How to Make Winning Facebook Ads That Scale (And Maximize Ad Performance)

Are you struggling to come up with new ideas for your Facebook ads or wondering how successful ad agencies constantly find winning creatives? In this blog post, I’m going to break down, step-by-step, how we research and develop high-performing ad creatives, hooks, and headlines. Whether you’re running lead generation campaigns or e-commerce ads, this is the hands-on guide for discovering, iterating, and scaling Facebook ad creatives that drive real results.

Let’s jump straight in — I’m going to share how our team actually does this for real clients every single week.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Why Creatives Matter More Than Ever

2. Creative Batches: What Are They and Why Are They Critical?

3. Starting Broad: The First Step in Creative Testing

4. Analyzing Performance: Finding Your Winners

5. Stealing Like an Artist: Competitor Research Done Right

6. Iterating and Experimenting: Making Winners Out of Variations

7. Leveraging Static Images: The Underrated Tactic

8. Headlines & Hooks: What Makes People Click?

9. Using AI To Speed Up Ad Creation

10. Building Your Competitor Swipe File (And What To Save)

11. Putting It All Together: The Weekly Creative Process

12. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

13. Key Takeaways & Your Next Steps

14. Want Us To Run Your Ads? Here’s What To Do

Introduction: Why Creatives Matter More Than Ever

If you’ve spent any time running Facebook ads, you’ve probably noticed that finding an ad creative that actually works is way harder than it looks.

With algorithm updates and rising ad costs, the days of slapping together a random image and headline are long gone. The name of the game is quick iteration: testing lots of creative ideas, finding the winners, and doubling down before your competition even notices.

"You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you just gotta make it run smoother."

That’s the approach we take for every client — and in this detailed walkthrough, I’m going to show you exactly how we do it.

Creative Batches: What Are They and Why Are They Critical?

Let’s start with how we actually organize our ad creative testing.

Every week, we create and launch new creative batches. Each batch can include different types of creatives:

• Video ads

• Static images

• Carousels

• Memes or visual quotes

Inside each batch, we make iterations, variations, and replications — meaning, we fiddle with visuals, tweak headlines, swap out images, and use different hooks.

For example, in a recent lead gen campaign for a window cleaning client, we ran over 18 creative batches. Each batch was unique — some were replications of what worked before, others were totally new ideas pulled from research.

Why does this matter? Because running a single ad for weeks and just hoping it works isn’t a strategy. Rapid testing and learning is how you catch winners early and scale them up — before they fatigue or competitors catch on.

Starting Broad: The First Step in Creative Testing

When you’re beginning a new campaign, don’t restrict yourself to a narrow theme or concept.

Instead, start broad:

• Test different services (if you have more than one offer)

• Try various visuals: bright vs. dark images, close-ups vs. wide shots

• Play with different copy approaches (emotional, direct, funny, seasonal)

For our window cleaning campaign, we launched several broad tests. Some creatives focused on the clean results, others highlighted the seasonal aspect (like spring cleaning), and some even leaned into local weather issues (dust storms, rain, etc.).

This wide-net approach lets you see what your actual audience responds to. For example, in desert areas during spring, people cared more about dust and rain buildup — so ads mentioning seasonal problems saw much better results.

Analyzing Performance: Finding Your Winners

Once your creative batches have run for a week or two, it’s time to dig into the data.

What metrics do we look at?

• Cost per lead (CPL): Lower is better, of course!

• Click-through rate (CTR): Which images and headlines make people stop scrolling?

• Amount of leads generated per creative

We use Facebook’s reporting, but you can use any tool — as long as you can break down results by creative, copy, and audience.

Let’s look at an example: We found one static image ad delivering leads at just $42 per lead — the lowest among everything else we tested at the time. Other variations (like sped-up videos with spring-themed copy) also performed well, but the static image was the top performer.

So, what did we do? We doubled down on the winner and asked the client to film more variations based on similar concepts.

Stealing Like an Artist: Competitor Research Done Right

You don’t have to invent every creative idea yourself. In fact, one of our best hacks is to "borrow" what’s proven to work for others—then put our own spin on it.

