Ad Creative Review to Boost ROI (December 2023)

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Hi team, here are 2 versions of the same ad for an ad campaign around a webinar recording.

We've got all the dimensions for static programmatic ads as well as for LinkedIn.

Awesome! I think these might have too much text but curious what you think!

Thanks again for sharing your ads, @charlotte.spangler! Please see below for my feedback:

-While your ad copy does an excellent job at emphasizing the value prop and keeping the copy active, it does run a bit long. Our recommended word count is 10 words max for heading copy and 15 words max for heading + subheading copy. Here are some streamlined copy alternatives to consider: 

Ad #1: 

Heading: More intelligence. Greater results. 
Subheading: Drive successful marketing outcomes today. 
CTA: Learn How 

Ad #2: 

Heading: Less stress. More ROI. 
Subheading: Solve your marketing challenges with AI-powered solutions. 
CTA: Learn More 

-When it comes to visuals, simplicity is key. The use of product screenshots (ad #1), illustrations (the lines/dots/circles graphics in ad #2), and images (ads #1 and #2) can potentially create visual clutter. I would focus on strong color contrasting to catch the eye (which these ads contain—love the gradient CTA and border at the bottom of the ad) and swap the images for images of people looking directly at the camera, as both of these elements tend to generate higher engagement. (We also generally find that images with color perform best.) It’s also worth noting that illustrations and product screenshots tend to underperform against ads that contain the aforementioned visual elements.  

-Consistent alignment and sizing across copy elements is key to readability. In ad #2, for example, the second line of the heading copy is slightly larger than the first line of copy. The subheading copy on both ads also runs pretty small in proportion to the rest of copy elements. To make sure ads are compositionally balanced, use sizing to establish a clear hierarchy of importance. As a general rule of thumb, follow this structure: heading copy (largest size), logo and CTA (medium size), and subheading copy (smallest size). 

-300x600 is among the top-performing ad sizes. To ensure you cover all of the highest-performing, highest-reach ad sizes, I recommend adding 300x250, 728x90, and 320x50 into the mix. 

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!

@Nikki Gloudeman Thank you for the feedback!

On the ad sizes: I've taken a look at a few campaigns from Nov and found that the sizes you talked about were usually among the top 3 when it came to impressions and CTR. As well as 320x480 and 160x600.

What I also noticed is that 768x1024 and 1024x768 didn't get any impressions.

Even though the platform shows the message below under 'View accepted file types and sizes' when adding new creatives:

Accepted Creative Dimensions 160x600 300x250 300x600 320x480 320x50 728x90 768x1024 1024x768

Why is that?

Thanks for explaining Nikki!

thank you @lgallardo this is super helpful!

@Barclay.Idsal - thanks for coming back. Yes, I sent these over to Victoria and she shared the pointers that you offered, which we have largely taken in.

I have also created the 728x90 + 320x50 sizes - I attached these into the post as well. For those I removed the reference to Jim and his job title and changed the CTA to Learn More instead.

I will see how we can shorten the copy. I did originally have shorter copy, but was told by our content team to make the subheadline longer. I'll cut the copy down again.

Appreciate your feedback. As always super useful :-)

Hi @Nikki Gloudeman ! We are getting ready to launch our first Vertical campaign for Smartly.io focused on the Travel vertical (airlines, lodging, OTAs, cruises). Our landing page is still in development, but I'd love your feedback on these creatives. The concept is that with Smartly.io, marketers can put their campaigns on autopilot and take a well-earned vacay.