All language subtitles for Mirella Crespi -How to Build a Winning Ad Creative Factory

The last keynote for Affiliate
World Dubai, I couldn't think

of a better person to do that.

She is the founder of Creative Milkshake.

She helps companies, brands go
from, Ooh, yeah, we have some

fans here in the room, fantastic.

So, she is the founder of Creative
Milkshake, helping brands go from ideation

all the way to full funnel execution.

She has helped a ton of people.

Direct to consumer companies,
hit it big online, super stoked.

To hear what she came here
with us today for us today.

Let me welcome her.

This is the one and only Mirella Craspy

Affiliate World!

Woo!

I am so excited to be back on this stage.

I am Mirella, founder
of Creative Milkshake.

And last time I spoke at Affiliate
World was 2016 in Bangkok.

And I could definitely call
myself an affiliate back then.

Um, my thing was running quiz
landing pages, Facebook, Tabla, PPV.

Because really all you needed back
then was a good image, a headline,

and your affiliate offer links.

And at that same speech, I spoke
about the importance of making

ads that don't look like ads.

And UGC was not a thing back then, so
my trick as an affiliate was to go on

Fiverr and get people to take photos
with products from my Sweets Baked

offers to recreate that UGC effect.

But as you know, the biggest thing
back then was having pixel data.

Everything tracked, pixels
were firing everywhere.

You would refresh your stats
in real time and see thousands

of sales and leads coming in.

And media buying tactics worked.

Pixel data was your competitive advantage.

And you could create insane look alike
audiences, retargeting audiences.

The algorithm was great.

so good at finding people to buy.

My campaign structures were insane.

Testing 1, look a likes,
30 days, and it was stable.

You could rely on Facebook automated
rules for pausing and scaling

and basically just let it rip.

But as you know, everything
changed with the iOS updates.

Pixel data is pretty much gone.

Interests are disappearing.

Retargeting audiences
are insanely ineffective.

And nowadays, your competitive
advantage is no longer more

pixel data, but your creatives.

It's all about consolidating
campaigns, going broad, and

focusing on creative testing.

With first party data, creative
is your targeting, and I'll

go more into that later.

So why am I saying all this?

It's because back then, I, as an
affiliate alone, could make it.

You could thrive on your own.

Nowadays, not anymore.

You need to have an internal content team
or content partners to outsource creative.

At the end of the day, the goal is
to find a solution that will plug

straight into your media buying
team to create a clear iteration.

So I started Creative Milkshake to solve
my own problem, that specific problem.

I couldn't do a good job with campaigns
if I didn't have good creatives.

I needed great UGC ads
designed to convert.

But the whole process of working with
influencers, content creators, sourcing

the content, getting the rights to use
that in your advertising, the follow ups,

the payments, it was a huge headache.

So the truth is, as media buyers, I
didn't even care if they shared the

content on their social media, right?

I just needed it to
use in my ad campaigns.

So I created Creative Milkstreak to solve
my own problem and I'm going to share

with you today What I learned by building
this internal team, and hopefully that

will help you if you're building your
own internal content team or looking for

a partner to outsource your creatives.

So, building a data driven creative
team, it all starts with the media buyer.

The media buyer is like the North Star.

They establish the key success metrics
that the creative team will aim to hit.

So this is what it looks like
when you have a team that's

plugged into your media buyers.

The media buyers receive the creative
assets, they test them, and then

they send the feedback back to the
team that is going to then go through

the process of testing and iteration
that would allow the team to scale.

So let's go through each of the
different parts of the team.

Starting with the strategy team.

Creative strategists and copywriters.

These can be two different roles.

In my team, they're the same people.

And this person is literally your MVP.

This person interprets the data
from reports, has the ideas,

and oversees the execution.

It's super easy to outsource video
editing and content creation,

but it's really hard to find that
creative person that truly understands

your business and your metrics.

So, when you're looking for creative
strategists, This is what they're good at.

They're creative, and they have
the finger on the pulse of social.

And I have a little asterisk next
to it, because this is not really

something you can train for.

Either they are, or they aren't.

But you can train them at good
copywriting, and you can train them in

direct response marketing fundamentals.

And their role is to identify the
target audience and the pain points.

craft creative angles, brief the
copywriters and the content creators,

and ideally build for you and your team a
library of proven ad storyboard templates

that you can use over and over again.

So here's how to train them.

Number one, research.

Getting inside the mind of the
consumer and making sure they know

how to craft that creative angle.

A great place to do that,
Amazon Reviews, Reddit.

YouTube comments, TikTok comments, and
then the execution part is understanding

performance design best practices.

And that, having the eye for that,
really comes through making ads, testing

them, and learning from your own ads.

But also learning from brands
that do that very well.

So obviously, Facebook Ads
Library, TikTok Creative Center.

