Ad creative

The ad creative is everything a viewer sees and hears in an ad: the video or image, the primary text, the headline, the call to action and, for video, the first few seconds that decide whether people keep watching. Targeting and budget decide who sees the ad, but the creative decides whether they stop, click and buy.

For ecommerce, creative is usually the biggest lever. The same product can fail with one video and sell well with another. Common creative formats include:

• product demonstrations that show the problem and the fix
• UGC ads filmed by customers or creators
• before and after comparisons
• unboxings and reviews
• static images with a strong offer

When you study a competitor's ads, look at the hook in the first seconds, the angle they use to sell the product, the offer and how many variations they run. A store that keeps producing new creative for one product is usually investing in it. An ad that has run for a long time is a sign the creative works, as the ad longevity entry explains.

RivalSonar's ad library lets you search and save ad creatives from Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and Snapchat.