Here’s how we do competitor research:

• Hop into the Meta Ad Library

• Filter by your location, industry (e.g., "window cleaning"), and media type (static images, memes, etc.)

• Look for ads that have been running for a while — at least 10-14 days. If it’s active and consistent, the advertiser is likely making money from it.

• Save these ads! Build a personal swipe file in tools like AdNova, or just use screenshots/Google Docs.

Standout Quote:“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you just gotta make it run smoother, right?”

For example, we spotted a competitor’s simple static image from Canva — just a photo of a smiling person, a catchy headline overlay, and a logo in the corner. It had been running for weeks. We took the structure, made our own creative with unique copy, and tested it. Instant drop in CPL.

Key Takeaways from this Approach:

• If it’s running for weeks, it’s working.

• There’s no shame in copying structures, but always use your own branding and voice.

• Most “original” ideas you see are just fresh spins on old classics.

Iterating and Experimenting: Making Winners Out of Variations

Found a creative that’s working? Time to squeeze EVERY drop out of it.

How We Iterate

1. Tweak Headlines

   • Example: If “New Mexico spring window cleaning special – limited time only” is working, riff on that. Create 2-3 headline variations:

     • “Get your windows sparkling – Spring cleaning deal before it’s gone!”

     • “Spring into savings! Window cleaning special for New Mexico”

     • “Don’t miss out on crystal clear windows this spring!”

2. Change Visuals

   • Try different faces — smiley vs. serious

   • Different background colors or branded elements

   • Show different types of windows or rooms

3. Prompt AI tools (like ChatGPT, more on this below!) to generate new ideas for hooks, taglines, and copy.

4. Combine winners: Take the best headline and mix it with a new image/concept. If you’ve already got 2-3 known winners, make more variations!

Leveraging Static Images: The Underrated Tactic

A lot of marketers obsess over videos these days — but static image ads are still absolute monsters, especially for local lead gen.

Why?

• They’re fast to create and test

• Audiences recognize them as authentic (not over-produced)

• You can test 10+ variations in the time it takes to edit a single video

In our results, static image ads sometimes dropped CPL by 50-75% compared to video. One tactic: use a candid or stock photo with a bold headline and your logo. Keep it super clear, not cluttered.

“I’m always a big fan of static images because a lot of people under use static images because they always think like, yeah, it's now all about video while it’s still static images.”

Be systematic—run 5-10 images at once, then double down on the winners.

Headlines & Hooks: What Makes People Click?

You can have a stunning photo, but if your headline stinks, people will keep scrolling. Here’s our approach to writing and testing hooks:

Finding Killer Headlines

1. Copy Competitors (With a Twist)

   • See what’s LIVE and working for them, reword for your brand/town/audience

   • Save variations that use urgency, specials, or seasonal angles

2. Use Customer Language

   • What do actual customers keep asking? “How much is it?” “How fast can you do it?”

   • Try headlines that sound like real questions: “Want sparkling windows fast?”

3. Ask ChatGPT

   • “Give me 5 top-of-funnel ad headlines for Shamrock Window Cleaning”

   • Adjust for humor, urgency, or pain points

Some of our highest performing headlines:

• “New Mexico spring window cleaning special – limited time only”

• “Get your windows sparkling – Spring cleaning deal before it’s gone”

• “Don’t miss a Colorado sunset this summer with dirty windows!”

Remember, it’s often about FOMO (“before it’s gone!”), local pride, or seasonality.

Using AI To Speed Up Ad Creation

Let’s face it — coming up with dozens of ad variations each week is a grind. But with AI, you can speed up both your ideation and creation process.

Our AI Workflow

1. Prime ChatGPT with your client or business info

   • Upload or paste onboarding docs, ideal customer profiles (ICPs), previous best-performing copy, and core service info

2. Request new copy or visual prompts

   • For example: “Give me 10 static ad ideas for Shamrock Window Cleaning with a spring theme”

   • Ask for headlines, hook ideas, and pain points you can use

3. Iterate with your winning headlines

   • Ask for headline rewrites based on your best result (e.g., “Make 5 more headlines similar to ‘New Mexico spring cleaning special – limited time only’”)

4. Generate visuals (optional)

   • Use DALL-E or Midjourney to make image variations if you’re low on client photos

5. Refine

   • Always review AI output for grammar, brand alignment, and clarity

   • Combine AI suggestions with your own swipe file learnings

“We also got just different types of AIs that we trained ourselves to come up with new ideas.”