Addison.

io is a really cool tool.

D2C Nation and D2C Etc.

These are really nice brand
directories that you can look

for brands to then search in the
Facebook Ads Creative Library.

These are brands that are investing
heavily on paid acquisition,

so you can learn a lot from
them and their strategies.

So, the copywriters and creative
strategists are trained with the same

principles for creating great ads.

Let's talk about specifically
about the copywriter.

Um, I say direct response add
copywriter because it's very

different from a copywriter.

A copywriter is too broad.

Um, they don't necessarily
have to be good writers.

The average American reads at a seventh
grade level that's literally 12 years old.

So it's not about being a good writer.

It's about understanding consumer
psychology and customer behavior.

And what they do is they write the scripts
for your ads and write your ad copy.

Fundamentally, the number one thing they
need to know is that you're not selling

a product, you're selling a problem that
it solves and how it makes people feel.

So emotion over logic, always.

You're not selling shoes, you're selling
comfort and style, you're not selling

an acne serum, you're selling clear
skin with no breakouts, and motivators

that we always like to refer to.

It was a research done by
Harvard Business Review on the

science of consumer psychology.

And it lists all the things
that brands can leverage to

craft their creative angles.

So you're always speaking to the
key emotional motivators that

drive, um, consumer behavior.

And then the direct response copywriting
formula that we always consider when

crafting everything from Add script to
add copy is identifying the problem,

calling it out, a burning pain point
that they want to solve, agitating it

a little bit, how does it manifest,
what happens if it doesn't get solved,

and then discrediting your competition,
like I've tried this before but it

didn't work, and then finally presenting
the solution, connecting it to the

problem with a strong call to action.

So this is our creative strategy map.

This is what we use every single step
of the way, whenever we're making

an ad, we start with this framework.

What is the pain point?

What is the unique selling point that
is going to address this pain point?

And then crafting a hook and
a call to action, and that

becomes your creative angle.

So, a quick example of what it
looks like, um, If you've identified

three different creative angles
for a protein shake, for example.

Um, people don't like the taste of protein
shakes, they want convenience, a meal done

very quickly, or they're price conscious.

So this is what the creative strategy
team would pass along to the rest

of the content team to help inform
everything from ad scripts, um, that the

content creators will produce for us.

So, let's talk about the content creators.

Um, this is the production team.

It's the second step in
the ad making process.

I have tried so many solutions, from
shipping products to people, having them

shoot content, and it's very hit or miss.

It's very hard to rely on at scale.

So what we do at Creative Milkshake
is we have a content production

team which directs the content
creators in a studio environment.

They choose the content creators
and they shoot the content to create

UGC or AGC actor generated content.

So when you're looking for content
creators, you want to find people

that are naturally confident,
sound authentic, are charismatic.

And they also need to have a good voice.

This sounds weird, but it
makes a huge difference on ads.

Having someone that speaks
clearly, is eloquent, and being

mindful of their accent for
whatever region you are targeting.

Um, and what they do is shoot
content with your products or act

out the script written for your ads.

Um, to train your content creators,
it's really important to have them

understand how to shoot content
TikTok Creative Center has a really

nice resource for behind the camera,
um, that teaches them how to shoot

these native looking transitions.

Always shooting in daylight sounds
pretty straightforward, but it

makes a huge difference, and the
basic equipment that they need is an

iPhone, a tripod, and a ring light.

And for your content
creators, or production team.

They need to master capturing
three different kinds of content.

And I'm going to give you some examples.

So, product shots are unboxing videos,
product close ups, pans, and flat lays.

The goal for this is to showcase
the experience of receiving

the product and using it.

So focusing on the packaging,
the texture, and so on.

Then the next is product
demonstration or lifestyle videos.

So this shows how to use your product,
how it fits into your customer's lives,

and answers frequently asked questions.

The next kind of shots are
the talking head shots.

And there's three different
types of talking head.

There's the selfie mode, which is when the
content creator is literally like this.

There's a talking head with product,
which is when they're talking,

holding, and showing the product.

And then there's the green screen
effect, which is very popular on TikTok.

With these different kinds of
content in your creative arsenal,

you can make amazing ads.

Okay, so now you have all the content
you need, it's time to hand it over

to your post production team or your
video editors to turn it into ads.

Um, it's such a headache to
work with a video editing team.

that is not familiar
with performance design.

That's like the final piece to the puzzle.

It's what brings everything together.

So it's really important to
train video editors on the best

practices for social media ads.

And here's what they're good at.

They're good at using multiple
tools to edit videos and graphics.

Motion graphic skills are a bonus.

Um, but if you're making only TikTok ads,
the TikTok editor app is enough, or an

app like CapCut will do it, because...

You don't need many video editing
skills, you just want to make

TikToks that look like TikToks.

