How to create creatives that sell

Beautiful ads alone aren't enough — to be truly successful, they must not only look good, but also deliver measurable results. But how do you achieve this balance between creativity and performance?

It is precisely this topic that we would like to address in this article. In addition, there is a suitable podcast episode with Bernhard, Founder of THE AD.GENCY, about this exact topic. His agency works with exciting brands such as Waterdrop and Giesswein and develops campaigns that both set creative standards and achieve clients' performance goals. He shares his valuable learnings from practice and explains how his team produces creatives that not only work but also impress the brand department.

The challenge: creativity meets performance

For many marketers, it's a big challenge to develop ads that not only look good but also perform. It often fails at one of these points:

• Targeting: Ads look creative, but they don't appeal to the right emotions of the target group.
• Missing data: Without the right insights, decisions are often not made correctly.
• Not suitable for the brand image: No approval from brand departments, as they do not fit into the brand image.

Bernhard and his team know how important it is to overcome these challenges. Because only if the ads are both creative and data-based will they be successful in the long term.

Bernhard's tips for better creatives

In the podcast, Bernhard shares some of the key principles that his team follows when developing Winning Creatives:

1. Understanding the target group

It all starts with a clear target group analysis. Bernhard emphasizes that only ads that address the wishes, challenges and emotions of the target group can really perform. To do this, it is crucial to use data from previous campaigns and optimize them with new creative approaches.

2nd structure

Creativity alone is not enough. Bernhard and his team follow a clear structureto efficiently turn ideas into successful ads. This includes:

• unfolding strong hook, which attract the attention of the target group in the first few seconds.
• A clear message that is central Pain Points or based on needs.
• A design that not only looks good, but also Message supported.

3rd testing

No creative is perfect — at least not on the first try. Bernhard attaches great importance to A/B testing to find out Which variants Which ads work best. Various designs, messages and formats are being tested to best combination to identify.

4. Cooperation with the brand department

Another challenge that Bernhard addresses is coordination with the brand teams. Creative ads must not only perform, but also fit the brand strategy. That's why his team works closely with brand managers to ensure that the ads are approved and deliver results at the same time.

The future of performance marketing & agencies

Bernhard sees 2025 as the year in which AI continues to be an important part of creative production. He highlights that AI could play a central role not only in analyzing data but also in creating assets.

Another prediction from Bernhard for the coming year lies in collaboration with AI influencers. He sees great potential in this to address target groups even more specifically and to produce personalized content on a larger scale.

For Bernhard, it is clear that AI will not only be a helpful tool, but a fundamental part of every agency that wants to be successful in the areas of performance marketing and creative design.

The optimal collaboration between creative & performance teams

Using the right tools is crucial to optimize the combination of creativity and performance. Here comes DatAds into the game.

DatAds gives creative strategists and performance marketers the opportunity to make data-based decisions and test their creatives more efficiently:

• Insights from Creative Tests: With DatAds, teams can analyze the performance of their ads across platforms and identify the best variants.
• Structured workflow: DatAds helps to keep track of creative tests per account and to clearly document the results.
• Efficiency through AI: DatAds AI automatically shows the most successful combinationsso that more winning creatives can be developed.

Bernhard's approach combines creative processes with data-driven testing — exactly what DatAds supports to take creatives to the next level.

Conclusion: Winning creatives who convince and deliver

Successful ads require more than just creativity: they need structure, audience understanding and data-based insights. Bernhard shows in the podcast how important it is to combine testing, brand coordination and ideas in order to satisfy both brand departments and performance goals.

With tools such as DatAds can creative strategists efficiently design these processes and optimize their ads based on data.

Listen to the podcast episode with Bernhard and find out how you too can develop ads that are creatively convincing and deliver measurable results.