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 adsm insights from other performance marketers, and my learnings (this issue).
We’d like to thank Billo, our partners, for this newsletter.
Every "Black Friday guide" treats Q4 like one event. It isn't - each category peaks on its own calendar.
Apparel trades ROAS for revenue at scale. A 30% hook rate? Just average for Health & Beauty. Even B2B peaked in December.
See yours with Billo's free calculator, built on 80,069 Meta ads.
You tried the same script with five creators and only one ad scaled.
That happens more than anyone admits. And it points to something bigger about how creator ads work now.
The old UGC playbook is breaking.
Meta is pushing creators harder than ever, the formats have moved on, and half the creators still selling you UGC haven't kept up.
So I rebuilt our whole approach. Who we hire, where we find them, how we brief them, how we run the program.
Here's what's inside:
Why I swapped standard UGC creators for actors
The casting rule that decides if an ad wins before the script does
Why 2.5 million views can still sell nothing
Let’s dig in…
1. Meta quietly made creators the selling engine
Around 40% of some ad budgets now sit inside creator programs. The reason is simple: creators bring followers who already trust them, and Meta lets you borrow that trust to open cold audiences.
That's partnership ads. You run through the creator's handle and reach people who've never heard of the brand.
Not just a big-brand move. Brands spending 30k a month run partnerships too.
Still uploading UGC to your page? You're skipping the trust transfer.
If you're not testing partnership ads yet, that's the first gap to close.
2. Traditional ads and creator ads do two different jobs
People say creators now beat traditional content. Not really. My top performers still come from the agency side.
The split that matters:
Traditional ads do direct response. Click, buy, action. They still print.
Creator ads open the top of the funnel. Fresh audiences who don't know you.
The mistake is treating creator content like a direct response machine. It isn't. You buy reach and trust up top, then your direct response angles close lower down.
Use both. Just don't ask a creator ad to do a job it wasn't built for.
This is an example of an ad being used to unlock new audience. We’re replicating this for one of our clients.
3. Stop hiring average UGC creators. Start hiring actors.
The shift that changed everything for me: I dropped most UGC creators and started hiring actors who can actually perform.
A lot of UGC creators froze. "I only do UGC, I only recommend products I've tried." Fine, but they stopped helping, and the format moved without them.
2021: UGC plus a hook script. Talking head was enough.
2024: we started innovating formats.
Now: a plain talking head gets scrolled past.
The job changed. It's not "read this to camera" anymore. It's "perform this in a format that earns attention." Actors adapt, take direction, carry a scene. A creator stuck on "I just talk about products I like" can't.
This is an ad we created for our client using an actor. And it crushed.
Caveat: Some UGC creators are great actors; we continue working with them. And we did find them through platforms like Bilio.
4. The formats that replaced the talking head
One thread runs through all of these: the creator makes their own job harder, and that effort holds attention.
Yap videos. Fast, high energy, movement built in.
Prop-heavy. Props do half the storytelling.
Whiteboard. Things written out as they explain.
Visual listicles. Same three-point script, but she shows point one, two, three with a different setup each time.
Acting scenes. Full performed setups. Hard to pull off, which is why they cut through.
None of these let the creator sit still and talk.
Rule to steal: if the format makes the creator's job harder, it makes the viewer's attention easier.
5. The type of creator decides if the ad wins
Sounds too simple. It's the most important thing here. The creator you cast decides the ad before the script gets a vote.
Two examples from our accounts:
The 62-year-old bodybuilder. Our audience is 60 plus and wants that transformation, so we cast a 62-year-old bodybuilder. It works because it's odd. People stop and stare. He became the scroll stopper. And a strong proof.
The vibe check. If the character doesn’t hit the vibe for the audience. Or if it doesn’t connect with the concept, the ad flops. Same script, same edit. Casting was the whole difference.
So the creator can't just make good content. They have to stop the thumb.
Match them to what the audience secretly wants to see.
Look for the odd and the striking, not the expected mold.
"Good on camera" isn't the bar. "Impossible to scroll past" is.
6. Where to find creators, and who to avoid
Where we look:
Meta Creator Marketplace. Free. Start here.
SARAL. Solid sourcing tool.
TikTok and Instagram. We have a team that hunts across both.
We're hunting for personality. Accounts that feel like a character, not a face reading a script.
The filter that matters most:
At least 100 videos made. My number one criteria. Fastest proxy for whether they can perform and take direction.
Avoid young, upcoming creators. No reps, no experience. You pay to train them while the ad suffers.
Cast for reps, not follower count.
7. The 90/10 briefing rule
Common advice: hand over a script and let the creator do their thing. I don't buy it. My best creators get real direction, then add a little of themselves.
90% your direction. They execute the script and vibe close to exactly.
10% their freedom. Their touch, their idea, their delivery.
A great creator absorbs the whole brief, then brings ideas inside your direction, not instead of it. I've never handed a creator a loose idea and let them run solo.
That's an influencer thing, not a creator-worth-keeping thing.
Full freedom sounds respectful. It usually gets you an off-brief video you can't run.
8. Build with 50, keep the 5
The math is brutal. Work with 50 creators, maybe 5 are good. The program's real job is to find those 5, then cut the rest.
That's what organic programs are actually for. They show you who can perform, so you back the winners and drop the rest.
And views are not revenue.
I have a client at 2.5 million views. Still not good enough. Views don't turn into sales.
Organic wins on presentation. Ads win on direct response. Both require different skills.
When a strong organic creator comes in, we don't run their style as-is. New scripts, pushed toward direct response, with room to explain the product.
One more lesson: A great creator can't save a mediocre ad. The concept has to be good before casting enters the room.
The takeaways
Cast first, script second. The creator decides the ad before the script gets a vote.
Hire performers, not product reviewers. Actors who adapt beat UGC creators stuck on the talking head.
Make the format do work. Yap, props, whiteboard, visual listicles. Harder for the creator, easier for the viewer.
Filter on reps, not reach. 100 videos minimum. Skip the young upcoming ones.
Brief 90/10. Real direction, 10% for their touch. "Do your thing" gets you an unusable video.
Run it as a program. Work with 50, keep the 5, cut the rest.
Views are not revenue. 2.5M views can sell nothing. Push organic creators toward direct response.
A great creator can't save a weak ad. The concept has to be good before casting enters the room.
The creator is the variable, not the script. Get the casting right and an average script can win. Get it wrong, and your best script never gets watched.
Thanks to our partners who support this newsletter.
Tools worth checking out:
Atria: You're only as good an advertiser as your swipe file. Atria helps save good ads and analyze them in-depth. But the best part? Their AI helps me create concepts and scripts within seconds. Check it out for free. Most importantly, they now have built-in ad analytics to make more winning ads.
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:
If you’re looking to create winning ads for your brand or app, book a call here. I’m open to more clients now. We’ve been crushing it for multiple health, app, and DTC clients.