Pro Tip: Consistently feed your AI the top-performing headlines, visuals, and customer needs so it gets smarter.

Building Your Competitor Swipe File (And What To Save)

A solid swipe file (a collection of proven ads and creative ideas) is your secret weapon for lasting ad success. Here’s how to make one:

1. Regularly Check the Meta Ad Library

Go into the Ad Library every week, filter for active, long-running ads in your niche, and screenshot or save the ads you see.

2. Organize and Review

Use folders in your computer or tools like AdNova to segment by:

• Type (image, video, meme, etc.)

• Headline theme (seasonal, urgent, funny)

• Visual style

3. What Makes an Ad Worth Saving?

• Long-running: If it’s been live for more than 14 days, it’s probably working

• Multiple variations: If an advertiser is running a headline with lots of different visuals (swapping backgrounds, faces, etc.), that’s a winner

• Location-based tweaks: For example, same layout but “Don’t miss a Colorado sunset” vs. “Don’t miss a Utah sunset.” These localize for max relevance

“Even a variation of the same ad for just a different location... these ones, they repurposed them again.”

Warning: Ignore ads with few likes or those that look low-quality. Usually, well-performing creatives look clean, simple, and have a clear offer.

Putting It All Together: The Weekly Creative Process

Here’s a quick breakdown of our ongoing, weekly system for keeping creative results high and costs low:

Step-by-Step Recap

1. Build a swipe file

   • Dedicate time every week for competitor research

2. Launch broad creative batches

   • Mix up visuals, headlines, and hooks

3. Track results FAST

   • Every few days, check cost per lead/click for each creative

4. Double-down + iterate on winners

   • Make at least 2-3 new variations of your best ad (different headlines & images)

5. Try new ideas from the swipe file

   • Especially if you see something that’s been live for weeks

6. Mix in AI for speed

   • Use chatbots to generate headlines, lists, and pain points

7. Repeat. Don’t slow down.

   • The Facebook Ads game rewards momentum and volume

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

After running hundreds of ad tests, here are a few big mistakes to watch for:

• Sticking to one kind of ad: Always diversify. Don’t just run videos, don’t just run images.

• Not iterating enough: One winning creative doesn’t last forever. Stay ahead!

• Ignoring competitor research: Don’t operate blind — your market will tell you what works.

• Overcomplicating design: Simple, readable images often perform best.

• Letting your ego get in the way: Sometimes, the “ugly” ad wins.

Key Takeaways & Your Next Steps

• Creative testing is a never-ending process. Winners today may slow down tomorrow — always keep new ideas coming.

• Competitor research isn’t cheating, it’s smart business. If someone else has validated a concept, make it your own.

• Headlines matter — probably more than visuals. Iterate on hooks that drive clicks and leads.

• AI makes ideation and scaling easier. Train it to your brand and use it to keep your creative pipeline full.

• Static images still SLAP. Don’t ignore them!

So, whether you’re a local service provider, an agency, or an in-house marketer, start implementing these strategies today — and watch your cost per acquisition drop while your campaigns scale up.

Want Us To Run Your Ads? Here’s What To Do

We help clients all over the US (and beyond) crush it with Facebook and Instagram ads — using the exact process I just outlined here.

If you want us to handle your creative testing and ad management for you, click here to get started.

And of course, if you found value in this post, share it or drop a comment! For more actionable tips, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Final Thoughts

Winning Facebook Ads aren’t about luck. It's about data, speed, smart research, and never, EVER settling for “good enough.” Take what you’ve learned here, run your next round of ad tests, and don’t forget to:

“Just make the wheel run smoother.”

Go out and find your next creative winner!

More Learning Resources

• Meta Ad Library

• Canva for quick ad image creation

• ChatGPT for headline and hook brainstorming

• AdNova for storing your swipe file

Seen your CPL drop after following these tips? Tag us and let us know — we love seeing your wins!

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