Um, and what they do is they
turn the content into ads

that are ready to go live.

In our video editing team, we
basically have two different guides

for the two different platforms
because they're completely different.

And I'll go through each of them.

For Facebook, it's really important
for them to understand that The

target audience matters, the ad
placement matters, that the creative

is for, and the level of awareness
of the user that we're targeting.

So the Facebook editing guide is
a bit more complex, um, because

Facebook has so many different
placements and so many possibilities.

Your creatives should look and feel
different based on your target audience.

One of the main variables
is the age you're targeting.

So we identified three
different age groups.

and what the ads should look like.

So for Gen Z, it's all about fast
transitions, aesthetics, it has to

look and feel very native, you hop on
TikTok trends, you use native fonts

and elements, and the goal really is
to make ads that don't look like ads.

For millennials, these are consumers
with a bit more money to spend, it's all

about the information, the functionality,
and going deep into the benefits.

ingredients, is it sustainable, is it good
for me, is it good for the environment.

So all about information
and functionality.

For boomers, the ads, these are actually
one of my favorite ads to make, because,

and audiences to target, because they have
more money to spend, and the ads are a

lot slower, they really focus on the pain
points you're trying to solve, um, they

use a lot of storytelling, and they look
and feel basically like an infomercial.

Another thing to keep in mind for
Facebook ads is, even though they're

UGC and they look and feel native,
you can follow the brand guidelines

so that the ads use the brand's fonts
and colours, or you can follow the

Facebook design system so that it looks
like it was created inside Facebook.

There's no right or wrong, you
can test both and determine what

works best for you and your brand.

Another video editing hack for
Facebook is, unlike TikTok, Facebook

users scroll through Facebook and
Instagram with their sound off.

So it's important to always
design for sound off.

Use captions, text layovers, emojis,
whatever you need to make the ad

engaging and effective, even if
it's watched with the sound off.

Another video editing
hack is split screen.

This works really well.

We often make ads that shows the person
and the product on the other side.

Um, if it's a vertical ad for
Instagram or Reels, you can

split the screen three ways.

Um, and also using a grid creates
that social proof effect of

multiple people using or talking
about the product at the same time.

The goal is to really make it...

a lot going on in that first frame.

Another video editing hack is if it's
a talking head, crop and zoom out

any empty space, and while people
are talking zoom into their face.

Um, this also makes it a
lot more engaging to watch.

Another rule is the 1.

5 second rule.

Something always happens every 1.

5 seconds.

Whenever I get a video back from
post production, I watch it and

I'm like, no, go back, fix it.

1.

5 second rule, something
always has to happen.

Okay, aspect ratios.

We always always create square portraits
and vertical versions of every creative.

I like to customize creatives for
all placements instead of relying

on Facebook's auto crop feature or
running square videos on stories

is literally my biggest pet peeve.

And that's pretty much it for Facebook.

The TikTok editing guide is super
simple compared to Facebook.

The most important thing to keep in mind
is that a thumb stop on TikTok is 0.

3 to 1 seconds according
to their internal data.

Attention spans are even shorter
than on Instagram and Facebook,

which is around 3 seconds.

So your hooks better be
amazing or scrolling through.

So what's important
with making TikTok ads?

Designing the first frame.

Creating a hook that slaps.

Only using fast, clean cut transitions
because any other kind of transitions

will stand out as looking like an
ad, like it wasn't done on TikTok.

Making them really short and to the point,
so always 30 seconds, ideally 15 seconds.

Following TikTok native design system
and considering TikTok safe space.

So this is what I mean by first
frame design, so using TikTok's

native elements, the questions box.

the TikTok text box, playing around
with different fonts, adding emojis.

And this is the TikTok design system.

This is our internal team's, um,
kind of cheat sheets because if

you're making TikTok ads outside of
TikTok, you still want it to look

like it was done inside TikTok.

So our team uses this TikTok design
system to make sure that we're only

using the native fonts and that the text
is always placed within the safe space.

Okay, so now let's talk about
the ad creative process.

This might be a bit of a hot take.

It used to be that the first step in ad
creation process for us was determining

if this ad is for top of funnel,
middle of funnel, and bottom of funnel.

And this is Facebook.

But, It has changed, right?

Um, you could get super granular
with saying I'm going to retarget

this person that visited this
specific page or that added to cart.

So you really could build and
differentiate the messaging

for each stage of the funnel.

But those days are gone.

So, scratch the it.

Facebook campaigns are now one
big consideration audience with a

spectrum of intent layered on top.

You don't have to completely
separate messaging and campaigns,

especially not on Facebook.

So retargeting audiences nowadays,
I'm sure you'll agree with

me, are insanely ineffective.

So you could arguably
ignore them completely.

If your prospecting campaigns
are open, Facebook will retarget

web visitors for you anyways.

