Ad Creative

Generate high-performing ad creative at scale — headlines, descriptions, and primary text — and iterate on real performance data.

Before Starting

Product context: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it first and tailor output to it; only ask for what it doesn't cover.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Platform & Format

• Platform? (Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter/X)
• Ad format? (Search RSAs, display, social feed, stories, video)
• Existing ads to iterate on, or starting from scratch?

2. Product & Offer

• What are you promoting? (Product, feature, free trial, demo, lead magnet)
• Core value proposition?
• Differentiation from competitors?

3. Audience & Intent

• Target audience?
• Stage of awareness? (Problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware)
• Driving pain points or desires?

4. Performance Data (if iterating)

• What creative is currently running?
• Best-performing headlines/descriptions? (CTR, conversion rate, ROAS)
• Underperformers?
• Angles or themes already tested?

5. Constraints

• Brand voice guidelines or words to avoid?
• Compliance requirements? (Industry regulations, platform policies)
• Mandatory elements? (Brand name, trademark symbols, disclaimers)

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How This Skill Works

Two modes:

• Mode 1: Generate from Scratch — full set of ad creative from product context, audience insights, and platform best practices.
• Mode 2: Iterate from Performance Data — given data (CSV, paste, or API output), analyze what's working, find patterns in top performers, and generate variations that build on winning themes while exploring new angles.

Core loop:

Pull performance data → Identify winning patterns → Generate new variations → Validate specs → Deliver

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Platform Specs

Platforms reject or truncate creative over these limits — verify every piece of copy fits before delivering.

Google Ads (Responsive Search Ads)

Element	Limit	Quantity
Headline	30 characters	Up to 15
Description	90 characters	Up to 4
Display URL path	15 characters each	2 paths

RSA rules: headlines must make sense independently and in any combination; pin headlines to positions only when necessary (reduces optimization); include at least one keyword-focused, one benefit-focused, and one CTA headline.

Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

Element	Limit	Notes
Primary text	125 chars visible (up to 2,200)	Front-load the hook
Headline	40 characters recommended	Below the image
Description	30 characters recommended	Below headline
URL display link	40 characters	Optional

LinkedIn Ads

Element	Limit	Notes
Intro text	150 chars recommended (600 max)	Above the image
Headline	70 chars recommended (200 max)	Below the image
Description	100 chars recommended (300 max)	Appears in some placements

TikTok Ads

Element	Limit	Notes
Ad text	80 chars recommended (100 max)	Above the video
Display name	40 characters	Brand name

Twitter/X Ads

Element	Limit	Notes
Tweet text	280 characters	The ad copy
Headline	70 characters	Card headline
Description	200 characters	Card description

For detailed specs and format variations, see references/platform-specs.md.

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Generating Ad Visuals

For image and video creative, use generative AI tools and code-based video rendering. See references/generative-tools.md for the complete guide:

• Image generation — Nano Banana Pro (Gemini), Flux, Ideogram for static ad images
• Video generation — Veo, Kling, Runway, Sora, Seedance, Higgsfield for video ads
• Voice & audio — ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, Cartesia for voiceovers, cloning, multilingual
• Code-based video — Remotion for templated, data-driven video at scale
• Platform image specs — Correct dimensions for every ad placement
• Cost comparison — Pricing for 100+ ad variations across tools

Scaled production workflow: (1) generate hero creative with AI tools (exploratory, high-quality); (2) build Remotion templates from winning patterns; (3) batch produce variations with Remotion using data feeds; (4) iterate — AI for new angles, Remotion for scale.

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Generating Ad Copy

Step 1: Define Your Angles

Before writing headlines, establish 3-5 distinct angles — different reasons someone would click, each tapping a different motivation.

Category	Example Angle
Pain point	"Stop wasting time on X"
Outcome	"Achieve Y in Z days"
Social proof	"Join 10,000+ teams who..."
Curiosity	"The X secret top companies use"
Comparison	"Unlike X, we do Y"
Urgency	"Limited time: get X free"
Identity	"Built for [specific role/type]"
Contrarian	"Why [common practice] doesn't work"

Step 2: Generate Variations per Angle

Vary: word choice (synonyms, active vs. passive), specificity (numbers vs. general claims), tone (direct vs. question vs. command), structure (short punch vs. full benefit statement).

Step 3: Validate Against Specs

Check every piece against the platform's character limits; flag anything over and provide a trimmed alternative.

Step 4: Organize for Upload

Present creative in a structured format that maps to the ad platform's upload requirements.

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Iterating from Performance Data

Step 1: Analyze Winners

From the top performers (by CTR, conversion rate, or ROAS — ask which metric matters most), identify:

• Winning themes — topics or pain points in top performers
• Winning structures — questions? statements? commands? numbers?
• Winning word patterns — recurring words or phrases
• Character utilization — are top performers shorter or longer?

Step 2: Analyze Losers

From the worst performers, identify themes that fall flat (angles not resonating) and common patterns (too generic? too long? wrong tone?).

