# How to make ad creatives Make ad creatives on a small budget: write 5 angles from your buyers' own words, make 4 new ads a day with free tools in each platform's sizes, post 2 free to see what people react to, and cut the bottom half every Sunday. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-make-ad-creatives Published: 2026-10-08 Last checked: 2026-10-08 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). How to make ad creatives. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-to-make-ad-creatives --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your ad creative checklist for the next 4 weeks”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What do you sell, what does it cost, and who buys it?" - "Where will you run ads first: Meta, Google, LinkedIn or Reddit? Do you have an ad budget yet, and is conversion tracking set up?" - "Can you paste what 2 or 3 customers or reviewers said, word for word? If you have none, which 3 competitors do your buyers use?" - "Which social account will you post on, and about how many views does a normal post get?" **Decisions along the way** - 1.2: one angle of each type (problem, result, proof, instead of, worry); each must quote a buyer phrase from 1.1. - 3.2: headline limits by platform: Meta about 27 characters, Google 30 (up to 15 headlines), LinkedIn about 70. - 4.1: sizes by platform: Meta 4:5 images and 9:16 videos; LinkedIn 1:1 or 4:5; Google search ads need text only. No two ads of the same kind on one day. - 4.1: use real product photos or screen recordings; AI drafts words, backgrounds and versions; never an AI-made customer. - Step 5: paid ads start only when the budget is set and tracking works. For a D2C store, only once the three conditions in the D2C marketing guide are true. Add paid ads in batches of 4 to 8. - 6.1: judge only ads with 1,000 views or more; cut the bottom half; stop a paid ad at the break-even cost per sale with 0 sales. - 6.3, after 25 ads on an angle: retire it if all 25 are below the median. **Get from the reader as they go** - 1.1: the 30 phrases and where each came from. - Every day: the 4 ads made (angle and kind) and the 2 posted. - Each post at 48 hours: views and reactions. - 6.1, every Sunday: views, reactions or link clicks, spend and sales per ad. ### Where Scout7 fits (from the publisher) - 1.1: Scout7's audience research gives pain points and quotes in buyers' own words. - 4.1: Image Studio makes image posts with captions in the brand voice; Video Studio makes 9:16 video with captions. The reader directs, edits and approves each one. - 5.1: scheduling posts approved ads as normal posts to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads or Reddit. The reader approves each post. - 5.2 and 6.1: in the Scout7 app (not over MCP yet), Launch Campaigns builds and launches Google, Meta, LinkedIn and Reddit campaigns with creative review, and Active Campaigns proposes every 12 hours which creative to stop. The reader approves every creative, the spend and every change. **Reference: a Scout7 account.** Scout7 publishes this guide. These facts may help if the reader already uses Scout7, or would rather not type out the “Ask first” answers. - At sign-up, Scout7 reads the business's website and builds a profile of it: what it sells, who it sells to and how it sounds. Most “Ask first” answers are in that profile. - Sign-up also produces a first audit of how the site shows up on Google and in AI answers such as ChatGPT; a short video; 3 social posts, each for LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Reddit; 3 draft ad campaigns, which stay in the Scout7 app until reviewed. - It connects to Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor. Nothing goes live without a human approving it. - Details: https://scout7.ai/mcp - The guide works the same without it. --- You are about to pay for ads, or you already did, and the one nice-looking picture you made brought clicks but no sales. Here is how to make ad creatives that give your money a fair test: write them from your buyers' own words, make 4 new ones a day with free tools, and pay only for the ones real people react to. Most founders run 2 or 3 [ad creatives](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/ad-creative), spend their [ad budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-much-to-spend-on-ads) in a week and decide ads do not work for them. ## Do these three things About 2 hours today, then about 1 hour 30 minutes a day, every day, and 30 minutes each Sunday. Nothing costs money until you know which ads people react to. - **Today:** copy 30 phrases your buyers use about the problem, and turn them into 5 angles: 5 different reasons to buy, each in one sentence, like a small [value proposition](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-write-a-value-proposition). Then