47%of sales lift comes from the creative and about 9 percent from targeting, per Nielsen Catalina Solutions
5 to 8%of ads launched become real winners, which is why volume, not one perfect ad, is the job
72 hrsis how long a losing creative lives on our accounts before it is cut and replaced
What is ad creative production, and why is it the whole job now?
Ad creative production is the ongoing making of the ads themselves: the hooks, the edits, the captions, the variations, shipped on a monthly schedule so an account always has something fresh to test. It used to sit behind targeting in importance. It does not anymore.
- The platforms automated the targeting. Meta's Advantage+ and Google's Performance Max now decide who sees an ad. What you control is what they see.
- Creative drives most of the result. Nielsen Catalina Solutions measured about 500 campaigns and put creative at roughly 47 percent of sales lift, with targeting at about 9.1 Since then the platforms have automated the 9 and left you the 47.
- Most ads lose. Motion's Creative Benchmarks, built on $1.3 billion of Meta spend, put real winners at 5 to 8 percent of launches, with about half switched off before 28 days.2 You do not find winners by making one perfect ad. You find them by making enough ads.
How many ad creatives do you actually need a month?
Enough that winners can show up on a schedule. If 5 to 8 percent of ads win, then 4 a month gives you a new winner every few months, 20 gives you one or two a month, and 28 to 40 keeps a rotation running so a winner is always being replaced before it fatigues. PELORA tiers run 5 to 26 new ads a month. Here is exactly what each PELORA retainer produces. Prices match our pricing page.
| Retainer | Creatives a month | What is included | Monthly |
|---|
| Launch | 5, plus yours | One paid channel, up to 2 campaigns, you supply the main creative | $3,500 |
| Growth | 8 to 12 | Your choice of Google or Meta, up to two campaigns, editing from your footage | $5,500 |
| Scale | 12 | Google and Meta, two campaigns each, review markup on the site for AI search | $7,500 |
| Full Program | 14 | Six campaigns across Google and Meta, a named account manager | $11,000 |
| Enterprise | 16 | A third paid channel, creators managed for you | $14,000 |
| Full-Service | 18, plus a monthly shoot | Organic social on two platforms, AI citation targeting | $20,000 |
| Premier | 20 and 5 video edits, monthly shoot | Four channels, a named account and influencer manager | $25,000 |
| Enterprise+ | 22 and 6 video edits, monthly shoot | A senior strategist, organic social on three platforms | $35,000 |
| Elite | 26 and 8 video edits, two shoots | Five channels, a full-time account manager | $50,000 |
Every tier above Launch carries a one-time $4,500 setup, and Launch a $1,500 to $2,000 setup. Extra shoots are add-ons from $3,500 on any tier, priced by cameras and scope. Ad spend is separate, paid by you directly to the platforms, never marked up. Three-month minimum on every tier.
How much does ad creative production cost?
At PELORA it is not billed per asset. Creative is inside every retainer, so the cost of the creative is the cost of the retainer: $3,500 a month at the low end with 5 creatives plus yours, $7,500 with Google and Meta run together, and $20,000 with a shoot every month. The clearest way to read the ladder is by the step. Going from Growth to Scale adds a second paid channel and review markup on the site for AI search, for $2,000 more. Each tier up buys more volume and more of the machine around it, never creative on its own.
Two costs sit outside the retainer and we say so up front. Ad spend, which you pay straight to Meta or Google. And the one-time setup, $4,500 above Launch and $1,500 to $2,000 on Launch, which covers account builds, tracking, creative library and the first shot list, paid once.
What formats do we produce?
Every concept ships in the formats the placements want: vertical 9:16 for Reels, Stories and TikTok with captions burned in for sound-off viewing, plus square and landscape where a placement needs them. Each one goes out with several opening hooks so they can be tested cleanly against each other.
In-house designer, UGC marketplace, or an agency?
Three honest ways to get creative made. They are not equal, and the right one depends on how much you need to test.
In-house designer
Full control and always available. The catch is that one person produces one style, and paid social punishes one style. Works once you have the budget for a small team and the volume to keep them busy.
UGC marketplace
Cheap per clip and fast. But you get raw creator footage with no strategy, no edit, no hook testing and no compliance check. Fine as an ingredient. Risky as the whole recipe, especially in health categories.
PELORA retainer
Strategy, shooting, editing, hook variations, compliance review and the media buying in one place, with the creative volume already sized to the budget. You get the output of a team without hiring one.
How do you know which creative is working?
- Every ad gets a fair test. A set spend, a set window, the same audience. No guessing from a day of data.
- Losers are cut inside 72 hours. Anything under the account's cost-per-result line is switched off and replaced from the batch already in the can.
- We wait for the learning phase to end. Meta wants roughly 50 conversions a week per ad set before its delivery stabilizes, so we judge creative on stable data, not on the first afternoon.
- Diversity is now rewarded by the platform. Meta's own guidance for its Andromeda ad retrieval system is to run genuinely different creative rather than near-duplicates, because the system selects across variety. We build the batch that way on purpose.
- Winners get scaled and re-cut. When a hook works, the next batch leans into it. When a format fatigues, it rotates out before the numbers slide.
Questions owners ask
What owners ask us about ad creative.
