How to define winning ads that scale spend

TL;DR

Breakthroughs are ads that actually allow you to increase your budget profitably, not just hit a KPI. The key is measuring how much of the total spend an ad captures and whether that spend enables week over week scaling. This definition reshapes how teams test, iterate, and turn winners into scalable growth.

Transcript

So, I wanted to make a video to help you guys understand how we define winning ads to do a lot of different things, but because I know everybody just wants information quickly, here are the definitions that we use. So, what I'm actually going to do is I'm literally going to tell you what the definitions are, and then I'm going to go through and I'm... Read More

Key Insights

• Breakthroughs are defined by the ability to increase ad spend and do so profitably, which is the core objective of running ads.
• A spend winner pulls a substantial portion of the campaign budget but does not necessarily enable week-over-week budget growth, making it valuable for learning but not for scaling.
• A KPI winner shows solid return metrics but fails the spend threshold, indicating limited scaling potential despite profitability.
• A loser misses both the spend threshold and the KPI target, signaling a clear candidate for removal or major revision.
• The framework uses concrete spend and performance thresholds to categorize ads, helping teams decide whether to optimize, scale, or drop a creative.
• Scale should be the real goal, with focus on breakthroughs capable of increasing overall campaign budget over time.
• The definitions come from analyzing a vast amount of ad spend data to identify patterns that correlate with budget expansion and profitability.
• The process includes a playbook to convert spend winners into breakthroughs, emphasizing systematic testing and iteration rather than single metric wins.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is a breakthrough ad and why is it important?

A breakthrough ad is defined as an ad that actually enables you to increase your campaign budget in a profitable way. It is the main outcome teams should optimize for because it directly ties to growth and scalability, rather than merely achieving a single KPI or a high ROAS in isolation. By prioritizing breakthroughs, teams can justify continued testing, iteration, and investment, leading to sustained expansion and higher overall performance across campaigns.

Q: How does a spend winner differ from a breakthrough?

A spend winner captures a large portion of the total campaign spend, which means it drives immediate spending momentum, but it does not necessarily translate into the ability to raise the daily or weekly budget in the next period. This distinction matters because a spend winner can indicate strong engagement or relevance, yet without scalable spend growth, the long-term value is limited. The difference guides teams to implement a playbook to convert spend winners into breakthroughs.

Q: What defines a KPI winner in this framework?

A KPI winner is an ad that delivers a solid ROAS or profitable purchases but fails to capture a meaningful share of spend. This means the ad performs well in efficiency metrics but does not facilitate scale. Such ads can be valuable for bottom-of-funnel or retention goals, yet they may not be suitable as core accelerators for budget expansion unless paired with strategies that unlock broader spend.

Q: Why are losers considered a red flag and what should be done?

Losers miss both the spend threshold and the KPI target, indicating that they do not contribute to growth or profitability. They are red flags because they drain budget without meaningful returns. The recommended action is to stop or redesign these ads, reallocate budget to more promising assets, and review creative and targeting to uncover potential breakthroughs.

Q: How do these definitions influence the testing process?

These definitions shape testing by creating clear criteria for categorizing outcomes and guiding next steps. Tests that produce breakthroughs justify increasing spend and scaling, while spend winners trigger a defined playbook to push toward breakthroughs. KPI winners may be optimized for efficiency, whereas losers are discarded or overhauled. This structured approach reduces guesswork and accelerates learning.

Q: What role does data volume play in identifying breakthroughs?

Data volume matters because the definitions are grounded in patterns observed across substantial ad spend. Analyzing many accounts and campaigns helps identify how different thresholds of spend relate to growth and profitability. With enough data, teams can reliably distinguish breakthroughs from other outcomes and apply the appropriate optimization playbooks to maximize scale.

Q: How should teams balance ROAS with spend and growth goals?

ROAS is an important metric but not sufficient on its own. The framework advocates balancing ROAS with the ability to capture spend and enable growth. Ads that perform well on ROAS but fail to scale may need to be reassessed for broader reach, while ads that drive spend but have reasonable efficiency can be evolved into breakthroughs through targeted iterations.

Q: What is the practical takeaway for creative teams from this video?

Creative teams should focus on producing assets that contribute to breakthroughs by enabling budget growth, not just improving isolated metrics. The practical approach is to test, learn, and apply a structured playbook to convert spend winners into breakthroughs, ensuring that creative development aligns with the goal of scalable, profitable expansion across campaigns. This mindset reframes creative work as a driver of growth.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Breakthrough ads are defined as those that enable you to increase your ad spend profitably, which is the primary goal of advertising in the dataset discussed. The speaker contrasts breakthroughs with other outcomes by focusing on the ability to scale spend rather than only achieving KPI targets or short-term ROAS. This reframing drives a playbook to turn spend winners into breakthroughs.

• Spend winners capture a large share of spend but may not allow budget increases, making them useful for iteration but not for scale. KPI winners perform well on ROAS or purchases but fail the spend test, highlighting the need to balance efficiency with growth potential across campaigns and budgets.

• Loser ads fail both the spend capture and the KPI criteria, signaling that they should be stopped or redesigned. The overall framework is built around differentiating outcomes by their impact on budget growth and profitability, guiding creative and testing workflows toward scalable breakthroughs.