well for other brands, that’s where we start. We asked our new client to share any winning ads they admired. These serve as a reference point for what resonates with their vision.

These inspirational ads help us understand the tone, style, and messaging that the client wants to communicate.

It’s like building a mood board for their creative direction, which will guide the visual, copy, and overall feel of the ads we create.

Step 3: Transcription & Analysis

Next, we get into the nitty-gritty of analyzing the ads. This involves transcribing the video scripts using tools like Descript. Why?

Breaking down the messaging and structure of successful ads can reveal the little things that make them work—like the hooks, the flow, and how the product is introduced.

Once we have the transcriptions, we study the details.

• What’s the tone?

• How do they capture attention in the first few seconds?

• How do they address the viewer’s pain points and turn them into benefits?

It’s not just about what the ad says, but how it says it. Understanding these elements helps us craft ads that will hit the mark for the client.

Step 4: Competitor Research

For brands that are just getting started, we also dive into competitor research.

We head over to the Meta Ad Library, where we can see what kinds of ads their competitors are running. We look for ads that have been live the longest—because if they’ve been running for a while, they’re likely performing well.

This research helps us spot trends in the industry and see what kind of messaging resonates with similar audiences.

For our new client, we looked at other brands in the beauty and self-care space that are selling similar products.

We analyzed their ads for inspiration, looking for ways we could differentiate the client while still tapping into what’s working for the competition.

Step 5: Crafting the Strategy

With all the data in hand, it’s time to create the strategy. This is where the magic happens.

We combine everything we’ve learned from the brand’s guidelines, inspirational ads, and competitor research to craft a detailed plan.

For our new client, we identified several key areas to focus on:

• PCOS-Specific Ads: We decided to speak directly to people with PCOS by using personal stories and relatable experiences that address their specific concerns. This makes the brand feel more connected to the audience’s unique needs.

• Testimonials & Storytelling: Leveraging authentic first-person narratives that build trust and show real results.

• Pain-Free Messaging: Emphasizing the ease and comfort of using the products. For people who are concerned about pain or discomfort, this reassurance can be the tipping point that leads to a purchase.

• Cost-Saving Benefits: Showing the long-term value of the product. People love knowing they’re making a smart investment, so we communicate the savings compared to other alternatives.

Final Steps

Once we’ve finalized the creative strategy, we package everything up in a way that’s easy for the team and the client to review.

This ensures that all creative efforts are aligned and optimized for success before we start with ad production.

From there, it’s all about execution—launching the ads, monitoring performance, and making data-driven optimizations as we go.

If you’re ready to craft ads that convert, just hit reply! We’d love to help you create a strategy tailored to your brand.

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How We Can Help You

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you…

1. If you’re looking for a creative partner who will handle your entire creative production, deliver winning ads every month, and help you scale, apply to work with us here. We have worked with brands like HexClad, BestSelf, Product Hunt, Morning Brew, and others.

2. Want us to train your internal team and implement all of our creative production systems and strategies in your business? Apply here and we will help you build an in-house team that can create hundreds of winning ads every month.

3. If you’re looking to take your ad performance to the next level and have a consistent stream of winning creative, but don’t want to hire anyone, we have created a program that teaches you our entire creative production process and everything we have learned over 3 years of creating tens of thousands of ads.