Written in collaboration with Overskies

Performance creative involves using measurable ad data, such as clicks, sales, and conversions, to assess the effectiveness of various advertising creative assets. By analyzing these metrics, marketers gain insight into what works well and make informed decisions about future campaigns. It eliminates guesswork and allows for iterative improvements based on real-time feedback.

Breaking Down Silos: Collaboration between Media and Design Teams

To truly harness the power of performance creative, media and design teams must collaborate closely. The exchange of information between these two teams is critical in understanding which creatives are performing well and why. This collaboration helps modify contextual factors that influence performance, such as:

• Audience targeting
• Budget allocation
• Placement format
• Flight timing or duration
• Messaging
• Creative look and feel

How to Leverage Effective Testing

While conducting isolated A/B testing yields the most accurate results when evaluating creative performance, it may not always be possible due to ongoing campaigns or limited resources. However, even without conducting controlled experiments from scratch, you can leverage existing data collected over time to inform your future ad iterations. This flexibility empowers advertisers regardless of their current ad setup or budget.

Testing creatives on platforms that are quicker to produce and easier to track, such as social media and programmatic advertising, can be advantageous. By experimenting with different ad variations in these channels, you can gather valuable insights at a faster pace without incurring significant costs. This knowledge can then be applied to more labor-intensive and traditional advertising platforms like television or billboards. 

When conducting a recent performance creative analysis of ads promoting an event, the 3 top performing ads received 56% of the clicks while the 3 low performers received 10%. What was the difference? The ads with the highest number of clicks showcased a specific activity that would take place at the event, and featured clear calls to action. Think: an image of a girl rollerblading vs. a group of smiling faces. The latter does not immediately imply an event promotion nor highlight a specific activity that may motivate someone to attend. The insight that specificity drives engagement helped inform future iterations of ads for this campaign.

Taking a Full-Funnel Approach

When evaluating performance creative, it’s important to consider the entire customer journey rather than solely focusing on conversions. By selecting key metrics for each stage of the funnel, you can gain a holistic understanding of which ads are driving success at each level.

Perhaps you may find that people and lifestyle imagery perform well in raising top-of-funnel brand awareness, while product-focused visuals drive sales at the bottom of the funnel.

As a specific example, we analyzed the following metrics for a nationally recognized health brand:

• Awareness = Clicks
• Consideration = Form-fills
• Conversion = Actual appointments and procedures completed

For each ad in a given ad set, we compare the ratio of clicks to surgeries. In other words, the data evolves from “this lead cost $X” to “Y% of people who clicked on this ad converted”. These valuable, data-driven insights inform our creative recommendations and make campaigns more efficient. 

The Value of Performance Creative

While implementing performance creative strategies may require additional investment, the benefits far outweigh the costs. It enables advertisers to refine their creative approach based on real-time results, leading to improved campaign performance. In fact, research shows that creative, effective ads can generate more than 4x as much profit. Advertisers should inquire whether their media agencies offer performance creative solutions and assess their experience in this field. A strong partnership between media agencies and brands is crucial for supporting brand messaging, look, and feel throughout the process.

If you’re looking for a partner that will understand and maximize your campaign performance and resonance, we’re your team! To learn more, check out our website. Plus stay tuned for an exciting performance creative announcement coming soon!

Performance creative is using data to measure the performance of specific creative assets and creative variables to further guide new creative development and placement intelligence for advertising campaigns. In its strongest form: creative strategists partner with media analysts, combining their expertise for top outcomes. The best way to BUILD a brand to sustained success is when creative and media work hand-in-hand. 

Understanding Performance Creative

When a team of creative thinkers and data-driven marketers get together to optimize each and every brand asset and advert so the campaign performs it’s very best, you have the magic that is performance creative.

Performance creative involves using measurable ad data, such as clicks, sales, and conversions, to assess the effectiveness of various advertising creative assets. By analyzing these metrics, marketers gain insight into what works well and make informed decisions about future campaigns. It eliminates guesswork and allows for iterative improvements based on real-time feedback.

Breaking Down Silos: Collaboration between Media and Design Teams

To truly harness the power of performance creative, media and design teams must collaborate closely. The exchange of information between these two teams is critical in understanding which creatives are performing well and why. This collaboration helps modify contextual factors that influence performance, such as:

• Audience targeting
• Budget allocation
• Placement format
• Flight timing or duration
• Messaging
• Creative look and feel

How to Leverage Effective Testing

While conducting isolated A/B testing yields the most accurate results when evaluating creative performance, it may not always be possible due to ongoing campaigns or limited resources. However, even without conducting controlled experiments from scratch, you can leverage existing data collected over time to inform your future ad iterations. This flexibility empowers advertisers regardless of their current ad setup or budget.

Testing creatives on platforms that are quicker to produce and easier to track, such as social media and programmatic advertising, can be advantageous. By experimenting with different ad variations in these channels, you can gather valuable insights at a faster pace without incurring significant costs. This knowledge can then be applied to more labor-intensive and traditional advertising platforms like television or billboards. 

When conducting a recent performance creative analysis of ads promoting an event, the 3 top performing ads received 56% of the clicks while the 3 low performers received 10%. What was the difference? The ads with the highest number of clicks showcased a specific activity that would take place at the event, and featured clear calls to action. Think: an image of a girl rollerblading vs. a group of smiling faces. The latter does not immediately imply an event promotion nor highlight a specific activity that may motivate someone to attend. The insight that specificity drives engagement helped inform future iterations of ads for this campaign.

Taking a Full-Funnel Approach

When evaluating performance creative, it’s important to consider the entire customer journey rather than solely focusing on conversions. By selecting key metrics for each stage of the funnel, you can gain a holistic understanding of which ads are driving success at each level.

Perhaps you may find that people and lifestyle imagery perform well in raising top-of-funnel brand awareness, while product-focused visuals drive sales at the bottom of the funnel.

As a specific example, we analyzed the following metrics for a nationally recognized health brand:

• Awareness = Clicks
• Consideration = Form-fills
• Conversion = Actual appointments and procedures completed

For each ad in a given ad set, we compare the ratio of clicks to surgeries. In other words, the data evolves from “this lead cost $X” to “Y% of people who clicked on this ad converted”. These valuable, data-driven insights inform our creative recommendations and make campaigns more efficient. 

The Value of Performance Creative

While implementing performance creative strategies may require additional investment, the benefits far outweigh the costs. It enables advertisers to refine their creative approach based on real-time results, leading to improved campaign performance. In fact, research shows that creative, effective ads can generate more than 4x as much profit. Advertisers should inquire whether their media agencies offer performance creative solutions and assess their experience in this field. A strong partnership between media agencies and brands is crucial for supporting brand messaging, look, and feel throughout the process.

If you’re looking for a partner that will understand and maximize your campaign performance and resonance, we’re your team! To learn more, check out our website. Plus stay tuned for an exciting performance creative announcement coming soon!