What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar.

This newsletter is about leveling up your paid growth marketing skills by analyzing the best brands' paid strategy, tactics, positioning, and value props.

This newsletter is divided into:

• Sharing what I've learned

• Sometimes sharing some other performance marketers’ ads & lessons with you (this issue)

• And I analyze & compare the best ads on the internet

BEST LINKS OF THE WEEK (on popular demand)

My favorite finds

• AI won't kill creative agencies, just the sh*t ones.

• This ad has shot to the top of the ad account in the last 7 days and it’s UGLY ASF.

• One product — four static ads.

• Build ads system with AI.

• Grüns just hit a $500M valuation.

New Episode Alert: The Psychology of Persuasion in Ads I 3 Ad New Proven Formats to Steal (we only share those on Youtube)

Here’s what you get in the episode:

• an unusual layout that’s outperforming expectations

• a storytelling + format combo that’s made me literally $10m in revenue

• the organic post became an ad outperforming others using three little-known psychological principle

• a wildcard ad format that’s working right now

check the episode here (honestly, this is my favorite episode so far)

Mental health is hard to market.

It’s emotional, invisible, and deeply personal.

But two brands, BetterHelp and Liven, are running some of the most thoughtful, resonant ads in this space.

Let’s break it down.

(And if you're running ads in a different niche, you’ll want to steal these ad formats.)

BetterHelp is the world’s largest online therapy platform. It connects you to licensed therapists via text, call, or video, on your terms, wherever you are. The focus? Accessibility, convenience, and personalized support for mental health.

Liven is a mobile app for well-being, helping users take control of trauma, stress, and psychological wounds. It's not therapy, it’s actually self-guided healing using quizzes, reflection tools, and science-backed exercises to improve emotional clarity and nervous system regulation.

One matches you with a therapist.
The other turns your phone into a therapist-adjacent toolkit.

Both aim to improve your mental state, just through very different methods.

Let’s see how.

The Positioning

BetterHelp positions itself as a serious, clinical solution that’s flexible enough for real life. It emphasizes legitimacy (licensed therapists), scale (millions served), and ease (talk from anywhere). The message is: “You deserve real support without the traditional friction.”

Liven, on the other hand, positions itself as a soft entry point into healing. Its core appeal lies in understanding things like trauma responses, cortisol burnout, and anxious attachment, then offering bite-sized tools to manage them.

One is about getting matched with help. The other is about learning to help yourself.

BetterHelp

Ad #1 – The Inner Reflection Ad

What stands out:

• Feels like inner dialogue. It’s intimate, familiar, and reflective

• Strong emotional arc: visuals go from shadowy darkness to open skies and light

• Ends with a name (“Simon”), giving it a human, friendly touch

• No talking head. Just body language and voiceover

• Soft mention of “4 million users” adds social proof without pressure

What we can steal:

• Reframe your copy as self-talk. Personal > promotional

• Use dark-to-light visuals to symbolize emotional shifts

• Personal sign-off creates a connection

• Let emotion carry the message instead of a heavy explanation

• Make the CTA feel like permission, not a push

Ad #2 – The Mom With Daily Struggles

What stands out:

• Speaks to “the invisible load” moms carry. Things unsaid but deeply felt

• Copy is raw and honest

• The tone is supportive and non-judgmental

• Visuals reflect real moments from a mother’s day, not idealized versions

• Ends by framing therapy as support, not correction

What we can steal:

• Name the internal questions your customer already asks

• Use familiar situations to surface invisible pain

• Don’t tell people what to do. Show you understand what they feel

• Speak to the identity behind the role (“mother” vs. person)

• Soften the pitch by connecting it to timing (“spring = renew”)

Ad #3 – The Silent Burden Ad

What stands out:

• No dialogue — everything is communicated visually and emotionally

• The pause before he enters makes you think about the weight he’s carrying

• One-line copy hits hard

• Subtly targets men without directly saying it

• The pacing creates tension and emotion without music or narration

What we can steal:

• Use silence to your advantage. Emotion doesn’t always need a voice

• Show micro-moments that reveal the inner state

• Write one sharp line instead of three weak ones

• Let viewers interpret the scene. Don’t over-explain

• Create visual metaphors for common internal struggles

BetterHelp proves that good mental health ads need empathy. 

