THE CREATIVE BREAKTHROUGH

Why 90% of Authors Focus on the Wrong 10%

Monday morning. Fourth week of testing. Same mediocre results.

I stared at my "optimized" campaigns:

• Perfect audience targeting ✓
• Ideal budget distribution ✓
• Advanced placement settings ✓
• Strategic bid caps ✓

Everything the experts recommended. Everything technically correct.

Yet my cost-per-sale hadn't budged in weeks.

Royalties had been plateauing and recently, declining.

That's when I noticed something embarrassing: I'd been recycling the same three ad variations for months on end.

→ Same images

→ Same copy

→ Same everything

I'd spent 90% of my energy (and budget) on campaign settings that mattered maybe 10% (at a push) - audience targeting.

And ignored the one element that drives more than 80% of results with Facebook Ads.

The ads themselves.

The Anatomy of a Facebook Ad

Let's look at what readers actually see:

But just three of these elements actually matter (and impact your results and the reader experience)

1. Creative (Image/Video) - The visual that stops the scroll
2. Headline - The hook that creates interest
3. Primary Text - The promise that drives the click

Master these three, and nothing else matters nearly as much.

Targeting Doesn't Really Do The Targeting

One of the most common "myths" around Facebook Ads is that you can get highly granular with the targeting.

And that's true – to an extent.

But when do you get ultra-granular, your ads will get so little exposure you may as well not bother running them.

A better targeting option...

Let Facebook do it for you.

Facebook's algorithm uses the content of your ad to figure out who to show it to.

If you're obsessing over targeting (like I used to up until January 2022), you're preventing the algorithm from working at its optimum.

You're throttling it.

The only targeting options you need to set are:

→ Location

→ Gender

→ Age

(Or you could test Advantage+ Audiences, but I've seen better results without using this).

Let Facebook's algorithm analyze the content of your ads and put your ads in front of the right audience.

Whilst you focus on creating ads that speak directly to your ideal readers - Facebook will do the rest.

A Challenge For You

If you're still knee-deep testing audiences, I challenge you to try something radical...

Instead of touching the targeting settings (aside from location, gender and age), spend a full month just creating new ads:

• Different images
• Fresh copy angles
• Various headline approaches

One month. Zero technical changes. Just new creative.

I'm almost certain (because you can never guarantee anything with advertising) that you'll learn a very expensive lesson, just like I did:

Creative is the only optimization that matters.

Most Author Ads Look Identical

Scroll through your Facebook feed right now and you'll likely see a few ads from authors.

Notice something?

Many of them look the same.

It's a sea of sameness. And sameness is invisible.

The human brain is designed to filter out patterns and notice anomalies.

When your ad looks like every other author ad, you've already lost.

The Creative Testing Framework

Here's my exact process for finding winning ads:

Week 1: Spaghetti At The Wall

• Test 4-6 completely different visual concepts
• Test 4-6 different pieces of ad copy
• Let data identify the winning visual style and copy style

Week 2: Image/Video Testing

• Identify winning Primary Text from Week 1
• Identify winning Headline from Week 1
• Identify winning image/video from Week 1
• Create 4-6 new ads with the same copy across all ads
• 1 of the ads is the winning image/video from Week 1
• The other 3-5 images/videos are new ideas or variations of the winner from Week 1
• Find the winning image/video

Week 3: Primary Text Testing

• Take the winning image/video from Week 2
• Test 4-6 new Primary Text variations
• Use the same image/video across all ads
• Find the message that resonates best in the Primary Text

Week 4: Headline Testing

• Take the winning image/video (from Week 2) + winning Primary Text (from Week 3)
• Test 4-6 new Headline variations
• Use the same image/video and Primary Text across all ads
• Find the message that resonates best in the Headline

Week 5: Combination Testing

• Mix and match winning elements
• Create unexpected combinations
• Find the golden variant

Now, this process isn't something I stick to religiously. But what it does is provide a proven framework that can be adapted.

The key with creative testing is to limit your variables.

Focus on ONE part of the ad to test and use proven versions of the other parts of the ad. 

That's how you find winning ads with data. 

The Mobile-First Mindset

98.5% of Facebook users scroll their feed on a mobile device.

Your beautiful desktop-designed ad?

It's being viewed on a 5-inch screen while someone waits in line at the grocery store.

My mobile creative recommendations:

• Larger text on images/videos that's readable at a glance
• High contrast images that pop on small screens
• Vertical video that fills the entire view
• Primary Text that gets to the point in 125 characters or less
• Headlines of 50 characters or less

Design for mobile first.

Desktop is the afterthought.

The Creative Compound Effect

When you nail creative, everything else improves:

Better creative → Higher engagement → Lower costs → More data → Better optimization → Higher ROI

It's a beautiful flywheel effect that starts with one thing: ads people actually want to see.

Meanwhile, perfect targeting with bad creative creates the opposite:

Bad creative → Low engagement → Higher costs → Poor data → Failed optimization → Negative ROI

No amount of technical optimization can save boring ads.

Your Creative Transformation

Want to transform your Facebook Ad results immediately?

Stop spending hours on targeting options.

Stop obsessing over bid strategies.

Stop micromanaging placements.

Instead:

1. Identify what your readers are really looking for
2. Transform those elements into ads
3. Test relentlessly until you find winners
4. Scale what works, turn off what doesn't

The authors succeeding with Facebook ads in 2025 aren't the ones with the most sophisticated targeting.

They're the ones with ads people actually want to see.

The Missing Piece

But here's the thing:

Great creative is just one part of the equation.

You still need it to fit within a complete system.

A sustainable approach that makes all these elements work together.

Creative that converts + Simple campaign structure + Strategic management + Long-term thinking = A business that serves your life.

We've covered the pieces.

We've examined the principles.

We've explored what's possible.

Now it's time to see how it all comes together.

How successful authors build entire businesses around these Facebook Ad principles.

How one book per year can outperform rapid release strategies.

How to create true freedom through smart systems.

On the next page, I'll show you exactly what this looks like in practice - and how everything we've discussed leads to one inevitable conclusion.