How to Improve Creative Iterations for Meta Ads
By: Harry Delmege on a webinar for the Foxwell Founders Membership titled: How to spend 7 Figures on One Creative Iteration with Harry Delmege.
If you’re still treating creative iteration as a checklist exercise—swap a hook here, change a CTA there, it’s time to evolve. The new creative economy for digital advertising (specifically Meta ads) no longer rewards minor tweaks. Meta’s algorithm is smarter. People’s attention is shorter. And ad fatigue sets in faster than ever.
That means one thing: iteration has to go deeper. It has to feel like a new ad. And if you do it right, it can turn a single creative into a seven-figure performer, but only if you’re still using data from previous creatives to know what your customer wants. Most creatives and ad buyers agree and have the data to prove that a vast majority of “super winners” are iterations, meaning the second, third, fourth, or fifth versions of ad creatives that they’ve perfected through data.
Here’s how to do the same.
Build Once, Then Evolve Relentlessly
Let’s start with the foundation: the mashup format.
The winning iteration that scaled to seven figures for Foxwell Founders member Harry Delmege? (He did a full webinar for the membership going through it, step-by-step) It started with a mashup ad that combined UGC, a founder clip, and B-roll. Think of it like building with LEGO—plug in pieces, test combinations, and structure it for modular improvement. The original format went like this:
UGC opener
Founder voiceover
UGC quote or testimonial
Call to action (via UGC)
Constant B-roll woven throughout
Simple. Repeatable. High-reward.
The launch approach was intentional, too. Ad sets were built using ABO (ad set budget optimization) for speed and forced spend, and every ad slot was a variant of the same base—each changing only a different hook, quote, or visual element. This wasn’t about “testing everything.” It was about testing with purpose.
This topic originally started in the Foxwell Founders membership, and turned into an hour-long webinar from a member about how he spent 7-figures on Meta ads on a single iteration. We’re having these conversations in the membership daily. If you’re a creative strategist, ad buyer, brand owner, or anything similar, we’d love to have you.
The Power Is in the First 3 Seconds
The most valuable real estate in any Meta ad is the first 3–6 seconds. That’s where viewers decide whether to engage or scroll—and the algorithm makes its early delivery decisions — both early in its launch/testing phase and also early on in the video ad.
The core insight? Leave the body of your ad untouched. Just rework those first few seconds.
Instead of generic visual hooks or broad CTA copy, this method focused on emotional resonance. The ad was re-cut over and over, each time leading with a distinct emotional benefit. A few real examples:
“Even my husband asked what pants these were”
“These pants make me look 6 feet tall”
“The fit on these is absolutely impeccable”
“These are now my wardrobe essential”
Each version tapped a different angle: validation, confidence, utility, style. Same footage, same product, completely different emotional appeal.
The winner? “Even my husband asked…” That one line—paired with a simple zoom and visual cue—drove over $1M in spend across Meta. But here’s the kicker: other versions still pulled in six figures individually. The key was relevance. Each iteration connected with a different persona, and Meta’s delivery system picked up on that.
Iterate for Audience Fit, Not Just Algorithm Play
Too many brands think about iteration in terms of platform mechanics. But the best creative doesn’t just perform better—it speaks to someone new.
Call it audience-specific iteration.
If your original ad hits broadly, how can you retarget that message to subcultures, demographics, or psychographics that weren’t connecting before? Using post-purchase data, surveys, or just smart intuition, you can build "deep cut" versions of your ad:
Gamer edition
Gen Z remix
40+ age demo with an older creator
Regional accents or humor
TikTok-style pacing versus traditional B-roll
The same message, shaped to meet someone where they are, outperforms every time.
Systematize Content Collection for Fast Iteration
If you want to iterate fast, you need raw material—and lots of it.
Set up a post-purchase UGC pipeline. In this case, customers received a request to film unboxing or “first impressions” content in exchange for a discount. Once they opted in, they got a full shooting guide to ensure the footage was usable.
That one move created a vault of raw, authentic content that could be repurposed into hooks. One random woman submitted a clip with no name or context. Her line made it to the top of a video—and that cut ended up doing over $100K in spend on its own.
If you’re not already systematizing UGC collection, you’re limiting your creative iteration speed. Period.
Creative Iteration Toolbox (2025 Edition)
Here’s the short list of what’s working right now in high-performance iteration:
Same ad, different creator – unlocks new demographics and cultural signals
First 3-second swaps – quickest way to reinvent your best ad
Emotion-only edits – find the core emotional hook (confidence, validation, excitement) and stack clips around it
Copy format flips – turn a PAS-style ad into storytelling, or rewrite benefits with a FAB lens
Authority remix – same script, but voiced by a dietitian, expert, or niche authority to trigger trust
Format shifts – green screen overlays, kinetic typography, motion graphics instead of raw footage
Time remixing – condense down to 10 seconds, or expand to 45+ for more narrative pull
Final Thought: Your Best Ad Isn’t Finished—It’s Just Waiting to Evolve
Too many marketers bury their best ads the moment performance dips. But the truth? A good creative doesn’t die. It just gets stale. And stale is fixable.
With modern iteration frameworks, that single high-performing ad can be spun, re-cut, and scaled in a dozen directions—each one unlocking a new audience segment, a new emotional hit, or a new wave of performance.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Just repaint it, remount it, and put it on a different road.