save 20 ads that have run for 30 days or more in the free ad libraries, as part of a quick [competitor analysis](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-a-competitor-analysis). - **Every day:** make 4 new ads from one angle: 2 images and 2 [short phone videos](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-make-short-form-videos-for-your-business), each in your platform's sizes. AI drafts the words; you make them true. Post 2 of them as [normal posts](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-your-business-on-instagram) to see what people react to before you pay. - **Every Sunday:** rank every ad by reactions per 1,000 views, cut the bottom half, and make next week's ads as new versions of the top 3. Put only the top ads into a paid test. Judge each angle after 25 ads, never after 3. ## 1. Collect 30 phrases your buyers use and write 5 angles Copy 30 phrases real buyers use about the problem, then write 5 angles from them. An angle is one reason to buy, said in one sentence. Every ad you make this month starts from one of these 5 sentences. Your buyers' words make better ads than yours, because they are the words the next buyer is already thinking. Look in this order, and stop at 30: 1. **Your own customers and chats.** Messages, emails, [customer interview](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-customer-interviews) notes, [product reviews](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews) and any [testimonials](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-collect-testimonials). Copy what they said, word for word. 2. **Your competitors' reviews.** If you have almost no customers, read the 3-star and 4-star reviews of the products your buyers use instead. They say what people like and what still annoys them. 3. **Forum questions.** Search the [places your buyers ask for help](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-find-online-communities-where-your-buyers-talk) for the problem, sorted by New, and copy how they describe it. Paste the 30 phrases into ChatGPT or Claude with your [ideal customer](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile) sentence and ask it to group them under 5 headings: the problem, the result, the proof, "instead of" (what they use today), and the worry that stops them buying. Then write one sentence for each yourself, using a phrase from the group. **Your 5 angles** ```text 1. The problem: [the moment it hurts, in their words]. 2. The result: [what changes for them, in their words]. 3. The proof: [who already uses it, a number, or a quote]. 4. Instead of: [what they use today] → [why yours is easier or better]. 5. The worry: [what stops them buying] → [the true answer]. ``` - **Tool:** a Google Doc, and ChatGPT or Claude on their free plans. - **Time:** 1 hour. - **You will have:** 30 phrases, each with where it came from, and 5 angles. - **It worked if:** every angle is under 15 words and has a phrase a real person said in it. - **Common mistake:** angles about you or your product ("premium", "AI-powered", "all-in-one"). Nobody types those words when they have the problem. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's 5 angles** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > | Angle | The sentence | The buyer phrase it uses | > | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | > | The problem | Your shampoo label is a list of words you can't read. | "I can't pronounce anything on the bottle" | > | The result | Curls that feel soft on day two, not heavy. | "soft but not greasy" | > | The proof | What our first buyers said after two weeks. | "my curls actually stayed" | > | Instead of | You switched to plant-based skincare. Your shampoo can switch too. | "I only use clean skincare now" | > | The worry | Plant-based, and it still cleans after the gym. | "does it actually clean?" | > > *Why it works: Each angle is built on something a buyer actually wrote, so each ad starts from a real reason to buy.* ## 2. Study 20 ads that are working now in the free ad libraries Save 20 ads in your category that have been running for 30 days or more, and write down how each one opens. Advertisers turn off ads that lose money, so an ad that has run for a month is usually one that pays. All three libraries are free. Meta's [Ad Library](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/) lets anyone search the ads running across Facebook and Instagram. Google's [Ads Transparency Center](https://adstransparency.google.com/) shows the ads of verified advertisers, by advertiser or website, with country and date filters. LinkedIn has its own [Ad Library](https://www.linkedin.com/ad-library/) for B2B. Search by the names of the 5 to 10 competitors from your [competitor analysis](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-a-competitor-analysis), then