The Workflow / The Cold Start
How the brief became 40 scriptsSync to Submission
One call · About two days · Eight creators · Nine products
The first 24 scripts were submitted inside 48 hours. The program expanded to 40 scripts across the full brief.
The Thesis
What This Case Study Is AboutA cold handoff became a working brief.
A 47-minute call, several months of account data, and almost no handoff became 40 regulated scripts in about two days. The brief covered eight creators and nine finance products with different claims, audiences, and legal requirements.
The Workflow
Five StagesThe work moves through five stages.
This is the process I used. The tools helped with speed, but the account data, claims, and final decisions stayed with me.
Score
Four questions about the buyer. The answer tells me what kind of ad converts them.
Map
Ad types × buyer problems. Every square is an ad. 60+ ideas before I write a word.
Compound
Two years of client work saved in Claude. Every ad I run makes the next one sharper.
Build
11 custom AI workflows. Drafts, QA, compliance, formatting. All in one session.
Decide
AI drafts. I decide. Every hook, every number, every compliance line goes through me.
Click any stage to jump ↓
Stage 01 / Score
Four QuestionsI score the buyer before I write a word.
I start with four questions. The answers tell me what kind of ad fits the buyer and what the script needs to explain first.
How expensive is it?
How skeptical is the buyer?
Feeling or facts?
How long do they research?
What the score tells me
4 to 16
Tell a story
Buyer decides on feeling. Let them feel understood before the product shows up. Rushing it kills it.
17 to 28
Mix both
Short story, then proof. Could go either way. Let the numbers tell us which works.
29 to 40
Lead with proof
Buyer is skeptical from second one. Product in frame one. Data right after. No warmup.
Stage 02 / Map
Ad Types × Buyer Problems60+ ad ideas mapped before I write a word.
Ad types across the top. Buyer problems down the side. Every square is an ad I could make. One map per client, good for 3 to 6 months. No blank page. No guessing what to write next.
| Rate Anxiety |
Approval Fear |
Comparison Paralysis |
Monthly Budget |
Debt Shame |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podcast talking head | - | ||||
| Whiteboard explainer | - | - | |||
| Side-by-side compare | - | - | - | ||
| Founder to camera | - | - | - | ||
| Before / after | - | - | - |
Sample shown. The first map held 72 viable ideas across six ad types, four creator types, and three products. I shipped 24 in the first batch; the full program expanded to 40 scripts.
Why it works
No duplicate ads.
The map forces every ad to come from a different angle. No two ads feel the same. Meta rewards this with more spend.
No blank page.
The map replaces decision fatigue. Pick a square, write the ad. Output scales without the blank-page bottleneck.
Gets smarter over time.
Every winning square tells me what works. Every loser tells me what to stop testing. The map sharpens.
Stage 03 / Compound
The Learning LoopEvery result improves the next brief.
I save the useful parts of each project: what performed, what legal changed, what creators could execute, and what broke in production. The next brief starts with that record instead of a blank page.
01
Find
Winning ads, competitor moves, legal feedback, performance data.
02
Analyze
Why it worked. What made it different. What's worth keeping.
03
Save
Wins become rules. Failures become guardrails. All of it gets filed.
04
Use
Every new brief pulls from the whole library. Not just the last job.
05
Learn
Results come back in. The library updates. Next brief is sharper.
A deodorant ad taught me how to write whiteboard ads for fintech.
Different products. Same buyer psychology. That's what the system catches.
My AI Stack
Three tools. Same playbook. Not locked into any one platform.
Claude
Where the briefs get built. 11 custom workflows loaded. Handles scripts, hooks, QA, and formatting.
Perplexity
Where I research. Competitor ads, real-time trends, source checking.
Manus
Where complex tasks run. Multi-step research and doc generation in one shot.
Stage 04 / Build
11 Workflows LoadedEleven small tools, each built for one job.
Together they turn the account read into scripts, shot lists, text overlays, compliance checks, and editor notes. The first pass gets faster; the final call still stays with me.
