Let’s be real—ad research is a time-sucking nightmare.
You spend hours scrolling through Meta’s Ad Library, taking random screenshots, and pasting them into some forgotten Notion doc— only to completely forget where we saved it and why!
I’ve been there too!
As a performance marketer who has spent $100Million+ on Meta and tests 1,000+ ads a month, I knew we needed a faster, more structured way to source winning ad ideas.
So, we built a system that cuts ad research time in half.
Here’s how;
Why Traditional Ad Research Workflows Don’t Work
Before optimising our process, we faced the same issues as most marketers:
- Scattered creative inspiration: Winning ads were buried in Slack threads, Ads Library links, and endless G-Drive folders.
- No way to track trends: We’d find great competitor ads but had no system for consistently monitoring them.
- Time wasted on ideation: Our team spent too many hours searching for ad references and brainstorming in endless meetings instead of spending productive hours producing new creatives.
We needed a system that would enable us to speed up ad research, organise insights properly, and execute ideas before the competitors did!
How We Fixed It
I identified that two key blockers were preventing us from researching efficiently:
1. Clunky Tools
We replaced messy screenshots and chat links with Forpelay to:
- Spy on competitors and find top-performing landing pages in our niche
- Look for ad inspiration
- Share references between the team with swipe files
Foreplay massively cut wasted time, improved clarity on what we should work on next and ultimately put more money in the bank through finding new scaling ads!
2. Chaotic Planning
We’ve all heard Parkinson's Law: “Work expands to fill the time available.” This is especially true for broad, open-ended tasks like creative research.
That’s why we adopted Agile project management to streamline our ad production process—introducing the two-week sprints.
Plan. Produce. Launch. Repeat.
Here’s how it works:
- Define Scope First, Then Execute
Each team calculates its resource capacity upfront, determining exactly how many ad sets, variations, and unique ideas it can realistically produce in two weeks. This prevents scope creep and stops creatives from spiralling into endless research. - Collaboration Drives Stronger Concepts
Rather than working in silos, we use regular Ad Plan meetings to facilitate idea-sharing between teams. This ensures our best-performing concepts are critiqued and refined before being executed. - Structured Deadlines
We break down work into clear phases—ideation, production, and review—each with strict deadlines. This keeps creative teams from overthinking, ensures smooth collaboration, and prevents last-minute bottlenecks that slow down execution.
The result?
More winning ads, more profitable campaigns, and no more wasted hours drowning in research.
We cut the time from idea generation to ad brief submission from an average of 1 week to <2 days.
This acceleration not only boosted the number of ads we launched but also ensured a steady and reliable flow of content for the brands we work with.
To learn more about our creative strategy process, please visit our website.
CEO at Venture Beyond
