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).
Your ads stopped scaling.
You're running the same before and afters, the same founder-to-camera, the same problem-solution angles that worked all year. Now CPMs climb, frequency creeps up, and you're paying more to reach people who already ignored you.
The creative might not be broken. You might have just run out of new people to show it to.
So over the last few months we've been rebuilding viral reels into ads. Not swiping from ad libraries. Finding the original video, casting talent, writing the script, shooting our own version.
Six of them below. Five worked. One didn't, and it taught us more than the wins.
Plus the two things nobody talks about: why these ads show an ugly ROAS, and why turning them off is the most expensive mistake in your account.
Let's get into it.
Before you look at the ads, read this
Under $200k a month, you're fine without this to an extent
Direct response, problem solution, before and after, founder ads, old me vs new me. Those take you from zero to $200k.
Past that, they stop scaling. You've already reached everyone those formats can reach. To keep growing you need attention from people who weren't looking for you at all.
Meta is a full funnel platform now.
Meta doesn't sell on one ad, it sequences. Most buyers see three to five ads before they convert, and Meta decides who sees what and in what order.
You don't have to build that sequence. You have to feed it.
That's why this matters for scaling.
Viral ads fill the top of the funnel. Meta walks them down.
So the ROAS on these will look terrible
Every ad below has numbers you'd be embarrassed to show a client out of context. That's expected. Their job is reach and new site visitors, not sales.
I'll show you how to read those numbers at the end, because getting this wrong is how people kill their best creative.
One thing before we start: bad actor or wrong script will NOT make this work.
Now the ads…
#1 The Oversharing Character
Viral inspo:
A character (TMI Aunt Tammi) tells a story that's way too personal, straight to camera.
A woman describing the first time she looked at her own vagina. Wine, mirror, full commentary.
We found an actor who could match that performance and rebuilt it for the brand.
Psychology behind this: she's confessing, not selling.
You watch because it feels like you're overhearing something private. Comedy about a taboo also drops the viewer's guard, so the product slips in with no resistance.
Here's our ad based on it:
#2 Mirror Video
Viral inspo:
This video had 3.7M likes!
"Im going kill you." She picks up the marker, adds the apostrophe and corrects grammar, gets scared again, and walks out.
Very easy for anyone to make a version of this format.
Psychology behind this: The video’s suspenseful start hooks viewers, while an uncorrected typo triggers a psychological need to stay and see if it’s fixed.
Here's our ad:
#3 Sticky Note
Viral inspo:
One line per feeling, one sticky note per line, stuck to the wall as she speaks.
The notes are the whole visual. She talks, the wall fills up.
Psychology behind this: it's a list of feelings and one of them is yours.
You stay watching for the note that describes you. Every sticky note going up is a tiny reason to keep watching.
Here's our ad:
Thanks to my partners, Atria, they perfectly fill the gap of AI automation because I am as short on these skills and Atria does better.
Claude is still not intelligent enough to understand your account and campaigns, watch videos, figure out an audience from your ads, so Atria fits here perfectly imo.
You can now build on the open Model Context Protocol, the Atria MCP Server works with Claude, ChatGPT and any other MCP-compatible AI assistant. Once connected, you can work with your advertising data conversationally:
Competitive research — explore the Atria Ad Library, pull ads from any brand (AG1, Grüns, your top competitor…) and have AI break down hooks, formats, and messaging trends.
Your own accounts — ask questions like "which creatives drove the best ROAS last month?" and get instant, visual answers from your connected ad accounts.
Creative generation — go from insight to output: generate new image ad concepts informed by what's actually working in your category.
Reports on demand — turn any analysis into a polished, shareable report in seconds.
#4 The Hotline
Viral inspo:
Someone answering a phone line, and you only hear their side.
A menopause hotline operator walking a kid through his mum's hot flashes and brain fog.
Needs real scriptwriting and real acting. We got in early. It's crowded now and still prints.
Psychology behind this: half the conversation is missing. Your brain fills in the other side automatically, and you can't leave until you've heard how it ends.
Here's our ad:
#5 The Spin the Bottle & Kick Out
Viral inspo:
Spin the bottle with four objects on the floor. Creator kicks the bottle and takes one away.
8M+ views on Socials. Creators who'd never broken 10k copied the exact structure and hit millions.
For a brand: line your product up next to two competitors, kick the others away one by one, cut straight to the product in use.
Psychology behind this: the moment something gets removed, you need to know which one.
That gap holds you for the three seconds you're paying for. The kick buys attention; the demo does the selling.
Here's our ad:
#6 The Slow Build (this didn’t work for us)
Viral inspo:
You watch something get made from nothing.
Feeding a family of four on $4.69 builds curiosity.
Psychology behind this: the payoff sits at the end, so the whole video is one open loop. You watch because you want to see if it actually comes together.
Where we went wrong: we brought the product in early. In the original, nothing is sold. You just watch a guy cook.
We revealed the product and then shared the process. The ad turned into a pitch. People felt the switch. And secondly, it didn’t fit our brand narrative. We will still try other viral videos, though.
Here's our ad:
Quick lessons
Cast first. On character ads, the wrong actor kills it, and no script can save it.
Script copy the structure, not just the vibe. These formats work because of where the tension sits.
If your product needs explaining, this format won't carry it. Pick formats that sit close to what you sell.
Don't rush the product in. Earn the attention first.
Now the part everyone gets wrong
You'll run one of these, look at the ROAS, and want to turn it off. Don't.
Meta doesn't judge ads one at a time anymore. It optimises the whole journey and sequences ads across multiple touches, because that's what actually produces the sale.
So an ad sitting at 0.8 ROAS might be the only reason your 4x retargeting ad has anyone to retarget. Kill it, and the closer dries up two weeks later.
How to read the account instead
Follow the spend. Meta puts money where it's working, so your top 10 to 20% of creatives by spend are usually the real conversion path.
Use CPM and frequency to place an ad in the funnel. Cheap CPM, low frequency, lots of new reach means it's a top of funnel ad. Judge it on new impressions, not sales.
Ignore last touch attribution. It will hand you the wrong answer.
Most brands have viral ads and closing ads, and nothing in between.
The middle is where people ask questions.
Does it fit? How does it compare? What if it doesn't work? Nobody makes ads for that, so people fall out of the sequence.
Treat the ad account like a landing page where every objection gets answered somewhere.
Then split by buyer.
Technical buyers want specs
Social buyers want proof
Value buyers want the guarantee
Viral ads bring in people who've never heard of you. Mid-funnel ads answer their questions. Closers take the money. Meta sequences it.
Your job is to leave no holes.
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.
Here’s how I can help you, whenever you are ready:
Work with me to get you growth from Meta Ads. Book a call here. I’m open to more clients now. We’ll make some viral ads like above if you like them.
