If you’ve spent any time running Meta ads in 2025, you’ve probably heard the same advice over and over again: You need more creative. Twenty new ads a week. Constant testing. Endless iterations.
It’s no wonder so many marketers feel overwhelmed. The pressure to produce “enough” creative has led many brands to flood their ad accounts with random variations, hoping something will stick. But as our Director of Creative, Ben Bennett, explained in a recent episode of The Smart Marketer Show, that approach only creates what he calls creative noise—a flurry of content that confuses your data and teaches you nothing about what actually works.
Instead of treating creative volume like a numbers game, Ben recommends a smarter, psychology-driven approach: a four-step framework that lets you scale creative output without burning out your team or breaking your message.
Step 1: Start With Your Best Hook
The first step isn’t about brainstorming something new. It’s about doubling down on what’s already proven to work. Your “hook” isn’t just a headline, it’s your core marketing message, the big idea that consistently drives conversions. It’s the promise or transformation your product delivers.
For example, one of our agency clients sells natural insect repellents in Australia, a country where mosquitoes are practically their own species of predator. Their strongest hook was simple but powerful: customers don’t have to choose between safe and effective. That message taps directly into the emotional tension of wanting to protect your family without using harsh chemicals. Once the team identified this message, they stopped chasing new ideas and instead built every winning ad around that theme.
The takeaway? Find your hook and stick with it. Your message should evolve through storytelling, not by constantly starting from scratch.
Step 2: Build Experiences Around the Hook
Most advertisers mistake creative diversity for technical diversity. They think switching from static images to videos or swapping out colors counts as variation. But the truth is, that kind of surface-level change doesn’t create new audience insights, it just adds noise.
Real creative diversity comes from changing how people experience your message. That means playing with variables that shape emotion and perception, like tone (emotional, serious, funny), setting (indoor vs. outdoor), perspective (first-person vs. third-person storytelling), and persona (founder, customer, or employee). These variables completely transform the way a viewer feels the same message.
In the campaign, one ad featured a professional product shot in a tranquil nature setting. Another was a playful PSA-style graphic about mosquito safety. A third showed a mother explaining why she stopped using DEET sprays on her kids. Each ad looked and felt unique, yet they all revolved around the same central promise. This kind of “experiential diversity” lets you scale your story without diluting your message.
Step 3: Add Technical Variety After the Story Works
Once your message and emotional experience are solid, then it’s time to think about formats. Should it be a carousel? A UGC-style video? A polished image? The format should serve the story, not define it.
Marketers who start with format first by saying “we need more videos” or “we should test carousels” end up creating ads that look different but feel the same. Instead, start with meaning. Decide what emotion you want to evoke, what experience you want the viewer to have, and then choose the technical setup that brings that to life.
Step 4: Refine Through Micro-Testing
Once you’ve built your first batch of creative, the real learning begins. This is where you start changing one variable at a time and observing how it affects performance. Add a person to an image that previously showed only a product. Adjust your tone from educational to humorous. Change the setting from nature to home.
Small, deliberate changes like these can lead to major insights because they isolate the emotional levers that make your audience respond. Instead of creating twenty random ads and hoping one wins, you’re testing strategically—turning every creative round into a data-backed experiment.
The Big Picture: Sustainable Creativity
In a world where algorithms demand constant innovation, it’s tempting to equate volume with progress. But Ben’s framework flips that logic on its head. True creative growth comes from clarity, not chaos.
By starting with one strong hook and testing experiences around it, you create ads that are purposeful, repeatable, and scalable. You stop guessing and start learning. You trade burnout for momentum.The secret isn’t more creative, it’s more intentional creative. When you can name what you’re testing, you can replicate what works. And that’s how sustainable creative production really scales.