by bigger brands that sell to the same buyer. Open each ad and check when it started running. Keep the ones that started 30 days ago or more. In Motion's 2026 creative benchmarks, losing ads were usually switched off before 28 days, while ads that earned their keep ran longer. For each ad, write down five things: the start date, the format (image, video, several images), the first line or first 3 seconds, the offer, and which of your 5 angles it is closest to. - **Tool:** Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center and LinkedIn Ad Library, all free. A Google Sheet. - **Time:** 45 minutes. - **You will have:** a sheet of 20 ads with 5 columns filled in. - **It worked if:** at least 10 of the 20 have run for 30 days or more, and you can say in one line how each one opens. - **Common mistake:** copying a competitor's words, photos or claims. Take the shape only: "a customer holds the product up and reads the label", not their customer or their label. > **If you run a SaaS:** search Google's Ads Transparency Center for the tools your buyers compare you with. Their search ads show the words that already work for Google Ads for SaaS. > **If you run a B2B company:** use LinkedIn's Ad Library. Note which ads are posts from a real person rather than from the company page. Those are the ones to copy the shape of in LinkedIn ads. ## 3. Write the words for each ad: hook, promise, proof and button Every ad needs four pieces of text: a hook that stops the scroll, one promise, one proof, and a button. Write them before you open any design tool, because the words decide whether the ad works. Each day, take one angle. Give ChatGPT or Claude the angle, the buyer phrases under it, and the template below, and ask for 10 hooks. Keep the 4 that sound most like a buyer talking. Fix every claim until it is true. That is about 20 minutes a day for 4 ads. **The words for one ad** ```text Hook (the first line on the image, or the first 3 seconds of the video): [a buyer phrase, under 10 words] Promise: [the one thing they get, from your angle] Proof: [a review, a number, a quote or a demo you can show] Button: [Shop now / Sign up / Learn more / Book a call] Primary text (above the ad): [the hook again, plus one line of proof, 50 to 150 characters] Headline (under the ad): [the promise, short enough for the limit below] ``` Keep inside each platform's limits, from their own pages, checked 8 October 2026: | Platform | What to write | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Meta (Facebook and Instagram) | primary text of 50 to 150 characters and a headline of about 27 | | Google search ads | up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and up to 4 descriptions of 90 | | LinkedIn single image ads | intro text of about 150 characters and a headline of about 70 | The button and the [call to action](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/call-to-action) must match the page people land on. If the ad says "for dry, curly hair", the landing page or product page must say it too. Real [social proof](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/social-proof) beats an adjective: "4.8 stars from \[number] reviews" beats "loved by customers". Only use a discount if you can afford it every month, or you teach buyers to wait for sales. - **Tool:** ChatGPT or Claude. - **Time:** about 20 minutes a day. - **You will have:** the words for today's 4 ads. - **It worked if:** each hook is under 10 words and uses a buyer phrase, and each headline fits its platform's limit. - **Common mistake:** three promises in one ad, or a claim you cannot show. One ad, one promise. > **If you run a SaaS:** for Google search ads, write all 15 headlines, because Google says more unique headlines give it more ways to match a search. Put the words people type in the first few, from your [keyword research](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-find-keywords-for-seo). Google advises against pinning a headline to one spot for most advertisers, because it cuts the number of combinations. > **If you run a B2B company:** write your best angle as a normal post from your own profile first, as you would when you [grow on LinkedIn as a founder](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-grow-on-linkedin-as-a-founder). LinkedIn's Thought Leader Ads let a company page pay to show a post by its founder, an employee or a customer, once that person approves it in Campaign Manager. > **If you run an agency:** take the phrases from your client's buyers, not from your own head, and keep each client's voice separate when AI drafts. Send the words for client approval before you design anything. Running Facebook ads for clients covers the rest of the job. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's first headline** > > **Before:** Discover premium plant-based haircare. Shop now. > > **After:** “I couldn't read one word on my shampoo label.” So we made one you can. Headline: A label you can read > > *Why it works: The new version opens with a buyer's own words and makes one promise.* ## 4. Make 4 ads a day in the right sizes with free tools Make 2 images and 2 short phone videos every day from today's angle, each in the size your platform wants. Make each of the 4 a different kind of ad, so each one can reach a different kind of person. Why 4 a day: in Motion's 2026 benchmarks, ad accounts spending under $10,000 a month made a median of about 3 new ads a week, and only about 1 in 25 of their ads became a winner. At 3 a week you need two months to find one. At 4 a day you make 28 a week, and you find out in your first week which angles people stop for. Meta built its newer ad system to read far more ads than before and to pick, person by person, who sees which one (Meta Engineering). So 4 different ads reach more kinds of buyer than 4 copies of one. Rotate through five kinds of ad, and never make two of the same kind on the same day: 1. **Close-up:** the product in your hand, or your screen doing the one thing, with the hook written on it. 2. **Quote:** a real review or customer message, large, on a plain background. 3. **Talking to camera:** you, or a customer, saying the hook in the first 3 seconds, filmed on a phone. Content made by real customers, called UGC, often works best here. 4. **Before and after:** the problem, then the result, in two halves or two shots. 5. **Side by side:** "what you use today" next to yours, from your "instead of" angle. Make them in these sizes, from the platforms' own pages, checked 8 October 2026: | Where | Size to make | | ------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------- | | Facebook and Instagram Feed (images and video) | 4:5, 1440 × 1800 pixels | | Instagram and Facebook Reels and Stories (video) | 9:16, 1440 × 2560 pixels | | LinkedIn single image ads | 1:1, 1200 × 1200, or 4:5, 720 × 900 | | Google search ads | text only: no picture needed | On a 9:16 video, keep the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text and logos, because the app's buttons and captions cover them. Meta recommends captions on every video and sound where you can. Do not use licensed music in Reels ads: record your own voice or use free music. Use a real photo of your product, or a real recording of your screen. Let AI draft the words, the backgrounds and new versions of a picture that works. Since 1 June 2026, Meta shows an "AI info" note in "About this ad" when it detects an ad made or changed by AI tools, and an AI-made person who looks real gets the label next to "Sponsored". Never show an AI "customer" who does not exist. Before you upload, open "Advantage+ creative enhancements" in Meta Ads Manager and turn off any change you do not want, such as added music or new text. Some are switched on for you, and they can switch back on when you copy or edit an ad. You can set your own defaults under Ad account settings, "Creative features". - **Tool:** your phone camera, Canva Free ($0), and ChatGPT or Claude for the words. Canva's one-click resize is in Canva Pro ($18 a month in July 2026), so on the free plan make each size as its own design and copy your layers across. - **Time:** about 1 hour a day, 15 minutes an ad. - **You will have:** 28 new ads a week, each saved in its sizes and named by angle and kind, such as "problem-quote-4x5". - **It worked if:** today's 4 ads are 4 different kinds, and on your phone's preview the hook is readable and sits inside the safe zone. - **Common mistake:** 4 colour versions of the same picture. They count as one idea. Change the hook, the kind of ad or the person on screen instead. [AI drafting](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-use-ai-for-content-creation) makes 4 a day possible. Reuse what works: a strong video can become a quote image and a still, the way you would [repurpose content](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-repurpose-content-across-platforms). When you have one happy customer, turn their story into a short [case study](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-write-a-case-study) and an ad. For D2C, small creators who post about your product can supply the talking-to-camera ads, if they agree in writing. ## 5. Post 2 a day for free, then pay only for the ones people react to Post 2 of each day's 4 ads as normal posts on your main channel. After 48 hours, the ones people shared, saved, commented on or clicked go into your ad account. The rest go back into the pile. A normal post costs nothing and tells you which hooks people stop for. Post where your buyers already are: Instagram and Facebook for a store, LinkedIn for B2B and agencies, and whichever place your SaaS buyers use