What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar.
This newsletter is all about giving you ad ideas to find winning ad ideas and help you scale.
This newsletter includes: Analysis of top internet ads, insights from other performance marketers, and my learnings (this issue).
New YouTube video worth checking out
What’s covered in this video:
- 10 app brands worth studying for Meta ad creative
- Creative angles that work across app categories
- How to build a testing structure that scales
- Easy fixes for creative fatigue
The hardest brief to write is for a product you can't show.
You write the brief, get to the "visual" row, and type "talking head with captions" for the fourth time this month.
It's not laziness. Some products have nothing to film. No before and after, no transformation shot, nothing to point a camera at. So the account fills up with 30 ads that blur into each other.
Nutrition Geeks found a way around it, and none of it needs a huge production budget.
(Most of these you can steal in a day and shoot on your phone)
None of this is specific to supplements. Any offer with an invisible problem can run these exact formats, and most offers fit that.
I already stole one of these for a client, and it's crushing it.
Let’s dig in…
Ad 1: The Balloon Pop
Why it works
Every symptom gets its own balloon. Instead of one big blur called menopause, you're looking at four specific problems, and one of them is yours.
The balloons are filled with water, not air. You're braced for a pop and a bit of rubber, so the splash throws you off and you carry on watching.
Four balloons go down and one box comes up. She never has to argue for the bundle, because you've just watched all four problems get dealt with.
Psychology behind this
A demonstration doesn't get argued with.
Say "ashwagandha calms a racing mind" and the viewer thinks "does it though?" Pop a balloon labelled racing mind, and there's no claim sitting there to argue with. She gets full credit for the relief without proving a thing.
Note: the symptom list is the real work here, not the balloons. Pull the four phrases your reviews repeat most.
Ad 2: The Price Build-Up
Why it works
He builds the whole thing before he says his price. By the time $24.99 arrives, you've already agreed it's worth £140.
He tells you what goes wrong if you shop yourself. Wrong magnesium, weak turmeric. So it costs more and you'd still get it wrong.
The white coat says what he never claims. It makes the ingredient talk sound like expertise instead of a pitch.
Psychology behind this
He anchors against your shopping basket, not a competitor's price. An anchor you hand someone gets resisted. This one gets built in front of them, one small nod at a time, so £140 ends up feeling like their own number.
Note: he prices the ingredients in pounds and the bundle in dollars. Doesn't matter. The gap is too wide for anyone to notice.
Ad 3: The Whiteboard
Why it works
The arrow does all the explaining. Cause on one side, your symptom on the other, no science needed.
He renames things you already live with. Cramps and tiredness stop being separate complaints and turn into one problem with one fix.
A whiteboard looks like teaching. Feels like someone explaining something, so nobody puts their guard up.
Psychology behind this
He hands out a diagnosis before he sells anything.
Nobody wakes up wanting magnesium. They want to know why they feel rough. He gives four random symptoms one single cause, and that cause happens to come with a product attached.
Note: this is the one I stole. A marker, a whiteboard, and a phone. And it's crushing.
Thanks to our partners who support this newsletter.
I know you must have seen Atria mentioned several times in this newsletter, but they keep introducing features I can't help but love. Here are three hidden features that Atria launched, which make me look like a genius in front of my clients.
Rising ads tell me what is working right NOW, not 30 days ago.
I am on auto-alert if a format or video concept that is going viral for the brands I follow to make better ads.
Basically, I never run out of ideas because I can see who is pushing more volume and what new ideas they are trying.
If you’re an agency owner or a brand, you know how important it is to stay ahead. Meta is all about what is evergreen and what is working right now. So, steal these ideas with Atria AI.
Ad 4: The Jar Analogy
Why it works
He uses your actual weekend. Takeaway, cake, more junk. You're implicated before he's sold anything.
The jar gets genuinely revolting. You can't see your own gut, but you can see this, and the feeling carries over.
He names the two things you'd buy instead. Gummies wreck your taste, the shop liquid makes you gag. Both options gone before he asks for the sale.
Psychology behind this
Disgust moves people faster than logic does.
It's a reflex, so it lands before anyone has a chance to think about whether the jar is a fair comparison. He builds the feeling on camera, then sells the way out of it.
Note: a jar of water is nothing like a digestive system. Doesn't matter. It only has to be recognisable, not accurate.
Ad 5: The Colour-Changing Glasses
Why it works
The hook lists things you've already given up on. Two trips with the shopping, walking into a room and forgetting why. You recognise yourself in at least one.
Same answer three times. It stops sounding like a pitch and starts sounding like a pattern.
He explains why it happens after 50. Your body makes less, most people eat less. The fix feels like maths rather than a supplement ad.
Psychology behind this
The glasses have nothing to do with creatine, which is exactly why they work.
Your eye catches sudden colour and movement whether you want it to or not, and then you stay to find out what the glasses are for. He never tells you. The loop stays open for the full 30 seconds while the voiceover does the actual selling. The visual rents the attention, the script spends it.
Note: this is the easiest one in the set to lift, because the prop doesn't have to relate to your product at all.
Key Takeaways
Find the thing your customer can't see, then put it on camera. Bloating, brain fog, low magnesium. Every ad in this set does exactly that, and it's the hardest part of any brief.
Pick a prop that already means something. A balloon means pressure. A filthy jar means filth. Neither one needs explaining, so no script time gets wasted on it.
Budget was never the constraint. Balloons, a jar of water, a marker, three glasses. All of it shot on a phone in a kitchen.
Hand out a diagnosis before the product. Cramps, tiredness and broken sleep get collapsed into one deficiency with one fix. People buy the explanation first.
Take your symptom language from reviews, not from a brief. "Awake at 3am." "Two trips with the shopping." Those lines land because someone actually said them.
Demonstrate instead of claiming. A claim invites "does it though." A demonstration leaves nothing to push back on, which matters a lot if your category has compliance limits.
Anchor against what it would cost them to do it themselves. Competitor pricing gets ignored. A basket the customer mentally builds alongside you becomes their own number.
Kill the alternatives before you ask for the sale. Ad 4 takes out gummies and shop-bought liquid in one line each, so there's nowhere else to go.
The prop doesn't always have to be relevant. Ad 5's glasses have nothing to do with creatine. They hold the eyes while the voiceover does the work.
Pick one format. Shoot it this week. That's it.
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.
One way I can help you, whenever you are ready:
Looking for some creative strategy help? I’m open to more clients. Compared to other agencies, we are a problem-solving, creative-first agency. We don't just create banger creatives; we also unlock your growth potential through in-depth problem-solving and message-market fit strategies. Curious? Book a call here. I’ll show you.
