Some raw thoughts on the state of ad creative right now...

Hey guys,

I've been deep in the trenches with our team putting out thousands of ads every month, and I wanted to share some raw thoughts on what's actually working in DTC ad creative right now, plus some other random thoughts I’ve been having recently.

No fluff, just the insights we're seeing across 40+ client accounts.

So let's dive in...

1. Longer Ads Are Winning

I'm seeing a ton of longer ads performing well in ad accounts right now. Many in the 2-3 minute range, with some even stretching to 5-10 minutes.

What's interesting is that many of these ads sit in the problem for minutes before even introducing the product. If you can agitate for that long and keep it relevant (which is easier for some products than others), do it.

💡Remember: There's no such thing as an ad that's too long, just an ad that's too boring.

2. AI Agents Are Changing Everything

AI agents are already making our processes significantly more efficient. We're building workflows in Gumloop, N8n, and Poppy - and you should definitely pay attention to what Motion is cooking up too.

If you want to see more about the tools we’re using, I dropped a video with Jimmy Slagle going through how we use AI tools to create Facebook ads here.

I genuinely think our industry is about to flip on its head. If you're a creative strategist who wants to future-proof yourself, learn prompt engineering ASAP. The quality of an AI agent's output is dictated by the quality of its prompts.

Besides copywriting, prompting is becoming the most important skill a creative strategist can develop today. I've seen firsthand how the difference between a good prompt and a great prompt can completely transform the quality of creative output.

3. Deep Research Is Your Secret Weapon

Some people predicted AI agents would do 50% of a strategist's work within 12 months. Well, DeepResearch can do 50% of a strategist's work TODAY.

It can conduct end-to-end research by analyzing reviews, articles, forums, competitors, websites and more in minutes. Research is the hardest part of strategy, and DR gets you 90% of the way there, making it well worth the $200 subscription.

4. In-Person Shoots Are Great

More brands and agencies should start conducting in-person shoots. This is already a growing trend I've observed over the last 6 months.

We're now doing multiple shoots a month (low prod, podcasts, street interviews, warehouse ads, etc.). It's less scalable than remote work, but it's just a lot easier to make stuff that works when you're on set with the talent.

Plus, when executed properly, it can work out as efficient or even cheaper than shooting remotely.

5. Finding Good Creative Strategists Is Hard

We have a 3-stage interview process: culture interview, trial task, and technical interview. The trial task involves writing a brief for one of our clients because it screens for the hardest technical skill as a strategist... copywriting.

You can usually tell if someone has writing chops within 1-2 lines. And once you've found a top strategist, treat them well.

6. Study the Organic Feed

Some of our best ad ideas have come from studying the organic feed. I say it all the time, but I can't understate the importance of this point.

The feed has moved past traditional "UGC." We saw an organic TikTok blow up for Stardustbyallie where she was packing orders for customers. So we bought a pair of Meta Ray-Bans and got the warehouse to film some for us. After split testing a few different voiceovers, one became one of the brand's top performers.

This has happened multiple times. The organic feed is your creative goldmine.

7. The Hit Rate Fallacy

Ive always thought hit rate is a weird metric to measure creative sources by. What counts as a 'hit'? Does that change as the business grows?

If one strategist puts out 50 ads/week at a 20% hit rate, is that worse than another who only makes 5 ads at a 40% hit rate? The goal is to make as many scalable ads as possible.

That's why we measure creative sources by percentage of spend in the account controlled - I think it's a way more reliable metric to assess who is making more scalable, long-term ads.

8. Brands are Diversifying Creative Sources

Brands are definitely increasing the number of creative partners in their accounts. We used to be the only external creative source in the majority of accounts - now it rarely happens at all.

As an agency, it keeps you sharp and allows your clients to diversify their creative (every partner has a different perspective/style). As a brand, it allows you to do volume without building a huge internal team.

If the end goal is Quality × Volume × Diversity, then a strong internal team and a handful of trusted creative partners is the way to get there.

9. Don't Kill Your Top Spenders

Still the biggest mistake I see brands (and agencies) make is turning off top spending ads because they are not efficient.

The reason Meta gave spend to the top spending ad is because the algorithm thought it was the best ad. If the 8th top spender with a 50% cheaper CPA had the same level of scale, it's likely that it would be less efficient than the current top spender.

Your job as a media buyer is not to make sure every single ad hits efficiency goals, but to make sure the entire account does.

Making ad creative is tough, especially with how fast things are moving this year. But I'm genuinely optimistic about the next 12 months - I think advancements in AI will allow DTC brands to significantly increase their creative output while decreasing their OPEX.

The strategists who adapt and embrace AI, learn prompting, etc. will thrive and be even more in demand.

Let me know which of these points resonated with you the most. I'd love to hear what you're seeing work in your accounts too.

See you next week,

Alex