.png?width=100&height=30&name=WarRoom_Logo_Colour%20(1).png){kind=logo}
Q: What is Performance Creative?
Great question! Performance Creative is War Room's in-house, data-backed creative services for programmatic advertising. This means that you will be working with programmatic experts for every step of your campaign, from campaign planning, to ad creation and optimizations.
One of the benefits of choosing Performance Creative services with War Room is, well, the performance. Our in-house designers specialize in creating ads for programmatic channels, and the results show it. For proof of our incredible results, browse through some of our Performance Creative case studies, or keep reading for some included here.
Another perk is more flexibility for your team. If an ad is getting fatigued or needs an update, we can make creative adjustments without taking valuable time away from you and your team. It's a win-win situation.
Q: What do I get?
Your Performance Creative package will be tailored to your needs. However, we do have some staples. Every package includes:
- A Creative Brief that details your audience, goals, and brand language to ensure your team and our team are on the same page.
- Industry analysis, competitor analysis, and research into your brand & product/service. It's important for us to have a strong understanding of the landscape so we can represent your offerings accurately and help you stand out from the crowd.
- Ad creative & copy for the channels you've selected with your Account Manager.
- Two rounds of creative revisions. This is a collaborative process. We want to ensure you feel confident that your ads are reaching the right audiences and that they represent you appropriately.
- A detailed Strategy Rationale for each set of creatives is provided to keep us on the same page regarding strategy & decisions made when reviewing the creative.
- Ad mockups so you can see the ads in their environment when reviewing the creative.
Additional features available at an extra cost include multivariate testing to determine the most effective ad for your audience faster, monthly creative analysis & optimizations to ensure your creative never gets stale, landing page creation for coordinated campaigns, an audit of your website and social media focused on design and copy suggestions, & and a kickoff call with our lead designer to go through the creative brief.
Q: How much will it cost me?
Our Marketing team will provide a custom quote based on your campaign objectives. Our quotes include a one-time creative onboarding fee per campaign. For a free quote, connect with your Account Manager.
Q: What types of ads do you create?
All kinds! Our team can help you create any type of ad you would like to run, including:
- Social Ads (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc.)
- Display (Static, GIF, or HTML5)
- Video Ads
- Audio Ads
- Landing Pages
For a full list of channels we offer, visit our Services page.
Q: Can we have a sample ad before we sign on?
We require a signed contract before developing creatives—we don’t do pro bono work. However, we can share examples of previous Performance Creative for your consideration. It’s important to us that the creative looks and sounds right to you. When we go through the Creative Brief / Creative Kickoff call between yourself and our lead designer, rest assured that we’ll define a style that works for you.
Q: Do you have any examples?
Yes! Below are some examples of Performance Creative designed by our team.
Q: How do you generate creatives for a new client if we have no historical data for that particular field/industry/client?
That’s a great question!
Part of our Performance Creative’s Creative Onboarding fees go towards industry analysis, competitor analysis, and research. This is where we do a deep dive into understanding who you are, and where you are in market. This includes:
- Taking notes & gaining a brand understanding from your website, brand guidelines, previous ads, and social platforms. We’ll understand how you talk to your audience and how you present yourself.
- Analyzing who your competitors are and how they present themselves. We’ll look at their messaging, the ads they’re running, and get a better understanding of who else is competing for your audience. This helps us find ways to help you stand out from the crowd while maintaining what makes you “you”.
- Spend time understanding the product or service, and the industry it belongs to. This includes market research, surveys, and learning how your audience talks about & interacts with the offering.
The first few months of a campaign is a Learning Phase, which means we’re gathering data to better learn what is working and what isn’t. This is a great time to A/B test ad concepts. We’re constantly learning and finding new ways to refine your creative to achieve the best results.
Q: How many revisions do I get?
Up to 2 rounds of revisions are included in your Performance Creative package.
Q: What counts as a revision?
A round of revisions is defined by a new set of exports for you to review. This means you can have multiple changes in a single round.
For example, if you wanted a different image, a copy adjustment, and an additional logo added, this would be one revision.
We recommend you review the ads with all decision-makers or funders and have all of your feedback collected and agreed upon before sending it our way to prevent additional revisions.
Q: What if I need more revisions?
Every Performance Creative quote included two rounds of revisions. Any additional revisions will be charged hourly, at a rate of $180/hour.
Q: Can you also help with website design?
We can build landing pages for you on regular website builders (Wordpress, Squarespace, etc.), but only if it’s tied to your paid ads. This can help with campaign continuity and overall performance, as we will optimize the page for you and make sure all the messaging and imagery is consistent. We also offer landing page design audits for clients who have their own website developers but want to integrate best practices.
Q: What if I want to change my campaign concept after the Creative Brief has been signed?
You can change your concept after the Creative Brief has been signed, but additional fees may occur if creative concepting and design has already commenced. Please make sure your team is aligned before signing off on the Creative Brief.
This does apply for monthly refreshes, should you have different promotions or offerings within the same campaign. There is no extra cost for incorporating seasonal or promotional concepts. The aforementioned fees would only apply if you want a drastically different campaign direction, a new audience, or a change of photo library after design has already commenced.
Q: Will I get to preview the ads before launching?
Yes! There are ample opportunities for you to preview the ads before anything goes live. During the creative development process, our team will share mockups of the ad designs and copy for you to review. Once you approve, our Campaigns team will set up the ads, and share with you a final preview of everything in its environment before launch.
Q: What if the creative does not perform - can we make changes during the campaign?
Short answer - yes.
Long answer - Also yes. Our Campaign Managers are constantly monitoring ad performance. If an ad isn’t performing, they’ll make optimization adjustments to check if it’s the creative that’s underperforming or if it’s a campaign set-up issue. If it’s a creative issue, they will notify your Account Manager, yourself, and our Performance Creative team. The Performance Creative Team will work on a refresh if there is remaining budget. There may be additional fees if there’s not enough budget available.
Q: How many refreshes do I need?
The amount of refreshes will depend on the channels you'd like to run on, and how the ads perform. However, we generally recommend creative refreshes at least once a month for social campaigns to prevent ad fatigue. Our Campaign Managers will be keeping an eye on the ad performance and keep the team informed of when a refresh is needed.
Q: Can I get PNG/JPG versions of the creatives?
Yes, you can request the final export files of the creatives for any of your ads. This includes:
- PNG or JPG for image ads
- MP3 for Audio ads
- MP4 for Video ads
We can also provide edited photos for use on your landing page. While you are welcome to request the files, we recommend caution against re-running the previous creative. The ads are often created with seasonality, and will experience ad fatigue if run repeatedly.
Connect with your Account Manager to request the files.
Q: Can I purchase the design files?
Yes, for an additional cost. Native files can be purchased with non-exclusive rights. War Room owns the copyright and retains all intellectual rights to the work. The cost may fluctuate depending on the usage, and the length of the usage term. Connect with your Account Manager for a quote.