The Weekly Sharpener #100 - Creative Cuts

Hey Fam 👋,

Welcome to the Creative Cuts Edition of the Weekly Sharpener where you'll get three of our favorite ads in the game 🔥.

We're going to discuss why they work or don't with the goal that you'll have some actionable takeaways on how to improve your creatives and grow your business. 🚀

Pencil - Creative AI

Pencil allows you to scale your creative testing on paid ads by automating the creative production process. All you need are your assets, branding, and performance data then in minutes you'll have your new ads ready to go. 🚀

(15% off your first year with code: TDS15) 🎉

Partner with us 🤝

Marketing agencies, freelance creatives, e-comm experts…want access to our generous revenue share and co-marketing opportunities? Become a Pencil Partner today!

You can learn more here.

This week we have a co-pilot, Alexa Kilroy (Head of Brand @ Triple Whale), we talk a lot about consistency. From scenes in the ads to the experience when you land on a brand's website.

Lack of consistency will lead to an erosion of subconscious confidence from the buyer you are trying to close...in short - don't do it.

Check out the full episode of the show below if you want a deep dive with tactical insights on your creative funnel or you can check out the quick write-up below!

Either way, we hope you find this valuable!

Also in this episode, we go through the landing pages that the ads lead to, and breakdown that experience, so we can figure how to convert more customers! Be sure to check it out 👇

Headspace 💆‍♂️

Hook-> How overwhelmed the woman in the ad is to start as all of her devices ding at night while she is home is VERY relatable. We have all been there.

Lesson here: what is the human feeling your product helps solve at its most extreme? This can be a hook.

Trust-> Headspace leans into brand heavily here as they don't focus on anything related to efficacy through the ad.

This ad is also more of a brand ad vs. DR-focused.

Benefits -> The hook sets up the benefits through the use of the headspace app to calm her down.

CTA's-> "The Everyday App for feeling better" - not a direct CTA but the closing statement of the ad, and felt like a light call to arms.

What I would change:

• The ad doesn't fulfill the promise of the strong hook - this means, like many Bond films, the opening sequence action is the climax of the experience. Sometimes that's enough - but it depends - also remember you might not have the luxury of these high production values.

• To heighten trust you can use one of the handful of trust badges I found on the website. I would use this on the CTA page. "Use the app downloaded 70M times to calm your mind"

• I would actually show her downloading the app because she is SO distraught and watching it soothe her. To really lean into the BENEFIT.

• I would also "Try it free today" since they're on the homepage and you can drive action and make sure it's a warmer lead coming to the website.

• Hold a beat longer on what she chooses as a meditation so we can see what she is really using, it moves quickly now, and it assumes that people are familiar with the interface. Don't make ads for you, assume your user needs exposure to your products.

• Ask yourself if there is a low-fi way to do this that feels less produced and more mundane - so you can see yourself, the user in it.

TLDR -- Focus on:

• Social proof + Try Free at the end

• Show download -> app use -> free to try = prospect having a well rounded experience.

Splendid Spoon 🥄

Hook-> Fast unpacking of the box the customer will receive then move to a couple of refrigerators full of Splendid Spoon products.

Trust-> they lean on REAL people and UGC to convey trust.

Benefits-> "Healthy, Delicious meals, delivered right to your door" + the visuals of all of the meals looking healthy. Ease of prep also came through here.

CTA's-> Explore Meal Plans - there has to have been some experimentation done here that it was better to invite the user to check things out on the landing page and let the offer do the heavy lifting vs going with the hard sell here.

The question we have to ask ourselves here is, does a user who clicks on an ad about a food delivery service have high intent already, or are most just browsing? That dictates what kind of CTA you close with.

What I would change:

• The middle scene of the food being eaten didn't look great, we could show something a little more curated, the scene was a little too user generated. 🤪

• 2x the speed of the hook and add a scene or two of happiness unpacking boxes.

• Stronger CTA

• BONUS: Also would love to see the ease + health in action, for instance: a working mom, who doesn't have time to make herself a nutritious meal every day. Watching her excitement when she receives the shipment and digs in, while standing in the kitchen after a tough day.

Caraway 🍳

Hook-> there is none...or is there with the flashing colors. I think the simplicity here is genius.

Trust-> 30k + ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews.

Benefits-> Whole set available?

CTA's-> None in the ad.

Note: This selection might feel like a trick question and the construction won't work for every ad. But there are some lessons here.

1) Simplicity cuts through

2) If you have something unique that can be feed dominant with and create an atomic thumb stop (less than 3 seconds)

3) Social proof can be elegant.

4) Sometimes you just need to get your customer to the site so what can do that in the quickest way? A short/colorful ad with pretty photography then let the landing page do the heavy lifting.

What I would change:

• Would add a CTA at the end.

• Shows the pans moving around the frame to add some dynamism.

• Do a quote of a customer from those 30k reviews. 👇 this would do the trick.

Want to see those ads in all of their glory, sound, and all? Check out the full ads on Ad Library here.

That's it for this week's edition of The Weekly Sharpener - Creative Cuts. Let us know if there are brands you think we should be looking at. Until next time!

All my best,

Chase

PS - ICYMI 🤖 - here is our most recent episode of ADD CREATIVE 👇