most. Use the [post ideas for D2C brands](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/instagram-post-ideas-for-d2c-brands), [for B2B](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/linkedin-post-ideas-for-b2b-companies) or [for SaaS](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/social-media-post-ideas-for-saas-companies) when you run out of angles. On Reddit, follow each community's rules first, as in [promoting on Reddit without getting banned](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-on-reddit-without-getting-banned). After 48 hours, write down each post's views and its reactions: shares, saves, comments and link clicks. Divide reactions by views and multiply by 1,000. That is reactions per 1,000 views, and it lets you compare a post seen by 300 people with one seen by 900. Your median is the middle number when you sort all your posts from best to worst. A post with twice your median moves into the ad account. Free posts are a filter, not the final answer. People who follow you are not strangers, so the paid test still decides. Start paying only when your [ad budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/paid-ads/how-much-to-spend-on-ads) is set and conversion tracking works, and tag every ad link with UTM parameters. When ads are on, add new ones in batches of 4 to 8, not all 28 at once. Meta's own help page on ad volume says that when you run too many ads at once, each one delivers less often. Spread the week's ads over the days instead of making fewer. - **Tool:** your social accounts; Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads or LinkedIn Campaign Manager when you start paying. - **Time:** 10 minutes a day, plus 10 minutes to log the 48-hour numbers. - **You will have:** 14 posts a week, and a short list of ads that real people reacted to. - **It worked if:** each week, at least 3 posts reach twice your median reactions per 1,000 views. - **Common mistake:** paying to run every ad you made, or judging by likes from friends and family. > **If you run a D2C store:** if you have not yet met the three conditions for turning ads back on in [marketing a D2C brand](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-market-a-d2c-brand), keep making and posting, and leave the ad account off. Set the money aside with your [ecommerce marketing budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-much-to-spend-on-marketing-as-an-ecommerce-brand) for when they are true. ## 6. Every Sunday, rank your ads, cut the bottom half and remake the top 3 Every Sunday, put every ad that has at least 1,000 views in one sheet, sort it from best to worst, and cut the bottom half. Next week's 28 ads are half new versions of your top 3 and half new tries at angles that have not had 25 ads yet. Fill in one row per ad. For free posts, the number to rank by is reactions per 1,000 views. For paid ads, it is link clicks per 1,000 views, the [click-through rate](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/click-through-rate) times ten, and then sales. **The Sunday sheet** ```text Ad name | Angle | Kind | Free or paid | Views | Reactions or link clicks | Per 1,000 views | Spend | Sales | Keep or cut ``` Use these rules: - **Wait for 1,000 views.** Do not judge an ad before it has 1,000 views. Below that, one share changes the answer. - **Cut the bottom half** of everything that has 1,000 views or more. - **Stop a paid ad** as soon as it has spent your break-even cost per sale with 0 sales. - **Remake the top 3** in new versions: a new hook on the same picture, the same hook in a new kind of ad, or a new person saying it. - **Judge an angle after 25 ads.** If all 25 sit below your median, retire it and write a new one from your 30 phrases. If an ad gets plenty of clicks but no sales, the ad is doing its job and the page is not. Work through ads that get clicks but no sales before you make more. When an ad keeps winning for 2 weeks, show it again to people who visited, and check what each customer costs with your CAC. For a careful side-by-side check of two versions, use an A/B test only once you have the traffic for one. Once a month, add the totals to your marketing review. - **Tool:** Google Sheets. - **Time:** 30 minutes each Sunday. - **You will have:** every ad ranked, and next week's 28 ads planned by angle and kind. - **It worked if:** by week 4, at least 1 ad has twice your median and holds it for 2 weeks in a row. - **Common mistake:** judging after 2 days or 200 views, or dropping an angle after 3 ads. