What Should You Ask a Paid Media Agency About Creative Testing and Scaling?

The most important thing to ask a paid media agency is how they test and scale creative. Strong agencies do not rely only on media optimisation. They build campaigns around audience behaviour, test content with clear intent and scale only what proves it works. The focus shifts from media settings to creative as the main driver of performance.

Table of Contents

Why Creative Testing Matters More Than Media Optimisation
What Most Paid Media Agencies Get Wrong
The 10 Questions You Should Ask a Paid Media Agency
What Great Creative Testing and Scaling Actually Looks Like
Case Studies: How Pepper Scales What Works
What This Means for Your Paid Strategy
Paid Media FAQs
Making Creative Work Harder

Why Creative Testing Matters More Than Media Optimisation

Paid social has become more competitive.

• Costs are increasing
• Attention is harder to earn
• Creative fatigue happens quickly

Many agencies respond by focusing on:

• Bids
• Audiences
• Placements

These areas matter, but they are not where performance is decided.

Performance is shaped by:

• What people choose to watch
• What they engage with
• What feels relevant in their feed

What Most Paid Media Agencies Get Wrong

A common issue is treating creative as fixed.

This can lead to:

• Rotating content without learning from it
• Increasing spend before understanding performance
• Optimising delivery without understanding behaviour

The result is often:

• Fatigue
• Plateauing results
• Inefficient spend

The underlying issue is that creative is treated as an input rather than a lever for performance.

The 10 Questions You Should Ask a Paid Media Agency

These questions help clarify how an agency approaches modern paid media.

1. How do you decide what creative to test first?
   Look for behaviour-led reasoning rather than general assumptions.
2. Do you begin with testing or scaling?
   Testing should come first, with scaling based on results.
3. How do you define strong-performing content?
   Consider engagement depth, saves, shares and watch time.
4. How many variations do you test at once?
   Testing multiple formats and messages supports faster learning.
5. What signals do you review before increasing spend?
   Look for consistent behavioural signals across audiences.
6. How do you manage creative fatigue?
   This may include introducing new variations and evolving formats.
7. Do you use organic or influencer content in paid activity?
   Content that already resonates can provide a strong starting point.
8. How do you align creative with audience targeting?
   Content should reflect different audience segments.
9. How often is creative reviewed and adjusted?
   Ongoing optimisation is important.
10. How do you scale while maintaining efficiency?
    Gradual scaling and continued testing can support this.

What Great Creative Testing and Scaling Actually Looks Like

A structured approach often includes:

Starting with response

• Identify content that already performs well
• Use organic and creator signals

Testing with intent

• Run structured tests across formats and messages
• Focus on learning rather than volume

Letting creative lead

• Use performance signals to guide decisions
• Prioritise content relevance

Scaling selectively

• Increase spend behind proven content
• Continue testing alongside scaling

This approach can support:

• More efficient spend
• Stronger performance over time

Case Studies: How Pepper Scales What Works

FT Edit

• Strong performance across reach and engagement
• High tap-to-install rates
• Growth in app store visits
• Content was tested before scaling, maintaining alignment with audience response

Oddbox

• Improvements in reach, engagement and conversion rate
• Increased efficiency in cost per acquisition
• High proportion of subscriptions driven by paid activity
• Creative testing helped identify what converted most effectively

H&M Kids

• Significant increases in impressions, reach and engagement
• Strong click performance and cost efficiency
• Content focused on real-life storytelling rather than heavy branding

Guardian Feast

• Growth in impressions, reach, engagement and clicks
• Increase in app installs and efficiency
• Structured testing and scaling based on intent signals

What This Means for Your Paid Strategy

If an agency:

• Focuses mainly on media settings
• Scales before testing
• Prioritises efficiency without understanding behaviour

Performance may plateau.

If an agency:

• Builds around audience response
• Tests creative with clear structure
• Scales based on proven signals

Performance is more likely to improve over time.

Paid Media FAQs

What is creative testing in paid media?
It involves running different content variations to understand what drives engagement and action.

How should budget be split between testing and scaling?
Testing and scaling often run alongside each other, with some budget reserved for ongoing experimentation.

When should content be scaled?
Once consistent performance signals are observed, scaling can be introduced gradually.

Why is creative so important?
Creative influences whether audiences engage and act, which directly affects performance.

What causes creative fatigue?
Repeated use of similar formats or messages without variation can reduce effectiveness.

Making Creative Work Harder

Paid media performance is closely linked to how content is tested, understood and scaled.

Focusing on audience response, maintaining a structured testing process and adapting creative over time can help build more consistent and effective performance.