Throughout the years, we have witnessed a common pitfall in advertising where ad creative is treated as a mere means to an end. Traditionally, ad creative production has been outsourced to branding agencies, and assets originally designed for organic social have been repurposed for ads, with little attention given to the creative process itself. As a result, ad creative has been given less priority than other aspects of advertising, such as audience identification, budget allocation, and campaign setup. Even organizations that are ahead of the curve in ad creative testing tend to focus on minor details like button colors and headline choice.

However, it is essential to give ad creative the attention and critical analysis it deserves to make it a powerful contributor to growth. Depending on the channel and industry, it can account for up to 50% of a campaign's effectiveness. Like every other aspect of growth marketing strategy, creative needs to be data-driven.

The most significant advantage of prioritizing ad creative is that storytelling is an integral part of it, and those who focus on it are reaping the benefits. The appearance of our ads sets us apart or makes us blend into the timeline noise. Blending in can be costly and ultimately counterproductive. Developing and testing ad creative can help us stand out, drive performance, and draw broader implications about positioning, messaging, and improving user journeys every step of the way.

In today's advertising landscape, it has never been easier to get the word out, but it has also never been more challenging to be heard. Ad fatigue is not a new concept, but it has been dramatically accelerated and amplified by infinite scroll and endless content.

So, what should we do?