12 creatives per ad set beat 3 by 0.7 ROAS

12 creatives per ad set beat 3 by 0.7 ROAS
Apparel advertiser, 40d, $88k spend, 4 ad sets per arm.

Arm A: 3 polished video ads. Arm B: 12 mixed ads (6 static, 4 UGC video, 2 carousel).

ROAS (return on ad spend, revenue per dollar in):
— 3-creative arm: 2.1x
— 12-creative arm: 2.8x ▲0.7

Winning creative in Arm B was a 9-second UGC clip nobody on the team predicted. CPM held flat ($22 both arms); the lift came purely from the algorithm having more material to optimize against.

Read: creative diversity is cheaper than creative polish. Feed the auction more shots on goal.