Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use Creative Testing to Cut Ad Costs
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, I was looking at some recent data from a bunch of DTC brands, and the thing that keeps jumping out is how much ad creative is now the battleground. Everyone's fighting for attention, but the ones winning aren't just spending more — they're testing smarter. Luna: Yeah, and 'testing smarter' seems to be the key phrase. It's not just throwing more videos at the wall and seeing what sticks. Lucas: Exactly. And before we get into the weeds on that, quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. So if these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used, that's a low-key way to keep it going. Luna: Yeah, it genuinely helps. And it keeps the show ad-free, which we love. Lucas: Right. So back to creative testing. I think the real shift over the last couple of years is that brands are treating creative like a product — you iterate, you version, you kill what doesn't work. It's not a one-and-done thing. Luna: And that's a big change from the old days where you'd make one ad and run it until it died. Now you're constantly feeding the machine. Lucas: Yes. And I think a lot of it comes down to what I call the 'volume problem.' Platforms like Meta and TikTok are showing your ads to millions of people, and if you only have one or two creatives, you're going to hit fatigue fast. The cost per result starts climbing within days, not weeks. Luna: So you need a steady stream of fresh creative just to keep the cost per acquisition stable. How many creatives are we talking about? Lucas: Well, the brands doing this well are testing at least five to ten new creatives per ad set per week. Some are even higher. And they're not just doing minor tweaks — they're testing fundamentally different hooks, different formats, even different people in the ads. Luna: That sounds like a lot of work. But I guess that's why a lot of brands are turning to ugc style ads — they're cheaper to produce and you can spin up variations quickly. Lucas: Totally. And UGC, or user-generated content, has become the default for a lot of DTC brands because it feels authentic and it performs well. But the real magic is in the testing framework — you're not just putting out a bunch of UGC clips and hoping. You're systematically evaluating which hooks, which lengths, which angles actually move the needle. Luna: So what does that framework look like in practice? Like, how do you decide which creative 'wins'? Lucas: I think the first step is to define your primary metric — usually cost per acquisition, but sometimes it's cost per add to cart or cost per landing page view. Then you run a structured test with enough spend to get statistical significance. You're looking for a winner that beats the control by a decent margin — say, twenty to thirty percent lower CPA. Luna: And then you take that winner and iterate on it, right? Like, change the hook, change the background, change the call to action. Lucas: Exactly. And here's where it gets interesting — some brands are using AI tools to help analyze which elements of the creative are driving performance. They can break down a video frame by frame and see which moments are causing drop-off or attention spikes. That's a game-changer. Luna: That's wild. So it's not just 'this ad works' — it's 'this specific three-second hook works.' Lucas: Right. And that level of granularity lets you create what I call 'creative blueprints' — you learn that a certain opening line, a certain visual style, a certain pacing consistently outperforms. Then you can generate new creatives that follow that blueprint with higher confidence. Luna: So it's almost like you're building a creative engine. The more you test, the more you learn, and the better you get at predicting what will work. Lucas: Yes. And the economics are compelling. I was talking to a skincare brand recently — they were spending about fifty thousand dollars a month on ads. By implementing a proper creative testing process, they cut their cost per acquisition by thirty percent within two months. That's a massive savings. Luna: Thirty percent is huge. But I imagine that kind of improvement doesn't come without some growing pains. What are the common mistakes? Lucas: The biggest one is not giving tests enough time or budget to reach significance. Brands kill a creative after two days with three conversions and call it a failure. You need to let the data accumulate — otherwise you're just guessing. Luna: And the flip side — holding onto a winner for too long, even after it's fatigued. I've seen brands run the same ad for months because it worked once. Lucas: That's a classic. You have to be ruthless about sunsetting creatives once the CPA starts creeping up. The best brands have a 'kill list' — they're constantly rotating out old creative and bringing in new. Luna: So it's a balance between giving things a fair shot and knowing when to move on. How long do you typically run a test before making a call? Lucas: It depends on the platform and the volume of traffic, but a general rule of thumb is to aim for at least fifty conversions per ad set before you look at the numbers. If you're getting ten conversions a day, that's five days. If you're getting a hundred, you can decide in a day. Luna: Makes sense. And what about the creative itself — are there any patterns you're seeing in what actually works for DTC brands right now? Lucas: The strongest pattern is probably the 'hook-driven' creative — where the first three seconds are designed to stop the scroll, often with a bold statement or a relatable problem. For example, a skincare brand might open with 'You've been using your moisturizer wrong your whole life.' That's a hook that makes you want to watch more. Luna: Yeah, that's a classic. And I'm also seeing a lot of brands using before and after shots or quick testimonials. It's about social proof, right? Lucas: Exactly. And one thing that's really helping brands is the rise of short-form video — TikTok and Reels have trained consumers to expect snappy, engaging content. So even on Facebook, we're seeing a shift toward vertical video with captions and fast cuts. Luna: And that means the days of the single static image ad are numbered? Lucas: I wouldn't say numbered, but they're definitely taking a back seat. Static images still work for retargeting or for audiences that are already familiar with the brand. But for cold acquisition, video is king — it just gives you more room to tell a story and build trust. Luna: So let's go back to that skincare brand — what else did they do besides just testing more creative? I'm curious if there was a specific process change. Lucas: They actually built a weekly creative sprint — every Monday, the team would sit down and brainstorm new hooks, shoot ugc style videos, and have them ready for testing by Wednesday. Then they'd review the data on Friday and decide what to scale and what to kill. That rhythm kept them disciplined and consistent. Luna: I love that. It's like they turned creative testing into a habit, not a chore. That's something any brand can do, even with a small team. Lucas: Definitely. And it doesn't require a huge budget either. You don't need a production studio — just a decent smartphone and a willingness to experiment. A lot of the best-performing ads look like they were shot on a phone. Luna: Right, because consumers can smell a polished ad from a mile away. The raw, authentic stuff often performs better. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing — I think brands should be looking at the entire funnel, not just the ad itself. The creative sets the expectation, but if the landing page doesn't deliver, you're wasting money. So testing should also include matching the ad's message to the landing page. Luna: That's a good point. You can have a killer ad, but if it sends people to a generic homepage, they're out of there. The whole journey needs to feel cohesive. Lucas: And that's where a lot of brands see the biggest wins — not just from the creative, but from the alignment between ad and landing page. When you test creative, you should also test the corresponding landing page variations. It's a two-for-one optimization opportunity. Luna: So what's the one takeaway you'd want a small DTC brand to remember from this episode? Lucas: I'd say: don't overthink the analytics. Start with a simple framework — set a primary metric, test at least five new creatives a week, give them enough data to judge, and kill what doesn't work. The brands that do this consistently are the ones that stay ahead of the algorithm and keep their customer acquisition costs in check. Luna: That's a solid roadmap. I think the key is really the consistency — it's easy to do it for a week, but the brands that see results are the ones that make it a habit. Lucas: Absolutely. And as the platforms evolve, the fundamentals — testing, learning, iterating — they don't change. They just get more important.