Brief builder
Writes full ad scripts with shot lists and creator notes.
Testimonial builder
Turns a call transcript into a ready-to-film brief.
Ads strategy
Knows how Meta's algorithm picks winners right now.
Hook selector
Picks the right text overlay so it works with audio off.
Production planner
Maps out what to make this month and what to skip.
Research extractor
Turns any winning ad into a reusable lesson.
QA checker
Catches math errors and compliance gaps before submit.
Brief QA
8-point checklist before anything ships to a creator.
Writing filter
Makes sure nothing reads like it was written by AI.
Design system
Builds the branded PDFs and graphics in my case studies and decks.
My context
Knows my voice, my clients, and my preferences.
Stage 05 / Decide
AI Drafts, Human JudgesAI drafts. I decide.
The AI is fast. The judgment is mine. Every script the system drafts goes through me before a creator sees it. Nothing ships until a human decides it's right.
The AI handles
- • Writing first drafts across the batch
- • Tagging each script by buyer and product
- • Assigning creators and building shot lists
- • Writing the on-screen text overlays
- • Generating editor notes and CTA copy
I handle
- • Rewriting every hook that sounds generic
- • Making sure no two ads feel the same
- • Checking every number in every math ad
- • Making sure nothing breaks compliance
- • Writing the brand context and prod notes
Why this matters for clients
The tools speed up the first pass. I still check every claim, number, creator assignment, and edit note before the brief leaves my hands.
That judgment now comes from 225 ads across 11 client accounts.
The Stress Test
LendingTree · Fintech · $10M+ MetaHere's what it looks like under pressure.
I took over with almost no handoff: a 47-minute call, the onboarding form, and three months of ad data. The brief was due that week while several other accounts were still moving.
Finance work slows down when claims, disclaimers, and product details are left until the end. I built those rules into the brief before the first script was written.
Three Moves
Double down.
One ad format was already eating 50% of their budget. I didn't try to replace it. I wrote 5 new hooks for the same format so Meta treats each as fresh.
Own the gap.
Nobody in financial services is running math-heavy whiteboard ads. Their data buyer wants exactly that. Easy lane.
Legal-proof it.
Financial services legal review kills timelines. I built every disclaimer into the first draft so there's nothing to push back on.
Stage 01 in action · Both buyers scored
The Researcher
Home equity is a $50K+ decision. They research for weeks. They want the math, not the story. Whiteboard ads were built for this buyer.
The Impulse Buyer
Wants a simple monthly payment and no hassle. Fears complexity. Could go either way. Test both and let the data pick.
What happened in order.
Listened to the call.
47-minute call. Pulled out their buyer types, product lines, compliance rules, and tone preferences. Fed straight into my context workflow.
Scored both buyers.
Researcher 36/40. Impulse buyer 20/40. Two completely different ads needed, not just two different hooks. Stage 01 of the workflow.
Read the data.
Three months of ad spend reviewed. Found their one winning format and the formats nobody was testing.
Checked competitors.
NerdWallet, SoFi, Figure. None of them running math-heavy ads. Open lane confirmed.
Mapped every possible ad.
Built the full map of ad type vs buyer problem before writing a single script. 72 viable ideas. Stage 02 of the workflow.
Wrote and checked the first 24 scripts.
Full scripts with shot lists, creator notes, and compliance language went in inside 48 hours. The program later expanded to 40 scripts across the full brief.
The Result
The first 24 cleared creative review.
Legal notes focused on disclaimers. The brief then grew to 40 scripts without rebuilding the process.
Across Industries
The System HoldsTwo different stress tests.
LendingTree was the stress test for speed and compliance. Withings was the stress test for scaled performance. Same workflow, different pressure.
Health Tech
Withings · $100M+ revenue
In the recorded non-promotional window, this UGC program produced the US full-price purchases at scale.
Read the full Withings case study →Fintech
LendingTree · $1B+ public
A cold handoff became 40 regulated scripts with creator and editor instructions kept separate.
Same process, adapted to different account data and constraints.
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