How Uber scaled to $1.3B in ad spend using THIS technique

Hey there, it's Jesse

Today, we're diving into the secret weapon that helped DoorDash, Glossier, and Uber crush their early Facebook ads - 10/10 creative review meetings.

In today’s issue:

• Why most marketing teams waste thousands on ads that never scalee

• The exact meeting framework that consistently produces winners

• How to track the one metric most teams ignore

• My creative review meeting template that you can steal

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GROWTH STRATEGIES
The 10/10 Creative Review Meeting Framework

Is your team launching dozens of ads but barely finding any winners?

I've seen this way too many times.

The brutal truth is that only 10-20% of new ad creatives ever perform well enough to scale.

I learned this the hard way when I started Ampush in 2009.

During my 13 years as CEO

We managed over $1BN of digital media spend!

It’s safe to say that we cracked Facebook ads for leading D2C brands such as Uber, Birchbox, and Hulu.

Here is the truth...

Most marketing teams are wasting thousands of dollars

How?

By treating creative reviews like a checkbox exercise.

They launch ads, check performance, and repeat

... without ever understanding WHY certain ads work.

What's worse?

They're missing out on the fastest, easiest way to win on platforms like Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok in 2025.

Sure, you can obsess over ASC+ campaigns or perfect your bid cap structure.

But...

It's captivating creative that drives those low CPMs and high CTRs we all dream about.

Here's the thing though

Even great ads eventually fatigue.

That's why having a steady pipeline of fresh creative is crucial for maintaining predictable performance (if there is such a thing!).

But here's what changed everything for us:

The secret to producing winning ads isn't just having a talented creative team.

It's having a systematic creative review process that turns insights into action.

Let me share the exact framework and ad creative review deck we use to identify and scale winning ads:

First, understand what "good" actually means:

You can have a good creative that doesn't convert.

But you'll never have a bad creative that does.

For initial traction, I look for two key signals:

• Healthy CPMs (these vary by industry)

• 50%+ thumbstop ratio (I'll show you how to track this at the end of this email)

If these metrics are poor, you need to fix one of three things:

• Ad relevance (does it speak to your target audience?)

• Bidding strategy (does the platform have enough room to test or even scale?)

• Your hook (those crucial first 3 seconds)

Here's the exact agenda I use to run creative reviews that produce winners:

1. Start with your leaderboard:

• Review highest volume ads

• Identify lowest CPA performers

• Compare L7D metrics to the previous week

2. Break down your creative split:

• Analyze by format (video, static, carousel)

• Sort by theme and creator

• Track shifts in performance week over week

3. Deep dive into your creative:

• Look at the top 5 highest volume ads

  • If they’re a video - watch video ads together (no multitasking!)

  • Ask your team

    • What is the ad page? Is it whitelisted? Does this build / not build authority?

    • What is the hook?

    • What is the theme or creative style?

    • What’s the CTA? Is it driving urgency?

• Look at the Top 5 Lowest CPA ads

  • If they’re not scaling, make sure to discuss moving them to other campaigns ASAP

  • If they are new types of creative, discuss how to iterate for a new creative testing adset

4. Turn insights into action:

• Move high-performing ads to scaling campaigns

• Identify new creative testing opportunities

• Launch iterations of winning concepts

The real magic happens when you turn this into a weekly ritual:

Create a dedicated Slack channel for sharing compelling ads your team spots in the wild.

Use Meta or TikTok ad libraries for fresh inspiration

Turn it into a game - have team members caption ads and reward the best performers.

Most importantly:

Track everything meticulously.

Pro tip:

Set up that thumbstop ratio metric in Meta.

It's a custom metric that tells you how engaging your hook really is (and most teams don't even track it).

Want to see how I run these meetings in real-time?

I'm hosting a 30-minute Office Hour on Monday

I'll review your ads, landing page, and funnel live!

Just hit reply with "REVIEW" and I'll send you the private link.

You'll walk away with at least 3 new concepts to test immediately.

Here is a sneak peek into what a review deck looks like

Click File > Make a copy or get your copy here 

To your next winning ad,

Jesse
Co-founder, GrowthAssistant

P.S. This is your creative team when they realize you're about to make creative reviews actually fun 🎉 

Happy growth!