What is ad creative production?
Ad creative production is the ongoing making of the actual ads, the videos, statics and carousels that run on Meta, Google, TikTok and YouTube. It covers the concept, the hook, the edit, the captions and the variations, delivered every month on a schedule. At PELORA it is part of every retainer, from 5 creatives a month at $3,500 to a production shoot every month at $20,000, because on paid social the creative is now the main thing deciding who wins.
How many ad creatives do I need a month?
Enough that a few winners can emerge. Industry testing data puts real winners at roughly 5 to 8 percent of ads launched, with about half turned off before 28 days of spend. At that rate, 4 creatives a month gives you a winner every few months, 20 gives you one or two a month, and 28 to 40 keeps a rotation of fresh winners so the account never stalls. PELORA tiers run 5 to 26 new ads a month. We size the volume to the ad budget, not the other way round.
How much does ad creative production cost?
Creative is built into every PELORA retainer rather than billed per asset. Launch is $3,500 a month with 5 creatives alongside the creative you supply, and Growth is $5,500 with 8 to 12 including edits from your footage. Scale ($7,500), Full Program ($11,000) and Enterprise ($14,000) include 12, 14 and 16 new image ads a month, Full-Service ($20,000) adds a shoot every month, and the top tiers run to $50,000. Every tier above Launch has a one-time $4,500 setup, and Launch has a $1,500 to $2,000 setup. Extra shoots are add-ons from $3,500 on any tier, priced by cameras and scope. Ad spend is paid straight to the platforms and never marked up.
Does creative really matter more than targeting?
Yes. Nielsen Catalina Solutions measured about 500 campaigns and found creative drove roughly 47 percent of sales lift while targeting drove about 9. Since then Meta's Advantage+ and Google's Performance Max have automated most of the targeting decisions, so the part you still control is the creative. If two accounts run the same budget, the one with more fresh, tested creative wins.
What kind of ad creative gets produced?
Founder to camera, customer testimonial, before and after, UGC style phone footage, product demo, carousel, static offer, and organic-looking posts cut for paid. Everything is delivered vertical for Reels, Stories and TikTok, with captions burned in for sound-off viewing, plus square and landscape cuts where a placement needs them. Each concept ships with several opening hooks so they can be tested against each other cleanly.
Do you shoot the footage or just edit what we send?
Both, depending on tier. Launch and Growth work from footage you supply, with our creative direction and editing. Full-Service and up include a production shoot every month. Extra shoots start at $3,500 on any tier, anywhere in the US through the shooters we work with in every state; ad imagery is AI-generated and licensed, and product photography comes from you or from a booked shoot. A one-camera interview shoot usually cuts into 10 to 20 short videos. We also mix in UGC creators when the category calls for it.
How fast do you know if a creative is working?
Inside 72 hours. Every new ad gets a fair test at a set spend, losers are cut within 72 hours, and winners are scaled and re-cut in the same direction. On Meta we also watch for the roughly 50 conversions a week an ad set needs to leave the learning phase, because a creative can only be judged once the algorithm has stable data behind it.
Can you produce compliant creative for med spas, TRT and treatment centers?
Yes, that is most of our work. Health and wellness advertising has strict platform rules, no before-and-after claims in some categories, no drug names or dosages, 18-plus targeting for anything touching the body. We produce creative built to clear review the first time and we check every ad against the platform policy before it goes live. See our health advertising compliance page for the rules by category.
Who owns the creative you produce?
On payment you own the creative, the written content and the website work produced under the agreement, and you keep ownership of your own accounts and data at all times. That includes raw footage and the edited assets. You can run them anywhere, with any agency, forever.
What happens in the first 30 days?
Week one is the brief: what you sell, what objections come up, what has worked before. Week two is production. Week three the first batch goes live and starts gathering data. Week four we read what performed and brief the next batch against it. The first month is about finding the angle rather than polishing one idea.
Do you produce for clients outside your area?
Nationwide. We are based in California and produce for clients across the United States. Most of what we produce does not require us to be in the room. Where a shoot is genuinely needed we travel or direct remotely, and we will be straight about which one your project needs rather than selling a trip.
What if I do not want to be on camera?
That is common and workable. Staff, consenting clients, product, location footage, motion and text-led creative all perform. It is a real constraint rather than a dealbreaker. We would rather plan around it honestly than book a shoot you quietly dread and then cancel.
Do you shoot new footage or work with what I already have?
Both, and we will tell you which your account needs. Plenty of businesses have a library that has never been cut into ad formats, and the fastest first win is often editing what exists. When the library is genuinely thin, new footage is the honest answer.
How do you handle compliance in regulated categories?
The rules shape the creative before it is made rather than after it is rejected. On health accounts that means no before-and-after imagery, nothing that implies we know something personal about the viewer, and no claims the client cannot support. Writing to those limits from the brief is faster than appealing rejections.
What do you need from me?
Brand assets, access to anything you have already shot, an hour to talk through what you actually sell, and one person who can approve creative. Approval bottlenecks slow this work more than production does.
What happens if I want to leave?
Standard terms are a three month minimum, then month to month with 30 days notice, and no early termination fee. The three months exist because the work needs that long to produce a readable result, not to trap you. Every asset produced for you is yours and goes with you.