This process is for branded ads only — content you control, produce, and test. That includes founder video, statics, product shots, and graphics. Creator content is a separate track: commission-based, organic-first, personality-led. Winning hooks discovered here get shared to creators as suggestions — not mandates.
Two Creative Tracks — Know Which One You're In
Track 1 — This tool · Branded Ads
Founder video, statics, product shots, graphics
You control the creative brief, format, and message
Test hooks and angles methodically
Iterate: one variable changed per mutation
Winners inform the creator brief
Track 2 — Creator Brief tool · Creator Content
Nano army of creators — commission on sales
You give them: brand, viewpoint, product highlights, suggested hooks
You do not give them: scripts or shot lists
Organic winners shared back to creator pool
Scale organic winners through paid — don't rewrite them
The 5-Step Branded Ad Winner Loop
Produce 3–5 branded ad variants — video, static, or graphic
Test different hooks, formats, and angles in controlled branded content. Founder video, product statics, copy-led graphics — any format you fully control. These run organically first. No paid spend yet. You are discovering what resonates before committing budget.
Measure organic performance at 72 hours
For each piece of organic content, record: views, completion rate, shares, comments. The signal at 72 hours predicts paid performance better than any other metric. Log everything in the Winner Log tab.
Identify your top 5 performers — these become your paid creative pool
Do not put paid spend behind anything that hasn't already worked organically. Loop's data shows 5 proven creatives outperform 15 untested ones on ROAS every time. Pick 5. Only 5.
For each winner, create 3 mutations (not new concepts — variations)
A winner earns 3 mutations. Change ONE variable at a time — hook only, or visual only, or CTA only. Never change everything at once. Use the Mutation Playbook tab to decide what to change.
Run mutations against the original. The new winner earns 3 more mutations.
This is a compounding loop. One good creative becomes 4 (original + 3 mutations). The best mutation becomes 4 more. Within 6 weeks, you have a library of 20+ tested creatives from a single original winner — all with provable lineage back to what worked.
What to measure — by format
🎬 Video ads
Hook rate
3-sec views ÷ impressions. Target >30%. Below 20% = bad hook — the creative dies before it starts.
Completion rate
% who watch to the end. Target >35%. Low completion = the body isn't delivering on the hook.
CTR
Click-through rate. Beauty benchmark: 0.8–1.5%.
CPA
Cost per purchase. Set your target before you run. Kill above 2× target.
ROAS
Revenue ÷ ad spend. Scale above 2.5×.
🖼 Static ads
CPM
Cost per 1,000 impressions. A low CPM vs your other ads means the algorithm likes the creative — it's winning the auction.
CTR
Click-through rate. Static beauty benchmark: 0.5–1.2%. This is your scroll-stop signal — the entire job of the image.
CPC
Cost per click. High CPC with low CTR = creative not stopping the scroll. High CTR with high CPC = audience mismatch.
CPA
Cost per purchase. The only metric that actually matters. Everything else is diagnosis.
ROAS
Revenue ÷ ad spend. Scale above 2.5×.
Kill / pause / scale rules
🎬 Video
Kill immediately if:
Hook rate below 20% after 500 impressions
CTR below 0.4% after A$50 spend
ROAS below 1.0 after 72 hours
Pause and diagnose if:
Hook rate good, completion low → body isn't delivering
Completion good, CTR low → CTA isn't landing
CTR good, CPA high → landing page problem, not ad
Everything flat after 7 days → creative fatigue, swap hook
Scale when:
ROAS above 2.5× for 72+ hours
CPA below target, no fatigue showing
🖼 Static
Kill immediately if:
CTR below 0.4% after A$50 spend
CPA above 2× target after A$100 spend
ROAS below 1.0 after 72 hours
Pause and diagnose if:
CPM high vs other ads → creative losing the auction, test new visual
CTR low → image isn't stopping the scroll, test new headline or visual
CTR good, CPA high → offer or landing page problem, not the ad
CPC rising after 5+ days → audience fatiguing, refresh the creative
Scale when:
ROAS above 2.5× for 72+ hours
CPM stable or falling as budget increases
Universal rule for both formats: High CTR + high CPA almost always means a landing page problem — the ad is doing its job, the page isn't converting. Don't kill the ad. Fix the page.
The Creator Feedback Loop — How the Two Tracks Connect
Branded ads and creator content run independently — but they inform each other. Here's how the loop closes:
① Branded ads find the angles
Ian & John test hooks, angles, and product framings in paid branded ads. The hooks that win organically and then in paid become proven signal — not just opinion.
② Winning angles go into creator suggestions
The best-performing hooks from branded ads become optional suggestions in the creator brief — not mandates. Creators can use them or find their own angle. Their personality drives the content.
③ Creator organic winners get scaled
When a creator's organic content breaks out, share it with the rest of the creator pool as inspiration. Then scale it with paid as-is — without rewriting or scripting. The organic version already worked.
