how to turn 1 winning ad into 30 variations
The key to scaling ad creative isn't finding one winning ad, but rather identifying the winning sales message behind it and then transmuting that message across multiple formats and variations. A single winning VSL can generate 30+ testable ad variations by extracting core variables and adapting them across different creative formats.
Summary
The speaker emphasizes that successful creative testing focuses on discovering winning sales messages rather than individual winning creatives. This distinction is crucial because a winning message can be adapted and transmitted across multiple formats, dramatically expanding creative variation possibilities. The speaker illustrates this with a concrete example: a 1,000-word VSL (video sales letter) can serve as the foundation for numerous variations. Rather than pursuing micro-variations like different hooks or bodies within the same format, the speaker advocates for extrapolating the VSL across entirely different formats such as native static ads, UGC (user-generated content), founder testimonials, street interviews, and AI animation. For each format, multiple variations should be tested, resulting in approximately 30 new testable ads from a single winning sales message. When a particularly successful creative emerges with potential for seven-figure profitable spending, the speaker recommends extracting the winning variables before creating variations. These variables can include the hook, body copy, mechanism, authority figure, main character, and scroll stoppers. Understanding why a creative worked allows for more intentional variation creation based on specific high-performing elements rather than blindly copying the overall approach.
Key Insights
- Finding a winning sales message is more valuable than finding a winning creative because the message can be applied across multiple formats, whereas a single creative has limited variation potential
- Micro-variations within the same format (different hooks, leads, bodies, scroll stoppers) typically don't scale as well as extrapolating the message into entirely different formats
- One winning VSL can be transformed into approximately 30 testable ad variations by adapting it across six different format concepts with five variations each
- Before creating variations from a high-performing creative, the speaker recommends extracting the specific winning variables that contributed to its success rather than blindly replicating it
- Variables that drive creative success can include the hook, body, mechanism, authority figure, main character, and scroll stopper elements
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] When it comes to creative testing, it's not necessarily finding a winning creative, but by finding your winning sales message. And the reason I say it that way specifically is because this can be transmuted across formats, and this just opens up the door to so much more creative variation compared to looking at like one individual creative and being like, "How can I make variations?" Let's say your VSL is roughly like 1,000 words. So, what you have now is an incredible winning message. What can you do with it? Yes, of course, you can test new VSLs. You can test a bunch of new hooks, a bunch of new leads, a bunch of new bodies. You can…
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