Why you need to 2x your static ad production?

Hey there,

Welcome back for another drop of Ad Performance Lab!

Today, we’re diving deep into one of the most important part of scaling a Shopify brand…

Which also happens to be our favorite topic to geek about…

Static Ad Creatives.

And today we’re focusing on the best formats for still ad creatives, how to identify best frameworks for your brand, and what to keep in mind when creating static ad creatives.

And yes, last time we were geeking out about UGC and short-form videos, now totally switching to static ads…

The thing is, both work. For some brands videos work better, for some static ads.

Lately we’ve seen results increase especially for static ads that we’re running for our partner brands.

That’s why we want bring this topic to the table this week.

Let’s get straight into it!

Starting From The Square One

Once again, we want to start from the square one.

When developing ad creatives there isn’t a way to skip steps and expect amazing results.

We’ve to do the work from the ground up and actually plan our creatives.

So, the first thing is to plan what the ad is going to be about.

How you need to think about every ad creative you ever make?

The Principle of One.

That basically means that we want our ads to:

Sell ONE product

To solve ONE problem

For ONE specific avatar

Meaning, if you’re trying to solve multiple different problems or sell multiple different dream outcomes in one ads - then the messaging of the creative won’t stick to anyones mind or generate any curiosity in people’s mind.

If you try to sell to anyone, you will sell to no one.

This is a foundational principle that you MUST understand in order to create direct-response ads, that actually work…

Master Static Ads

As I said earlier, static ads have absolutely CRUSHED it for our brands in the last few months.

More and more of our budget is going towards statics, and for a good reason too.

Bigger ROAS :D

Why?

- Statics ads have lower CPMs compared to video

- If built correctly, they deliver the core message within 2 seconds

- They’re somewhat easier to produce, and it’s easier to test a bunch of different variations fast

But then… how to actually create these static ads that actually convert?

Here’s a full framework for creating converting static ads:

Pre Ad Launch

• The step before square one - think about different types of ICPs within your target audience. Your ad's imagery and messaging should mirror the aspirations, frustrations, and language of your ideal customer.

  • For example: The 30-year-old health enthusiast who prioritizes their health and wellness, seeking comprehensive nutritional support to enhance their overall wellbeing. They value blend of rich vitamins, minerals, and whole food-sourced nutrients for its ability to support skin, hair, nails, hormonal balance, mental performance, and more. Selling points: statistics, nutrition information and benefits of use.

• Then going to the square one, which we talked earlier - planning one main selling point, to one main ICP with one main dream outcome.

• Create ad content based on these different types of personas 

  • They all care about different things… so you need to speak differently to each of them

  • They all have their unique problems, so if you’re generic and don’t talk about those specific problems - they won’t listen

• How to create ad angles efficiently with AI 

  • Read 50-100 customer reviews through, so YOU can internalize and understand how your customers speak.

  • Download a CSV with all the reviews and upload it to ChatGPT

  • Get it to perform an analysis of the most frequent words used, most frequent problems, etc. (Prompt whichever outcome you want)

  • After that use the points below to come up with dozens of different ad angles in seconds. (Ask GPT to come up with ad angles for these specific categories for your specific product)

    • Desired results vs. worst case scenario

    • Us vs. Them

    • Big Claim Of Benefit 

    • Dream outcome specification

    • Timeline of getting results

    • Negative Statement to Positive Solution

• Then for each of the angles you get - create a static ad template where you test the different angles, headlines, phrases, etc.

• Test the different “personas” and the different content types in an ad set and let Meta’s system find your best target customer.

Post Ad Launch

• Closely monitor your ad frequency and start changing your creatives when an ads frequency is increasing…

• Take the winning style of content and the winning messaging - and test it in different ad formats, such as video, GIFS, statics, etc. 

5 Rules To Micro-Testing Ads

How to create more ads from winning ads?

