Paid social. Creative-first.
Paid social creative now decays in 7–14 days. Audience saturation hits in 3–6 weeks. We run a creative iteration system, not a 'set-it-and-forget-it' campaign.
Brand marks © their respective owners
Paid social advertising, defined for the creative-decay era.
The networks.
Paid social is paid advertising on social networks where the dominant ad-buying surface is platform-managed (Meta Advantage+, TikTok VBO, LinkedIn Conversion API). The major networks in 2026: Meta (Facebook + Instagram, the largest), TikTok (creative-led, dominant for under-35 consumer), LinkedIn (highest-CAC-but-highest-LTV for B2B above $1k ACV), Pinterest (intent-rich for home, fashion, food, wedding), Snapchat (regional + demographic-specific), Reddit (community-targeted niche), and X / Twitter (declining but still relevant for live-event marketing).
What changed.
iOS 14+ ATT blocked 8–18% of attributed conversions on average — recoverable only via server-side conversion APIs (Meta CAPI, TikTok Events API, LinkedIn CAPI, Pinterest CAPI). Creative decay accelerated to 7–14 days at high spend on Meta and TikTok — audiences fatigue faster than ever, and platforms' algorithms penalise stale creative. Saturation curves matter more than CPM optimisation: 80% of efficient spend now happens in the first 60% of each new creative's life cycle.
What we do.
Creative-led performance (3–5 fresh variants per week at scale, paired with our in-house static + motion + UGC team or your existing creative), server-side CAPI deployment on every paid retainer (week 1, before any spend optimisation), audience saturation curve analysis using GeoLift testing + hold-out audiences for incrementality measurement, whitelisting + dark-post strategy when paired with influencer programmes (creator content amplified as paid typically performs 2–4× better than studio-produced creative), and cross-platform incrementality via Marketing Mix Modeling at $5M+ ad spend or MTA hybrid below.
Eight productised paid social sub-services. Mix by your audience + budget.
Meta Ads (Facebook + Instagram)
The largest paid social network. Advantage+ campaign automation, custom audiences (lookalike, interest, retargeting, exclusions), Reels-first creative mix, server-side CAPI, brand vs non-brand split, A/B testing programme. Most paid social retainers anchor here.
TikTok Ads
Creative-led not bid-led. Spark Ads (organic-amplified), lookalike audiences from organic engagement, creator whitelisting, category-specific dayparting, TikTok Events API for iOS-restored attribution. Strong for under-35 consumer + EdTech + lifestyle DTC; weak for high-ACV B2B.
LinkedIn Ads
Highest-CAC-but-highest-LTV for B2B SaaS / FinTech / professional services above $1,000 ACV. Sales Navigator integration, ABM (account-based) targeting, document/lead-gen-form formats, retargeting on engaged accounts. Below $1k ACV typically retarget-only.
Pinterest Ads
Intent-rich pinning surface for home, fashion, food, wedding, beauty, decor categories. Visual-first creative, Idea Pin format, Shopping integration with Shopify. Underutilised by most DTC; we run when category fits — fashion DTC sees materially better ROAS than equivalent Meta spend.
Snapchat + Reddit + X
Niche networks. Snapchat for under-30 demographic + regional category fit. Reddit for community-targeted technical + B2B + niche-interest categories (developers, gaming, finance subreddits). X for live-event marketing + B2B thought leadership amplification. Run case-by-case where audience fit warrants.
Server-side conversion APIs
Meta CAPI, TikTok Events API, LinkedIn CAPI, Pinterest CAPI, Snapchat CAPI deployed via GTM Server-Side. Deduplication via event ID, hashed first-party data, offline conversion uploads. Restores 8–18% of iOS-blocked attribution; foundation for clean optimisation.
Creative production + iteration
In-house static + motion creative (5–15 second cuts for paid social), UGC sourcing through vetted creator pool, briefing for paired creator partnerships, weekly creative refresh at scale (3–5 fresh variants per week minimum at high spend). Or work with your existing creative team — we are creative-agnostic.
