How to build a creative pipeline that keeps campaigns performing

Experienced performance marketers know creative fatigue rarely arrives all at once. Engagement starts to dip, costs creep up and performance becomes harder to maintain. It can be tempting to respond by changing targeting or adjusting bids, but sometimes the bigger issue is simply a lack of fresh creative.

That matters even more during Peak season, when campaigns need to stay competitive as demand and audience behaviour shift.

With campaign execution taking care of the optimisation work, the next challenge is keeping creative fresh enough to sustain performance.

That's the third Commerce Performance Fundamental: Fuel with Creative.

Why creative variety matters

Creative quality matters, but so does variety. Giving campaigns a broader pool of assets creates more opportunities to test different products, formats, hooks and creative styles.

For new Smart+ campaigns, start with at least 6 creative videos to give the system enough variety to explore and scale. As the campaign runs, continue introducing fresh assets rather than waiting for performance to decline before refreshing creative.

Three ways to build creative supply

You don't always need to start from scratch to keep campaigns fuelled with fresh creative. There are several ways to build more variety from content and assets you already have.

1. Discover creator content with Content Suite

Content Suite helps advertisers find organic creator content already talking about their brand and activate it as Spark Ads.

It can surface content delivering up to 44x more results than a typical manual search, making it easier to find relevant creator content without starting the search from scratch.

If people are already creating content about your brand, this can be a fast way to bring authentic, native-feeling creative into paid campaigns.

2. Get more from your catalog assets

Your product catalog can be more than a source of product information. High-quality product images can also give campaigns more creative combinations to work with.

Upload multiple product images in vertical-friendly formats, using 9:16 where possible, and group product variants with item_group_id.

It's also worth testing Carousel Collage, which can turn static catalog assets into more dynamic creative. It has driven 56% higher CTR and up to 18% lower CPA compared with traditional carousels.

3. Turn static assets into video

Image-to-Video can help turn existing product imagery into short-form video, giving you a way to create more variations without adding production time or cost.

The quality of the output depends on the prompt. More specific instructions can help create more usable results – think about camera movement, action, seasonal details and visual effects rather than simply describing the product.

Practical prompting tips

• Control camera movement and angle: Describe how the camera should move through the scene. For example: “Camera pans right to show multiple products displayed on a shelf.”

• Keep subjects consistent: Use multiple reference images of the same subject to maintain consistency across different angles or scenes.

• Describe cause and effect: For more complex actions, explain what happens as a result of the movement. For example: “A spatula spreads pink glittery lip gloss, swirling it and folding it back onto itself.”

• Add seasonal details: Use relevant seasonal settings, props or moments to make creative feel timely.

• Use effects with purpose: Special effects can add energy or emphasis where they support the idea and fit the brand.

Keep creative working beyond launch

The Commerce Performance Fundamentals Playbook covers the full creative setup, including Content Suite, catalog asset guidance and Image-to-Video best practices.

Next, we'll explore Fundamental 4: Optimise with Confidence – and how stronger measurement can help turn campaign data into decisions you can act on.