The brand uses emotional arcs, everyday struggles, and self-talk frameworks to lower the barrier to therapy.

Psychologically, these ads tap into our inner dialogue and identity-based motivation. We act not when told, but when something reflects who we believe we are (or want to be).

They also show small but meaningful shifts in their videos (dark to light, silence to hope, chaos to clarity). BetterHelp builds trust through familiarity, not performance. That’s what makes them so effective.

Thanks to our partners who support this newsletter.

Liven

Ad #1 – The Toxic Attachment Ad

What stands out:

• Opens with a strong admission that most people would be shocked by

• Shows trauma responses through relatable habits (distracted, waiting, obsessing)

• Relies on visuals and subtitles instead of narration

• The transformation feels gradual and honest

• Ends with “I took back control” — a re-empowering frame

What we can steal:

• Use vulnerability as a hook. People relate to what feels honest

• Show, don’t explain. Actions speak louder than words

• Use b-roll storytelling to keep it cinematic and universal

• Emotionally paced editing builds tension and release

• Don’t just promise change. Show a journey that leads there

Ad #2 – The Cortisol Detox Ad for High-Performers

What stands out:

• Targets high-stress personas like CEOs with a relatable problem

• Lists common symptoms instead of a boring medical pitch

• Builds legitimacy using science-based terms (“cortisol”)

• Sells the result (energy, clarity, sleep) instead of the product

• Ends with an identity shift: “fully rebranded person”

What we can steal:

• Give your solution a unique name, “cortisol detox” feels new

• Make high-functioning burnout a visible, relatable problem

• Tie transformation to identity “You’re not just healed, you’re rebranded.”

• Focus on symptom relief over vague well-being

• Storytelling can be about any kind of problem, like here, they did with performance gains, not just emotional pain.

Ad #3 – The Clingy Ex Spiral

What stands out:

• Every line feels pulled from a journal, it's raw and specific

• Narrates the emotional spiral clearly: validation seeking, overthinking, regret

• Visual tone is reflective, not dramatic — feels authentic

• The payoff is not a fix, but peace: “closure and confidence”

• The end is soft yet strong: “It’s my story, but it can be yours too.”

What we can steal:

• Describe emotional spirals as a sequence, step by step

• Avoid over-dramatization, honesty lands better than intensity

• The more specific the story, the more universal the emotion

• Let the viewer see themselves in the ad

• A soft CTA can often be more persuasive than urgency

Bonus Ad – Bold Animation Ad

What stands out:

• Animation makes it feel interesting

• The video stops the scroll immediately

• The hook reframes a negative trait with compassion

• The copy breaks down emotional complexity into plain language

• Ends with personal power: self-acceptance, willpower, best self

What we can steal:

• Use animation to simplify heavy emotional content

• Reframe flaws as adaptations. It makes people feel seen, not broken

• Copy that educates + validates = emotional resonance

• Avoid traditional therapy language — fresh words hit harder

• Sell product in simple, doable steps (“Take quiz or 15 min a day”)

Liven tells stories that feel like they came from your journal.

Every ad mirrors real emotional journeys — not dramatized, not overly branded — just raw, structured, and hopeful.

What makes them stand out is how they niche down on use-cases (cortisol, breakups, attachment) while staying universal in emotion.

Their ads respect the viewer’s intelligence. No over-explaining. No fake energy. Just powerful writing and honest visuals.

Psychologically, they lean on recognition + reflection with emotions like “You’ve felt this. You’re not alone. Here’s how someone like you made it out.”

That’s very powerful.

So... Who Did It Better?

Here’s the truth: both brands are absolutely crushing it, in their own way.

BetterHelp is leading with empathy, relatability, and emotional clarity, along with pretty strong self-talk angle that I see very less paid ads nail successfully.

Liven is showing us the power of niche storytelling, slow pacing, and framing emotional pain as a personal transformation, not a flaw.

You don’t have to choose one approach. You just need to learn from both:

• How BetterHelp uses self-talk, storytelling, and subtle symbolism

• How Liven masters emotional specificity, niche specificity, and identity-based storytelling

Now it’s your turn.

Happy Growing with Paid Social,

Aazar Shad

Since this newsletter is free, I do it to follow my curiosity. But I’d love it if you could leave some feedback so I know if I am helping you or not.

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• Work with me to get you growth from paid marketing. Book a call here. I’m open to more clients now.

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