Incrementality testing
GeoLift (geo-based hold-out testing) at sufficient spend, hold-out audiences in Meta + TikTok, Marketing Mix Modeling at $5M+ ad spend, MTA hybrid attribution below. Measures real lift over what would have happened without the spend — required for honest ROAS reporting at scale.
Brands burning through creative faster than they can produce it.
DTC brands
Meta + TikTok + Instagram. Creative-led, mobile-first checkout, daily creative iteration.
B2B SaaS
LinkedIn-first. Founder-led + thought-leadership. Long-window attribution.
EdTech / lifestyle
TikTok + Instagram + YouTube Shorts. Influencer + UGC paired with paid.
Beauty / fashion
Meta + Instagram + Pinterest. Creative refresh weekly. Shop tagging + checkout fix.
Audit → audience → creative engine. Refresh weekly.
Audit + audience review
Creative refresh frequency, audience saturation curves, platform mix, attribution sanity check.
Restructure
Audience strategy, lookalike construction, exclusion engineering, server-side CAPI fix.
Creative production
First batch of creative for the next quarter — static + motion, format-specific per platform.
Launch + iterate
Campaigns relaunched. First creative tests in market. CAPI + Events Manager validated.
Weekly refresh
3–5 new creatives weekly. Audience saturation rotation monthly. Quarterly platform-mix review.
What runs every week.
Platform management
Meta, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn — 1 to 4 platforms by tier.
Creative production
Static + motion. UGC sourcing where relevant. Format-specific per platform.
Audience strategy
Lookalike + interest + retargeting + exclusion architecture.
Server-side CAPI
Meta CAPI, TikTok Events API. Restores iOS-blocked signal.
Influencer integration
Whitelisting, dark-post strategy where you have creator partners.
Reporting
Per-platform dashboards. Weekly Loom. Monthly + quarterly review.
Single-platform or multi-channel.
Creative refresh, audience saturation, platform mix, attribution review.
- Account audit
- Saturation curve analysis
- Server-side CAPI review
- Prioritised fix list
Audit + restructure + creative production for 1 quarter + CAPI fix.
- Audit + restructure
- CAPI implementation
- Quarter of creative
- 30-day support
1–3 platforms, weekly creative refresh, monthly reporting.
- 1–3 platforms
- Weekly creative iteration
- Monthly reports
- Quarterly platform review
Paid social questions we get most.
Do you produce creative in-house? +
Yes. Static + motion + UGC sourcing. We can also work with your creative agency or in-house team — we're creative-agnostic, results-focused.
How fast does paid social creative decay? +
7–14 days for high-spend accounts. Slower at lower spend. We refresh 3–5 creatives weekly to stay ahead of audience fatigue.
Will server-side CAPI restore iOS signal? +
Restores 8–18% of attributed conversions on average. The bigger win is more accurate attribution, which makes optimisation faster.
How do you measure cross-platform incrementality? +
GeoLift testing where spend is high enough. Hold-out audiences in Meta. Marketing Mix Modeling for $5M+ accounts.
Do you work with influencers? +
Yes — paired with our influencer-marketing service. Whitelisting and dark posts make UGC and creator content perform 2–4× better as paid.
LinkedIn ads — really? +
For B2B SaaS / fintech / professional services, often the highest-CAC-but-highest-LTV channel. We run it tightly with content + retargeting funnels.
How much does paid social management cost? +
Three productised tiers in USD: Paid Social Audit $1,199 (1 week, one-off), Paid Social Sprint $5,999 (4 weeks, audit + restructure + CAPI + creative production), Monthly Retainer $1,499/mo + 10% of media spend (1–3 platforms, weekly creative refresh). Below $5k/mo retainers move to pure base fee.
How long until paid social shows results? +
Saturation-curve unwind + creative refresh land in 14–28 days. CAPI deployment restores 8–18% attributed conversions within 7–14 days post-launch. New audience structures take 2–4 weeks to optimise. Cross-platform incrementality test (GeoLift) needs 6–8 weeks of clean data.
Send your Meta + TikTok ad accounts.
Grant read-only access. We'll send back a 7-day teardown — saturation curves, creative decay, exclusion gaps, server-side health, and the top fixes by recoverable spend.