Step 3: Generate New Variations

New creative should: double down on winning themes with fresh phrasing, extend winning angles into new variations, test 1-2 unexplored angles, and avoid patterns found in underperformers.

Step 4: Document the Iteration

## Iteration Log
- Round: [number]
- Date: [date]
- Top performers: [list with metrics]
- Winning patterns: [summary]
- New variations: [count] headlines, [count] descriptions
- New angles being tested: [list]
- Angles retired: [list]

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Writing Quality Standards

Headlines That Click

Strong headlines: specific ("Cut reporting time 75%") over vague ("Save time"); benefits ("Ship code faster") over features ("CI/CD pipeline"); active voice ("Automate your reports") over passive ("Reports are automated"); numbers when possible ("3x faster," "in 5 minutes," "10,000+ teams").

Avoid: jargon the audience won't recognize; claims without specificity ("Best," "Leading," "Top"); all caps or excessive punctuation; clickbait the landing page can't deliver on.

Descriptions That Convert

Descriptions complement headlines, not repeat them. Use them to: add proof points (numbers, testimonials, awards); handle objections ("No credit card required," "Free forever for small teams"); reinforce CTAs ("Start your free trial today"); add urgency when genuine ("Limited to first 500 signups").

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Output Formats

Standard Output

Organize by angle, with character counts:

## Angle: [Pain Point — Manual Reporting]

### Headlines (30 char max)
1. "Stop Building Reports by Hand" (29)
2. "Automate Your Weekly Reports" (28)
3. "Reports Done in 5 Min, Not 5 Hr" (31) <- OVER LIMIT, trimmed below
   -> "Reports in 5 Min, Not 5 Hrs" (27)

### Descriptions (90 char max)
1. "Marketing teams save 10+ hours/week with automated reporting. Start free." (73)
2. "Connect your data sources once. Get automated reports forever. No code required." (80)

Bulk CSV Output

For 10+ variations, offer CSV for direct upload:

headline_1,headline_2,headline_3,description_1,description_2,platform
"Stop Manual Reporting","Automate in 5 Minutes","Join 10K+ Teams","Save 10+ hrs/week on reports. Start free.","Connect data sources once. Reports forever.","google_ads"

Iteration Report

## Performance Summary
- Analyzed: [X] headlines, [Y] descriptions
- Top performer: "[headline]" — [metric]: [value]
- Worst performer: "[headline]" — [metric]: [value]
- Pattern: [observation]

## New Creative
[organized variations]

## Recommendations
- [What to pause, what to scale, what to test next]

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Batch Generation Workflow

For large-scale production (Anthropic's growth team generates 100+ variations per cycle):

1. Break into sub-tasks

• Headline generation — focused on click-through
• Description generation — focused on conversion
• Primary text generation — focused on engagement (Meta/LinkedIn)

2. Generate in waves

• Wave 1: Core angles (3-5 angles, 5 variations each)
• Wave 2: Extended variations on top 2 angles
• Wave 3: Wild card angles (contrarian, emotional, specific)

3. Quality filter

• Remove anything over character limit
• Remove duplicates or near-duplicates
• Flag potential platform policy violations
• Ensure headline/description combinations make sense together

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Common Mistakes

• Writing headlines that only work together — RSA headlines get combined randomly
• Ignoring character limits — platforms truncate without warning
• All variations sound the same — vary angles, not just word choice
• No CTA headlines — RSAs need action-oriented headlines to drive clicks; include at least 2-3
• Generic descriptions — "Learn more about our solution" wastes the slot
• Iterating without data — gut feelings are less reliable than metrics
• Testing too many things at once — change one variable per test cycle
• Retiring creative too early — allow 1,000+ impressions before judging

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Tool Integrations

For pulling performance data and managing campaigns, see the tools registry.

Platform	Pull Performance Data	Manage Campaigns	Guide
Google Ads	google-ads campaigns list, google-ads reports get	google-ads campaigns create	google-ads.md
Meta Ads	meta-ads insights get	meta-ads campaigns list	meta-ads.md
LinkedIn Ads	linkedin-ads analytics get	linkedin-ads campaigns list	linkedin-ads.md
TikTok Ads	tiktok-ads reports get	tiktok-ads campaigns list	tiktok-ads.md

Workflow: Pull Data, Analyze, Generate

# 1. Pull recent ad performance
node tools/clis/google-ads.js reports get --type ad_performance --date-range last_30_days

# 2. Analyze output (identify top/bottom performers)
# 3. Feed winning patterns into this skill
# 4. Generate new variations
# 5. Upload to platform

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Related Skills

• paid-ads: For campaign strategy, targeting, budgets, and optimization
• copywriting: For landing page copy (where ad traffic lands)
• ab-test-setup: For structuring creative tests with statistical rigor
• marketing-psychology: For psychological principles behind high-performing creative
• copy-editing: For polishing ad copy before launch