Performance creative / Field notes
Plain-language breakdowns of paid-social creative, hooks, UGC, testing, and the buying psychology behind work that performs.
It started at 0.35x ROAS with the lowest hook score in an 11-ad batch. Thirteen weeks later, it had the highest ROAS in the batch.
Read the note →Hook score finished at 10.
What 550,000 real ads reveal about deal-first openings, expert authority, and the different jobs creative has to do.
Why a strong hook creates an unresolved thought instead of explaining the whole ad.
Three shifts in Meta and TikTok creative: native openings, save rate, and comprehension on cold traffic.
The cheapest insight in strategy is to go be the customer for a week.
Why ads that look a little wrong can feel more real before they feel like ads.
A system that maps pain points against ad formats to create real creative diversity.
How photography, performance creative strategy, and The Lens of Peet came together.
Why product messaging now has to work for both human attention and AI discovery.
What 3.3 million organic views showed about naming a place or time in the hook.
My least favorite ad became the client's highest-spend creative at 4.18 ROAS.
Why a stumble, pause, or glance at the notes can become the trust signal.
How to write UGC briefs as production specifications instead of inspiration documents.
A structured framework for learning which creative variable actually caused the win.
Why rough, native creative can earn trust faster than polished brand content.