What Type Of Ad Creative Works Best

There are very few things as important as the advertising creative for the success of an advertising campaign. In this article, we cover what has worked best across thousands of b00st.com campaigns and share helpful tips for artists and teams looking to get started with online ads.

What’s an ad creative?

As with many areas related to advertising, the terminology is made up by the likes of Don Draper and is usually not based on science. You might hear ad assets, ad media, or just creative, used interchangeably. In the end, they all refer to the animations, images, photographs, pictures, and videos used in an advertising campaign.

Ads don’t work without it

Just imagine your favorite Super Bowl advertisement with no moving images, just one still image with sound for thirty seconds. Or Times Square and Piccadilly Circus with all black screens. You get the idea, ad creative is the medium delivering a brand’s message. The better the creative, the more likely a customer is to engage with a brand.

Still images, photos, or videos

There unfortunately is no one-size-fits-all answer. Video content, generally speaking, draws more eyeballs across social media platforms. Engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares tends to be higher on video content compared to still imagery.

However, in regards to the metrics that should matter most to brands, cost-per-click, cost per mile (CPM), and click-through rates, videos and still images are neck on neck, in regards to performance, which means that there is no clear winner.

Data, speed, and specs

While video content does generate more organic engagement, video consumption data across social media platforms is an important area to keep in mind, before you go out and spend tons of money creating the perfect video ad.

The average watch time of any video on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat is a few seconds. If you do not get your core message across in the first three seconds, chances are that only a fraction of total viewers of your video will ever find out what you are trying to purvey.

Additionally, each ad platform has their own guide on dimensions. To make sure your ad creative is not cropped, or cut off, head over to our community portal, where we’ve published a basic guide to ad specs for the major players.

Our advice

Treat your advertising creative no differently than you would social media content. If the content is engaging enough for your fans, and would (or does) rack up a lot of likes and comments on your channels, then it’s a great place to start for your advertising campaign.