The rule: We pay creators commission on sales generated — not a flat fee for creative output. Each creator enters a usage rights agreement giving us unlimited licence to repurpose their content across paid and organic channels. What we give them in return: brand context, product highlights, suggestions from what's already working — and the freedom to make it in their own voice. The creativity is theirs. The audience trust is theirs. The scale is ours.
Winner Log
Record every ad that gets organic or paid traction. This is the source library for all mutations.
Log a new winner
Logged winners
Ad name
Format
Persona
Stage
Platform
Key metric
Hook
Why it worked
Status
Mutations
No winners logged yet. Run organic content first — log your first winner when something gets traction.
Mutation Playbook
A winner earns 3 mutations. Change one variable at a time. The mutation that beats the original becomes the new winner — and earns its own 3 mutations.
The golden rule
Change ONE thing. Measure. Then change the next thing. If you change the hook AND the visual AND the CTA at the same time, you won't know what worked.
🎣 Hook Mutation
Keep everything else identical. Change only the opening 3 seconds. Test a different emotion, a different opening line, or a different visual lead. The hook is responsible for 60–70% of performance variance.
Original: "I'm a No. 5. What's yours?"
Mutation A: "I've been colouring my hair for 10 years and never knew my number"
Mutation B: [Silent — just hold the swatch to camera, no words]
Mutation C: "Can you guess what number I am?"
🎬 Visual Mutation
Keep the script identical. Change the visual treatment — different creator, different location, different angle, different lighting. Sometimes the same words from a different face convert twice as well.
Original: Creator in bathroom, handheld
Mutation A: Creator in kitchen, morning light
Mutation B: Overhead flat lay — product only, no face
Mutation C: Split screen — before (roots) / after (Dispense)
📣 CTA Mutation
Keep hook and body identical. Test different end-card CTAs or closing lines. The CTA mutation is most effective when your hook rate is strong but click-through is low.
Original: "Link in bio"
Mutation A: "Find your number at colourpig.com"
Mutation B: "30% off while founding access is open"
Mutation C: [No CTA — product does the work]
👤 Persona Mutation
Take a winner from The First and run the same format with a creator who is clearly The Necessary. The script barely changes — the face, the context, and the sub-text do the targeting work.
Original: 26-year-old, "I'm a No. 5"
Mutation A: 44-year-old, "I'm a No. 6 — 20 years and I never knew"
Mutation B: Professional woman, same format, home office background
Mutation C: Perimenopause-specific — "My number changed this year"
📐 Format Mutation
Take a winning video concept and reformat it. A strong testimonial becomes a static quote card. A strong static becomes a 3-slide carousel. A strong carousel becomes a 15-second Reel. Format mutations have the lowest creative cost.
Original: 45-second talking head
Mutation A: Static — just the hook line on navy background
Mutation B: 3-card carousel — hook / proof / offer
Mutation C: 8-second version — hook + product shot only
🎁 Offer Mutation
Keep the creative identical. Change the offer framing at the end. Most effective when creative engagement is strong but conversion is low — the viewer likes it but isn't moving.
Original: "30% off founding price"
Mutation A: "Free first refill when you reserve today"
Mutation B: "Founding price closes at launch — [X] kits left"
Mutation C: "Reserve in 30 seconds. No payment today."
Mutation decision tree
Hook rate low (<20%) → Hook Mutation first
Hook rate good, CTR low (<0.8%) → CTA Mutation or Format Mutation
CTR good, conversion low → Offer Mutation
Everything good, creative fatigue after 7 days → Visual Mutation (different creator, same script)
Strong with one persona, untested with others → Persona Mutation
Angle Gap Analysis
Where the 63 concepts aren't covering what real customers are saying. Updated as Colourpig's own reviews and mentions come in.
How to use this tab: As Colourpig collects Trustpilot reviews, social comments, and customer messages — add them to the VOC bank in the Content Engine. Then check this page to see which customer objections and language patterns haven't been addressed by any of the 63 concepts yet. Uncovered gaps become the brief for concepts 64+.
⚠ Gap — Not yet addressed
Shade matching anxiety — "what if I pick the wrong one?"
This is likely the #1 pre-purchase objection for home colour
The 63 concepts don't have a dedicated shade-match reassurance creative
The "I'm a No. X" format partially addresses this but doesn't solve the fear of getting it wrong
Gap creative needed: A "how we match your shade" explainer — Ian to camera, shade card shown, the process made transparent
⚠ Gap — Not yet addressed
First-time use anxiety — "will I mess it up?"
Home colour failure is a real fear — bad dye jobs are common
None of the 63 concepts directly address "what if I do it wrong?"
