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In recent years, there has been a growing consensus that creative is the number one driver of success in paid social media. As more media is consumed online and competition intensifies, it’s more important than ever for brands to develop creative that engages users and captures attention.
But, despite this increased focus, a disconnect often remains between performance marketing teams and the creative departments responsible for producing the content.
Here, we explore the evolution of modern paid social strategy, providing practical recommendations for enhancing creative performance. Partnering with Meta, Vervaunt, a London-based eCommerce and paid media consultancy, conducted in-depth testing to examine the role of creative diversity, uncovering how a broader range of content can drive significant improvements in campaign results.
The evolution of paid social strategy
Historically, best practice in paid social involved building campaign structures with numerous ads and ad sets tailored to specific audience personas. This highly segmented approach ensured relevant creative reached defined audiences.
This strategy has evolved towards more consolidated, broad targeting methods. Privacy changes and audience data loss have contributed to this shift, but the greatest influence has been the substantial improvements in machine learning. Meta, in particular, thrives on wider targeting, as it allows its algorithm more room to learn and optimise. As a result, brands are moving away from segmentation towards consolidation, enabling ad sets to gather more data and improve performance through algorithmic optimisation.
Modern performance marketing approaches
Today, the strategy is to create content that effectively handles the targeting itself. With machine learning advancements, if a specific audience engages with an ad, the algorithm will continue to serve it to similar users. Consequently, by creating ads tailored to different audiences, brands can extend engagement to a wider range of users, improving both reach and results.
For instance, brands such as Patagonia, Arc'teryx and Fjällräven might build content with different customer types in mind by segmenting them into adventurers, casual hikers and commuters.
It is key for brands to build an array of content that speaks to different audience groups and also buying behaviours. Within each customer group, some users may be more sold by UGC and social proof, whereas others need the product features and benefits highlighted. Vervaunt has been testing the role diversity and volume play in content creation, how varied content should be and how much content is needed to achieve the best results.
The importance of creative diversity
Vervaunt collaborated with Meta to test a fundamental question: “Do more ads lead to better results?”
It began by pre-testing 20 ads for each client, and identifying the top five performers. Vervaunt then ran A/B tests to compare the performance of these five top ads against the original 20. As expected, Vervaunt found that more ads led to a 7% reduction in cost per acquisition (CPA). But, this improvement was less substantial than anticipated, prompting a deeper dive into the data.
The most significant reduction in CPA occurred when there was strong creative diversity. Meta’s machine learning models analyse the visual composition of ads, trained on both graphic and conceptual levels. When ad spend is concentrated on a small number of ads (in some cases, three ads consumed 91% of the budget), creative diversity is inherently limited. In contrast, when ad spending was distributed more evenly across a diverse set of creatives, Vervaunt saw significant improvements.
Even clients with lower creative diversity achieved a 5% reduction in CPA when running 20 ads instead of five. But, clients with greater creative diversity saw more than double the improvement, with an 11% lower CPA.
In summary:
- More ads can improve performance.
- Greater creative diversity enhances results even further.
Creative diversity in action
Vervaunt has worked with Osprey for over three years and demonstrated significant success through creative diversity. During whitepaper testing, Osprey, whose creative was considered among the most diverse, saw a 13% reduction in CPA when running a wider range of ads.
Osprey’s creative strategy included purpose-built content for different consumer types, such as commuters and technical users, with each group responding to different creative elements such as colour distribution and brightness. In addition to targeting personas, Vervaunt also developed assets to cater to various stages of the buying funnel, including long-form brand videos, short intro films, lifestyle imagery and product-focused images. This diversity in content helped to engage a wide range of audience types.
In another example, a brand that had traditionally relied on UGC and influencer marketing began testing more premium, campaign-style content. This new creative allowed them to expand their reach and attract an older demographic, which also increased the average order value (AOV). While their core content remained the same, introducing more diversified creative helped them tap into new audience segments.
As Caroline Kölln, account director at Vervaunt, explains: “The success of modern paid social strategy hinges on creative diversity. Our recent testing with Meta clearly shows that while more ads can drive better performance, it is the diversity within those creatives – tailored to different audiences and buying behaviours – that truly unlocks stronger results. By ensuring creative is purpose-built for various audience segments, brands can not only optimise their reach but also deliver a more personalised and impactful user experience.”
Creative diversity is essential for maximising performance marketing results. While increasing the number of ads can improve outcomes, the real driver of success lies in the range and relevance of those creatives. By focusing on purpose-built content that resonates with different audiences and buying behaviours, brands can significantly enhance their reach, reduce costs, and deliver more meaningful and engaging user experiences.