1. Test Headlines (Write 10 headlines -> add to winning ad creative)

2. Test Main Text On Image (Create 10 new texts -> add them to winning creative)

3. Test Layouts (Create 10 new video layouts -> add them to winning creative)

4. Test Copywriting Variations on both ad creative and ad copy (Create 10 new copywriting variations -> add them to winning creative)

5. Test CTA Variations (Create 10 new CTA variations -> add them to winning creative)

6. Test Color Variations (Create 10 new Color variations -> add them to winning creative)

The Best Still Ad Creative Formats

Take inspiration from these, and build out something similar (or better yourself).

The most important thing in here is to learn the fundamentals and building blocks yourself, so you don’t have to spy and copy anyone!

1. Competitor Comparison - Example

2. Big & Bold Promise + Review to Back it Up

3. Customer Review + USPs listing

4. Bold claim, Product Features and Their Benefits, visually appealing high-quality product shot

5. News Format - Headline about Transformation from Pain Point to Dream Outcome, Irresistible Offer.

6. Before & After, Testimonial, Product Achievement (Best in test), number of reviews

Conclusion

How to create banger ads?

1. Make it stand out from the crowd by using colors that don't blend in with everything else.

2. Have a big, bold headline that EITHER conveys your message and value proposition in a few words OR gets the reader curious about what your product is about.

3. Sell the click, not the product.

4. Cram as many trust signals or additional benefits into the ad without cluttering it.

5. Compare your product to other well-known products in the industry.

And… test a ton of different styles and variations out.

Value Bomb Of Week 👀 

Each week our team goes through 10+ different newsletters in the digital advertising world and collects together the best value here in a simple format. Think: you get the best value from all newsletters in one single place, in one single email

The Checklist for when things just don’t click - by Nick Sharma

“Here is my checklist for ad creative:

1. Whether it’s a video or static ad, is the CTA clear?

2. Is the caption or copy in the ad complimentary to the visual ad asset? In my experience, people first see the visual ad, then the headline, then the caption at the top, and then the newsfeed description (the small copy under the headline in a FB ad). 

3. If it’s a video ad, am I showing the product or hooking the viewer in the first few seconds? The first 2 seconds needs to hook their attention, and you should show the product within the first five seconds.

4. If I have text overlay, is the font bold, easy to read and does it contrast with what’s behind it?

5. If I’m using music, do I have fair-use music and have I paid for the licenses? You don’t want to run into issues here — they’re not fun.

6. Does the ad I’m running match the product variant shown on the page when someone clicks? For example, if I click an ad for a blue blanket, I should see the blue blanket first, not the pink pillow. This is a HUGE reason people bounce from websites.

7. Will this ad make someone stop scrolling? People scroll 1-2 miles per day — don’t get left in the dust.

8. Do I have sufficient social proof in the ad self? 

9. Am I speaking to the benefits of my product, or just regurgitating value props? No one cares that you’re zero calorie, they want to know you’re the mom’s favorite choice!

10. If my grandma found this ad in her feed, could she understand what I’m selling and why she should look into it further?

11. If it’s a video, do I have captions? Most people watch ads with the sound off!

12. Does my ad end with a clear CTA that matches what they see on the next page?

Are we consistently checking the ad for new comments or engagement? Every single comment should have a reply to it. And, if it’s a negative comment, HBD — hide, block, delete. You have to do it in that order!

Am I looking at the ad creative performance on a regular basis to understand what hooks, angles, and positioning is working best for me? I like to use Motion for creative analytics here — you can just see all your creative, which hooks work best, which has the best CPA/ROAS/CPC/etc.

Have we taken the best hooks from Motion and then retried the ads that didn’t work as well, with the hooks we know perform well?

Does the ad educate, inspire, and sell all together?

If you check all these boxes, there’s no way you can’t have ads that perform well! Alright, that’s all I got for you this week. I hope this list was helpful. Please reply with what you would add to either the first or second checklist and I’ll share a link to the final list in a couple weeks!”

If you run a Shopify brand and you're trying to scale to 8 and 9 figures but need some help with your ad creatives (whether it’s still or short-form video :D)...

get in touch to book a discovery call today and let's talk about how we can help you grow your brand!

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On your side,

Matias Myhrberg

Founder, ©/Alota