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's first Sunday** > > | Ad | Angle | Kind | Views | Reactions | Per 1,000 views | Decision | > | ---------------------------- | ----------- | ----------------- | ----- | --------- | --------------- | ----------- | > | Label read aloud | The problem | Talking to camera | 1,640 | 42 | 25.6 | Keep: top 3 | > | "My curls stayed" | The proof | Quote | 1,220 | 28 | 23.0 | Keep: top 3 | > | Skincare shelf, then shampoo | Instead of | Side by side | 1,080 | 22 | 20.4 | Keep: top 3 | > | Day 2 curls | The result | Before and after | 1,400 | 14 | 10.0 | Keep | > | Bottle on a towel | The result | Close-up | 1,010 | 8 | 7.9 | Cut | > | After the gym | The worry | Talking to camera | 1,050 | 5 | 4.8 | Cut | > > **The decision:** the median is about 15 per 1,000 views, and the top 3 are above it. Next week they make 14 new versions of those 3 and 14 more for the result and worry angles, which have had only 9 ads so far. Ads stay off until the store meets its three conditions. > > *Why it works: The founders rank by reactions per 1,000 views, not by likes, so a post seen by fewer people can still win.* ## Where Scout7 helps Scout7 speeds up steps 1, 4, 5 and 6. **Step 1.** Scout7's audience research reads public social conversations in your category and builds audience segments with pain points and quotes in buyers' own words. That gives you phrases for your 5 angles. It does not replace talking to your customers. **Step 4.** Scout7's Image Studio makes an image post and its caption in your brand's voice from an idea, with your reference images and visual style, and you can regenerate part of an image or edit the caption. Its Video Studio makes portrait (9:16) or landscape video with captions, from a cast and voice you choose. You direct each scene and approve the cut. **Step 5.** Scout7 schedules approved posts to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Reddit, and shows the week in one calendar. **Step 6.** In the Scout7 app, Launch Campaigns builds the creatives, ad groups and ad sets for Google, Meta, LinkedIn and Reddit and walks you through creative review, targeting and budget. Active Campaigns reports spend, views, clicks and click-through rate, and every 12 hours proposes which creative to stop. You review every creative and approve or reject every change. Campaigns run in the Scout7 app, not from Claude or ChatGPT yet. Nothing goes live without your approval. ## Your ad creative checklist for the next 4 weeks > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Collect 30 phrases your buyers use and write 5 angles - [ ] **1.1** Copy 30 phrases buyers use about the problem, word for word. *Done when:* 30 phrases are in the doc, each with where it came from. - [ ] **1.2** Write 5 angles: the problem, the result, the proof, instead of, and the worry. *Done when:* 5 angles are written, one of each type, each under 15 words with a buyer phrase in it. ### Step 2 · Study 20 ads that are working now - [ ] **2.1** Save 20 ads from the free ad libraries, with start date, format, hook, offer and closest angle. *Done when:* The sheet has 20 ads, at least 10 running for 30 days or more, each with its hook written down. ### Step 3 · Write the words for each ad - [ ] **3.1** Every day: ask AI for 10 hooks for today's angle and keep the best 4. *Done when:* 4 hooks are chosen for today's angle, each under 10 words with a buyer phrase. - [ ] **3.2** Every day: write the promise, proof, button and headline for each of today's 4 ads. *Done when:* Each of the 4 ads has a promise, a true proof and a button, and every headline fits its platform's limit. ### Step 4 · Make 4 ads a day in the right sizes - [ ] **4.1** Every day: make 2 images and 2 phone videos from today's angle. *Done when:* 4 ads are made, 2 images and 2 videos, 4 different kinds, saved in their sizes and named by angle and kind. - [ ] **4.2** Check the safe zone and the Advantage+ creative enhancements before each upload. *Done when:* Each ad was previewed on a phone with the hook inside the safe zone, and only the chosen enhancements are on. ### Step 5 · Post 2 a day for free, then pay for the best - [ ] **5.1** Every day: post 2 of today's ads as normal posts on your main channel. *Done when:* 2 posts are live and logged in the sheet with the time they went out. - [ ] **5.2** Every day: log each post's views and reactions at 48 hours, and move the best into your ad account. *Done when:* Every post that reached 48 hours has its views and reactions logged, and those at twice the median are marked for the ad test. ### Step 6 · Every Sunday, rank, cut and remake - [ ] **6.1** Every Sunday: rank every ad by reactions or link clicks per 1,000 views and cut the bottom half. *Done when:* Every ad with 1,000 views or more has a row, and the bottom half is marked cut. - [ ] **6.2** Every Sunday: plan next week's 28 ads from the top 3 and the untested angles. *Done when:* Next week's 28 ads are listed: 14 new versions of the top 3 and 14 for angles under 25 ads. - [ ] **6.3** After 25 ads on an angle: keep or retire each angle. *Done when:* The angle is marked keep or retire, and any retired angle has a new one written from the 30 phrases. