How to Get Better Assets for Ad Creative
Creative, creative, creative.
That’s what makes a good ad, right?
We know that social media users view the ad creative first before they read the caption, read the headline, view the ad’s engagement and social proof, and definitely before they click to your website.
SO, how do you get good assets to make good creative out of?
This question was first answered in the Founders Membership. Check it out!
1. Find creators who fit your demographic or who you’re trying to target in specific campaigns
How do you do this?
Notice who your competitors are using for creators
Be a user of the advertising platforms you’re using and find people/creators/actors/microinfluencers who make good content anyways and reach out to them
Reach out to current customers (via social media, email, reviews) to see if they'd be interested in free product or payment to record content
Find UGC and actor-focused creative agencies who specialize in actor/creator-generated content
Join the Founders Membership and chat with advertisers from around the world to share who they’re using and how they’re sourcing creators (One member has their own creative sourcing agency and others use specific agencies, freelancers, or teams)
2. Once you have a handful or good group of creators, create a Creative Brief for them to follow (sometimes loosely)
Note that you likely need more than one good creator, and likely with different looks/demographics/personas/genders, etc., or you’ll eventually get creative fatigue and get yourself stuck in a rut of not being able to scale the same creative with the same creator
Creative briefs include key talking points (usually not verbatim or the video will seem scripted), key focuses of each video/piece of content needed, any guidelines around placement or where the creator should be when filming, brand guidelines, editing guidelines - do you want the creator to edit the footage at all or provide raw assets?, video length, assets needed - videos only? photos also?, number of videos needed, etc.
Creative briefs can be in a software like Asana or Notion, or written in a Word or Google Doc, but likely needs to be typed/written to be able to follow later
3. Create a storyboard to draft the content (this can be used for shooting and editing content):
** Each step represents the actual video sequence:
Address the problem
Describe (or show) the before feelings
Present the product solution
CTA
The angles are used as a style guide only. These four pillars can provide creativity as next steps in terms of shooting and/or editing:
Should I start with a mashup of problems?
Do a testimonial style problem?
Or give the tip 3 problem pain points?
Other options that can be included in a storyboard for UGC creators include:
UGC type
Unboxing
TikTok made me buy
Website/ordering process
X number of reasons why to buy X
The best thing about X
Problem/Solution
Meet this product
I wish I knew about X sooner
How to lay out the content - chronologically vs. reverse-chronological, problem/solution, aesthetically pleasing, etc.
Whether different and/or multiple iterations/hooks/lengths of content are needed
Intro content (hook)
Outro content (CTA/animation/graphic screen, etc.)
4. If the creator isn’t editing the content themselves, find a video editor that understands direct-to-consumer (or whatever type of industry you are in) advertising
5. Determine an editing process and revisions process, if additional costs are required, how many edits are available, etc.
6. Determine if there is a time limit on the creative to run as an ad and if the content will be delivered via the brand, or via whitelabeling or branded content
If this has been helpful to you at all, please check out our Founders Membership. It’s a group of some of the best advertisers in the world spending hundreds of millions in ad spend per month who are connected via our Membership to share insights that are truly invaluable.
Still not sure if it’s for you? Shoot us an email and we’d love to chat.