# Does Creative Matter? The Meta-Experiment

About a year ago we had the idea for an experiment. A meta-experiment. A meta-meta-experiment. We wanted to learn two things:

##### 1. How much tiny details in ads make a difference on performance  
##### 2. How fellow marketers respond to getting ads tested on them

The experiment was a great success.

Here are the results:

For _image_ ads: The best ad outperformed the worst ad by: **10.33x Clicks, +548.71% CTR**

Largest performance improvements from a single variable change:

- **Text Layout**: Using Center Middle text instead of Bottom Middle text leads to 5.16x more Clicks and a +315% increase in CTR
- **Font Type**: Sans-Serif compared to Serif font leads to 5.81x more Clicks and a +394% increase in CTR
- **Font Color**: Displaying White-on-Black as opposed to Black-on-White leads to 2.74x more Clicks and a 201% increase in CTR

For _video_ ads: The best ad outperformed the worst ad by: **4.09x Clicks, +314.95% CTR**

Largest performance improvements from a single change:

- **Intro Scene**: Showing a Solo Human compared to a Kitten leads to 3.46x more Clicks and a +201% increase in CTR
- **Format**: Keeping the headline Static as opposed to a Constant Headline leads to 2.75x more Clicks and a +215.83% increase in CTR

Fellow Marketers **_Loved_** the Experiments:

- For just **$488** across **92 ads**, we earned **over 31000 impressions** and **over 2800 clicks**

Comments fell into 3 (positive) categories:

**1. Cool**  
- "Very very cool."  
- "Cool little experiment!"  
- "Looked into this. Really cool."  
- "This is a really cool experiment 🔥🔥🔥"  
- "This is a really really freaking cool idea"  
- "This is really cool. Thanks for sharing the results! Is there a way to get in on any of your other studies?"

**2. Meming**  
- "I hypothetically just purchased this product and may or may not be enjoying it right now"  
- "hypothetically speaking, possibly. this isn't even a comment"  
- “Hypothetically speaking, this is a meme."

**3. Conjecture on why it worked**  
- 'It was the weird bottle’  
- 'The product’s not real, but if it was I wouldn’t have stopped'  
- 'The word experiment made me stop'  
- 'Ooh shiny thing and/or Helvetica Font'  
- 'FB glitched...'

To see the actual ads and performance data for yourself, check it out here: [http://www.doescreativematter.com/archive/1](http://www.doescreativematter.com/archive)

To comment and conjecture on the data yourself, [tweet it out](https://ctt.ac/3zcxA)!

If you tweet, you’ll receive a special packet of data relevant to your industry 😉

#### Get a free catalog consultation  
**Jonathan Boozer**  
*Catalog Expert*

**[ Book a Meeting ](/content/schedule-ec/index.html)**