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an ad creative? An [ad creative](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/ad-creative) is what people see in an ad: the picture or video, and the words on and around it. The targeting and the budget are set in the ad account; the creative is the part you make. On Meta, the creative also helps decide who sees the ad, because Meta's system matches each ad to people one by one. ### Can I make ad creatives with AI? Yes, for the words and for new versions of a picture that works. Use real photos of your product or real recordings of your screen, and never an AI-made customer. Since 1 June 2026, Meta shows an "AI info" note on ads it detects were made or changed with AI tools. [AI](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-use-ai-for-content-creation) drafts; you check every claim. ### How many ad creatives should I make? Make 4 a day, about 28 a week. In Motion's 2026 benchmarks, about 1 in 25 ads from small accounts became a winner, so a handful tells you nothing. Do not run them all at once: post them free first, and put the best into your paid test in batches of 4 to 8. Judge each angle after 25 ads. ### What size should my ad creatives be? For Facebook and Instagram Feed, 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 pixels. For Reels and Stories, 9:16 at 1440 × 2560, with the top 14% and bottom 35% clear of text. For LinkedIn, 1:1 at 1200 × 1200 or 4:5 at 720 × 900. Google search ads are text only: headlines of 30 characters and descriptions of 90. ### Should I pay a designer or creators to make my ads? Not until you have a winner. Find the angle and the kind of ad that works with your phone and free tools first. Then pay a designer to make the winner better, or pay creators for UGC in the same shape. Paying for polish before you know the angle buys a nicer version of an ad nobody wants. ## Sources - [Meta Ads Guide: image ad specs (Facebook Feed)](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/image). Meta, checked 8 October 2026. - [Meta Ads Guide: video ad specs (Facebook Feed)](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/video). Meta, checked 8 October 2026. - [Meta Ads Guide: Instagram Reels ad specs and safe zones](https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/update/video/instagram-reels). Meta, checked 8 October 2026. - [Expanding GenAI Transparency for Meta's Ads Products](https://about.fb.com/news/2025/02/gen-ai-transparency-metas-ads-products/). Meta Newsroom, 3 February 2025, updated 1 June 2026. - [Meta Andromeda: Supercharging Advantage+ automation with the next-gen personalized ads retrieval engine](https://engineering.fb.com/2024/12/02/production-engineering/meta-andromeda-advantage-automation-next-gen-personalized-ads-retrieval-engine/). Meta Engineering, 2 December 2024. - [Ad Library tools](https://transparency.meta.com/researchtools/ad-library-tools). Meta Transparency Center, checked 8 October 2026. - [Announcing the launch of the new Ads Transparency Center](https://blog.google/technology/ads/announcing-the-launch-of-the-new-ads-transparency-center/). Google, March 2023, checked 8 October 2026. - [About responsive search ads](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791). Google Ads Help, checked 8 October 2026. - [Single image ads advertising specifications](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a426534). LinkedIn Help, checked 8 October 2026. - [Thought Leader Ads](https://business.linkedin.com/advertise/ads/sponsored-content/thought-leader-ads). LinkedIn, checked 8 October 2026. - [Creative Benchmarks 2026: key benchmarks and insights](https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/cb2026-key-benchmarks-and-insights). Motion, 2026, checked 8 October 2026. - [What Meta's Andromeda update actually changes, and what it doesn't](https://adexchanger.com/data-driven-thinking/what-metas-andromeda-update-actually-changes-and-what-it-doesnt/). AdExchanger, 28 January 2026. - [How many ad creatives do you need? (quoting Meta's 'About managing ad volume')](https://novoads.ai/blog/how-many-ad-creatives-do-you-need). Novoads, 1 August 2026. - [Meta's Advantage+ settings: why they keep reappearing](https://www.jumpfly.com/blog/metas-advantage-settings-why-they-keep-reappearing-and-how-to-stay-in-control/). JumpFly, 6 August 2026. - [Canva pricing: the essential guide](https://stylefactoryproductions.com/blog/canva-pricing). Style Factory, updated 21 July 2026. - [Meta Advantage+ (creative refresh thread)](https://community.shopify.com/t/meta-advantage/579987). Shopify Community, 17 December 2025. - [Show HN: Built an AI ad generator and ran $9K of FB ads with it](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47376289). Hacker News, 14 March 2026.