And if you think about it, each
person has different questions

that need to be answered, and they
don't come up in a specific order.

So the goal really is to simplify
campaign structure and focus on

creative messaging, on having a lot
of different creative angles to test.

So this is where the creative strategy
map comes in, identifying the different

creative messagings you're testing
and figuring out which one will

resonate best with your audience.

So where you should focus most of your
attention is on creating a strong hook.

If you're targeting broad your
hook becomes your targeting.

It filters your audience very quickly.

The people that stop scrolling, the people
that click, the people that add to cart.

Facebook and TikTok will start
serving your ads to people that

are behaving similar to them.

So it's literally like building a
lookalike audience in real time through

your creative, if that makes sense.

Um, so your main focus should be
on creating really strong hooks.

So let's go through an example of
how to make a really strong hook.

Um, let's take an acne
skincare product for example.

You can start with a problem, stop
using makeup to hide your breakouts.

You can ask a question about the problem.

Tired of breakouts and skin bumps?

You can make a list.

Three ways this serum fights acne.

You can start with a product.

This acne serum sold out five times.

Or you can solve the problem.

This serum cleared my acne in three weeks.

Um, now let's talk about
creating visual hooks.

Here are some examples.

The first one shows the problem.

The first one is a product
for dandruff and oily hair.

So we start by showing the product.

This will literally make someone
stop scrolling if that's the problem

they resonate with and identify with.

The second one is a facial reaction.

My clicker.

A facial reaction.

And then using a bizarre shot.

Um, these are three easy ways
to make people stop scrolling,

creating strong visual hooks.

So, this is our storyboard for UGC ads.

The first part of your video,
like following the pain, agitate,

discredit solution format.

Always address the problem first, and
there's different ways to do this.

You can start talking about the product,
problem, you can show the problem, or

you can use a split screen or a mashup.

Then after you've identified the problem,
you start describing the before feelings.

You can keep talking about
the before feelings through a

testimonial, you can show the
before, or discredit the competitor.

For example, I've tried using this
before, but it didn't work for me.

And then the last part of your
video is when you make that product

connection and present the solution.

Again, with a testimonial, or showing
the features and benefits of how it

solves the problem, or showing the
after results, and then of course,

ending with a really strong call to
action, um, to wrap up your video.

Okay, so, you created your ads,
and now it's time to test them.

This is how we test our
creative in different phases.

The creative testing campaigns
start with testing the very

different creative angles.

Once you've identified these very
different creative angles, you

start testing different hooks,
which is changing the first

three seconds in the first frame.

Then the third phase is once you've
found the best combination of creative

angle and hook, Also testing that
same ad script with different content

creators makes a huge difference.

That's your creative testing campaign.

So once you've tweaked all these
different iterations and found the

one that works best, you would move
it on to your scaling campaign.

And that's when you start testing
the different minute details.

So for creative testing campaigns,
it's usually ABO, one ad per ad set.

So you force spend, and then the
scaling campaigns, it's grouping

the different variations in a CBO
and let Facebook find the winner.

I'll show you a couple of
examples of what that means.

So, creative testing, phase
one, testing different creative

angles for the same product.

Um, a before and after, a facial
reaction, and then showing the product.

Then we identified that the
winner was the before and after.

And then we tested the same hook
with different content creators.

So literally, same ad script, same
everything, just different people will

have a huge impact on performance.

Okay, so.

Your content team has created the
ads and sent it to your media buyers.

Your media buyers are going to test
them and get back to the team with data.

Metrics to focus on, if you're using tools
like TripleWhale, for example, you'll be

able to get the accurate ROAs on each ad.

If not, you can focus on the softer
metrics like CTR, CPC, LPV to add to cart.

Um, and ad relevance diagnostics are
important because, um, they factor into

Facebook's estimated action rates, which
determines your placements and your CPM.

Um, at the end of the day, the goal
is to find the winner that will drive

cheap traffic and allow you to scale.

And this is what the continuous
testing process looks like.

So, creative strategy team
comes up with a different angle.

Production team will
produce the, uh, content.

Video editors will turn them into ads.

The ads will be tested.

You check the performance metrics.

Is it acceptable?

Yes or no?

If yes, move it to the scaling campaign
to test the different elements.

If no, go back to the creative strategy
drawing board to come up with different

pain points and hooks and calls to action.

Um, and that's it.

So these are the main takeaways.

Find a solution that plugs into your
media buying and set up a feedback

loop of data for testing and iteration.

Consolidate and go broad and
let the creatives find your

audience and be your targeting.

Leverage the power of UGC, it's
hands down the most effective

kind of content to help you scale.

And test your creatives constantly
to find the winners that allow you

to drive cheap traffic and scale.

And that's it.

Thank you so much.

I hope you guys enjoyed
what I had to share.