Creative optimization ensures your ad's copy and image are performing well and reaching the right audiences. It can be a difficult process to get right, but with these tips and notes, you can improve the performance of your Ad Network campaigns.
When to optimize your ad creative:
Ad optimization is an ongoing process. We recommend monitoring your campaign’s results to gather insight and kick off optimization three weeks into the campaign.
How to optimize your ad creative:
1: Open your Ad Network dashboard and click the name of the campaign you want to work with.
2: Check your Ad Quality Score.
If the score is below 7, we recommend updating the following:
Image
Headline
Body
If your Quality Score is closer to 10, no optimization is needed.
Additional tips:
Here are some tips to remember when optimizing ad copy:
Always include 2 - 3 creatives to have a reference point and optimize based on A/B testing.
We recommend A/B testing one change at a time. For example, you can try a few headlines to see which ones have the best impact. If you don't see a change in your quality score, you can try experimenting with new body copy.
Best Practices for Creative Optimization
Ad creatives are one of the biggest contributors to the click-through rate (CTR). When designing your ad, focus on creating a few key components:
Clean, attractive image
Catchy headline
Engaging, typo-free description to draw in readers
Clear CTA
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to finding the perfect combination for your brand. We suggest performing A/B tests to achieve the right balance. Use the following guidelines to create ads that drive clicks and conversions.
Create at least 2-3 different variations of each ad's creative. In the Paved Ad Builder, you can create as many variants as you like so you can A/B test different ad creatives on your audience.
Write headlines under 60 characters. Concise headlines consistently earn better engagement.
Embed large images, rather than thumbnails. Large, high-quality images garner the highest ad performance.
To guide your ad creation, use our creative specs:
Choose your audience carefully. If your ad targeting is too narrow, you may limit your audience. Learn more about Targeting for Ad Network Campaigns
Make sure you pick the right landing page for your advertisement. For more information, visit our blog: Landing Pages for Email Ads: Quick Tips for Success
Testing and Optimization Tips
Testing is a key component of optimizing your content for the Paved Ad Network.
Learn how to optimize your ad imagery and copywriting in our blog post: Best Practices for Ad Network Creative (with Examples)
Run A/B tests to compare different versions of your ad creative. This can help you find out what kind of copywriting and assets resonate with your audience.
After running your ad for 2-3 weeks, check your Ad Quality Score to see how well your campaign is doing. If an ad's score drops into the 4-6 range, we recommend optimizing the copy and the ad image.
Optionally, you can A/B test an ad's targeting. Create a new campaign with slightly different targeting, and in the Creative step, re-use creative from your Ad Library. Then you can run both campaigns to see what kind of targeting works best.
Measuring Success
Don't forget to set up Paved event tracking on your website so you can accurately track conversions from your ads.
Decide how you want to measure the success of your campaigns. Depending on your goals, you might want to track email open rates to measure brand awareness, or ad click-through rates for a lead generation campaign.
Note: In an ad display network, CTRs may be lower than traditional email sponsorships. This is because ads are more competitive, with multiple advertisers competing for the same placements. For this reason, it's good to consider other metrics including conversions and landing page engagement.
Interpret the success of your campaign in the Reports section of your Paved account. Then, use your report to assess which creatives and newsletter placements drive the highest performance. Learn how to read the results in Ad Network Reports
If ad performance is lower than expected, take a look at our guide, Performance Tips for the Ad Network
Update Your Creative
If you'd like to update your creative, follow these steps:
On your Ad Network dashboard, click the name of the active campaign you want to optimize.
Click the Edit Campaign button.
In the drop-down, select Creative
Update your ad image, copy, or landing page.
Save your changes.