A few months ago I was scrolling Instagram in the wee hours of the morning, sound off so I didn't wake my roommate (read: baby). I got served a founder-led video. It was a talking head format, some text but no captions. I couldn't really follow what was being said so I swiped.
The next day I remembered - hey, I have that founder's number. So naturally I texted her and the response she received from her team was this:
Initially I thought "fair enough, leave it up to the data gods to decide" - but not today.
Not with more time to think about it. Because why would you A/B test something that's crucial for the message to land? Designing for sound off is a non-negotiable.
And it got me thinking about how much of what gets labelled "a test" in paid media falls into the same category - things that should just be done.
So in this issue I’m going to break down my creative non-negotiables and the A/B tests that actually make sense.
Paid ad non-negotiables.
Make it obvious. Show the product clearly and make it the focal point. Don't shoot too wide, don't let a busy background compete, and don't bury it under a logo or text.
Lead with the product or the offer - everything else - benefits, social proof, storytelling, how it works etc. comes after. No intrigue, no build, no traditional story arc.
Consider if the visual is clear enough on its own and if it’s not add text to tell people exactly what they’re looking at. If it takes a few seconds to get it, they probably already scrolled.
If you want to see some examples of what "obvious" looks like - Issue #003 Why ugly ads work has you covered.
Make it direct. Speak to the person you're trying to reach. Call out their identity, their situation or their exact problem. The right person should feel like this ad is talking directly to them and the wrong person will ignore it.
On Meta, you don't need to speak to everyone in one ad because you can have lots of ads speaking to lots of different people.
❌ "Long-lasting skin primer" ✅ "If your makeup never makes it to lunch, this will help."
❌ "Feel confident in our new arrivals" ✅ "Your ex would hate to see you in this dress."
❌ "Escape the everyday" ✅ "No annual leave left? 48 hrs is all you need. Book it."
I encourage all brands to take more risks with copy, even the premium ones. People are on social media to connect and to be entertained, not to “Shop New Arrivals Online Or In-Store - Afterpay Available.”
Make it accessible. People consume social media in conditions you can't control - sound off, brightness down, double screening, scrolling with their chin whilst getting their nails done (that one just me? alrighty then).
Give your creative the best chance of cutting through:
use high contrast imagery
use text large enough to read - not blending into the background or subject
use captions on any talking head or voiceover video
respect your safe zones - everything important stays away from the edges
These need not be tested. They should just be.
What's actually worth testing.
When it came to writing out creative A/B tests for Meta, the list was shorter than I expected. The ones that actually hold up:
Text hooks. Same visual, different opening line.
Visual hooks. Same text, different opening frame.
Pricing overlay vs. no pricing. Same creative, with and without the number.
Model vs. no model. Same product, same shoot.
The moment you change the message, the emotion, or the theme - you've changed too much to draw a clean conclusion. Your A/B test is shot.
Emotional benefit vs. functional benefit. Problem vs. solution. UGC vs. studio. These feel like this-or-that decisions but they're not - different people respond to different things.
If “functional benefit” beats “emotional benefit” in a test, that result is only true for that specific execution. With a different content style, a different UGC creator or a different ad format - emotional might have won and you'd never know it.
I have a different approach for this style of message testing - DM me and I'll tell you how I do it.
Final thoughts
So perhaps there are agencies that A/B test things that should just be done - smoke and mirrors giving the appearance of progress without doing much.
Or perhaps, my most cynical take, the A/B test is an easy cover story for a mistake as it implies that there is a correct version out there, you just didn’t see it.
The brands getting creative right aren't testing this message vs. that message. They're keeping their ads obvious, direct and accessible - taking copy risks and running enough variations to understand what content styles, messages and products their audience actually responds to.
Cheers,
Sarah Arvela Webb
Brought to you by my text receipts and a healthy dose of cynicism.