The "No-Brainer Dispense" implies it's easy but doesn't explicitly reassure
Gap creative needed: "Here's what happens if you do it wrong" — and the answer is: very little, because precision dispensing prevents over-application
〜 Partially covered
The refill subscription concern — "another thing to manage"
Mentioned in persona objections but not directly addressed in paid creative
Currently covered implicitly by "reusable" and "refillable" copy
Gap to close: A direct creative that says "order when you need it — there's no subscription unless you want one"
〜 Partially covered
Hair damage concern — "is permanent colour bad for my hair?"
Ian's authority covers this implicitly but not explicitly
No creative directly addresses the "is it damaging?" objection
Gap creative needed: Ian on camera — "In 40 years I've seen what damages hair. This doesn't. Here's why." Mechanism: precision application = only on root, not repeated over-processed lengths
⚠ Gap — Not yet addressed
Kickstarter credibility — "will this actually ship?"
Real objection for any Kickstarter-first product
None of the 63 concepts directly tackle "I'm worried this won't deliver"
Gap creative needed: Behind-the-scenes production proof — factory, cartridges being made, Ian holding finished stock. "It's real. It's made. It ships."
⚠ Gap — Not yet addressed
Post-purchase ritual — what does the first use actually look like?
All 63 concepts are pre-purchase. No "day 1 of owning it" content exists yet
The unboxing moment (opening the box, seeing the dispenser, the founder's note) is untapped
Gap creative needed: Full unboxing sequence — the box, the inside lid ("Now doesn't that look pretty?"), the dispenser, the shade card. The reveal IS the product promise kept.
⚠ Gap — Not yet addressed
"I have a lot of grey" — for women who aren't just touching up roots
All personas assume partial grey (roots only). The woman who is 60–70% grey has a different need.
No creative currently speaks to the woman who is moving from full salon colour toward embracing and managing a heavier grey pattern
Gap creative needed: "How Colourpig works when there's more grey than brown" — a specific use case video with Ian explaining the approach
〜 Partially covered
The partner / household dynamic — "my husband noticed"
A trigger mentioned in The Necessary persona but not used in any ad concept
The moment a partner mentions the roots — or the opposite, a compliment after — is a highly relatable creative hook
Gap creative to test: "He noticed when I stopped going to the salon. Then he noticed when I started using this." The reveal through someone else's eyes.
How to turn a gap into a brief
When a gap is confirmed by real customer language (Trustpilot review, Reddit comment, creator reply), it earns a brief. Here's the template:
Gap ID: [Name the gap] Evidence: [Paste the exact customer quote that confirmed it] Source: [Trustpilot / Reddit / comment / DM] Persona(s): [Which persona feels this most acutely] Awareness stage: [Problem / Solution / Product] Hook: [Draft the opening 3 seconds] Format: [Ian to-camera / creator / static / carousel] Success signal: [What metric would confirm this worked]
Ad Scraper Setup
Scrape Colourpig's own top-performing ads from the Meta Ad Library — and scrape Trustpilot + Reddit for customer language as it comes in.
Step 1 — Find your own top ads in Meta Ad Library
Go to this URL in your browser to see all active Colourpig ads sorted by impressions:
For each ad, record: the ad ID (in the URL), the hook (first 3 seconds of copy/video), the CTA, how long it's been running, and the estimated impression range. Use the Winner Log to record which ones are performing.
Step 2 — Add Colourpig to the Apify scraper
The scraper at meta-ad-scraper/scraper.py already handles 6 reference brands. Add Colourpig to it by adding this entry to the BRANDS dict:
Then run: python meta-ad-scraper/scraper.py. This will output your top ads to results/top10_per_brand.json and results/top10_per_brand.csv.
Step 3 — Trustpilot monitoring (manual until reviews arrive)
Colourpig is pre-launch so Trustpilot reviews may not exist yet. Set up a regular check at:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/colourpig.com
When reviews appear — especially 1–3 star reviews — copy the verbatim quote into the VOC bank in the Content Engine and tag the theme (pain / delight / language / whitespace). The language customers use in complaints is often more useful than praise.
Also check Trustpilot for your direct competitors: Josh Wood Colour, Madison Reed, Schwarzkopf, Garnier — their 1-star reviews reveal the objections you need to pre-empt.
Step 4 — Ad transcript extraction (manual, from Meta Ad Library)
For each top ad you find, record the full transcript using this template:
Ad ID: [from URL]
Running since: [date]
Estimated impressions: [range from Ad Library]
Format: [video / static / carousel]
Hook (0–3s): [exact words / visual description]
Body: [full transcript or copy]
CTA: [button text + landing page if visible]
Targeting signals: [placements shown, any visible targeting]
Why running: [your read — what's working about it]
Step 5 — Reddit / social listening (ongoing)
Search these queries regularly and paste any relevant quotes into the VOC bank:
Reddit searches
site:reddit.com "colourpig"site:reddit.com "colourpig" OR "colour pig"r/femalehairadvice "grey roots" new 2026