Mastering Ad Networks: Tailor Your Creatives for Success

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When it comes to digital marketing, one of the most elementary mistakes you can make is assuming that what works for one ad network, will work for another. Tailoring your creatives to the specific best practices per ad network, and its unique creative demands, is crucial. As we know in digital marketing, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all. 

Alison is a creative analytics platform that helps brands refine their strategies, avoid common pitfalls, and—dare we say it—achieve creative greatness across a variety of ad networks. Leaning on the expertise and knowledge I’ve gained using the Alison platform, I’m excited to share some insights with you, on five top players in the ad network world: TikTok, Meta, Google, IronSource, and Moloco.

1. TikTok: Riding the Viral Wave with Creative Analytics

The Audience: Mainly the younger folk, including Gen Z and Millennials—basically, the cool kids.

Ad Types: Interactive, short-form videos, and viral challenges.

In General: TikTok’s rise as an advertising powerhouse is undeniable, and in 2025, it continues to focus on engagement and creative expression. The platform’s emphasis on short-form video ads makes it a perfect space for brands looking to create engaging, quirky, authentic, and visually captivating content. It is crucial to ensure that your content is mobile-optimized for vertical video, as it fits the platform’s native experience and enhances the likelihood of user engagement.

Utilize influencer collaborations, and encourage users to create content around your brand, especially by implementing TikTok’s in-house tools. When possible, be sure to include the Branded Hashtag Challenge, and AR Ad tools, which have the potential to drive viral trends, and can help you provide your users an immersive and interactive experience.

Bottom Line: TikTok trends are dynamic, requiring quick adaptation. So you need to catch the trend wave quickly, ride it out, and then get prepared to grab the next. That means you need to be able to push out plenty of relevant and relatable creatives in no time, with fresh creative ideas. Mix up content that can tap into audiences’ humor, to keep them as entertained and engaged as possible with your creative and brand. Still not convinced? Alison has recognized that creatives that engage with humor, have the potential to lift engagement by up to 47%!

What’s more, we’ve really noticed that in UGC-themed creatives, throwing in a mix of both an indoor and outdoor environment, helps creatives perform well above average, with an increase in engagement by about 32%. A specific fashion industry client comes to mind, when they combined in one creative the two above suggested tips, resulting in an unforgettable creative. The creative storyline essentially was following a “Girl next-door” on a  “get ready with me” themed video, as she started her day at home, styling her trendiest kicks. We then followed her on her way, to grabbing a takeaway Moka from the local coffee shop, and finished with her spilling it all over her beloved kicks. This resulted in a comedy-filled and slightly controversial top performing creative. 

2. Meta (Facebook/Instagram): Scaling Engagement with Visual Creativity

The Audience: A massive mix—from Millennials to Boomers, with a dash of Gen Z thrown in for good measure.

Ad Types: Feed ads, Stories, Reels, Messenger ads, and Carousel ads.
The creative focus has to include high-quality visuals that catch the user’s eye mid-coffee break. 

In General: Meta remains a dominant force in digital advertising, offering a vast array of tools and targeting options for marketers. With the introduction of AI-powered features and more granular targeting options, Meta continues to refine its ability to connect brands with highly specific audiences.

Make sure to maximize the use of Stories, and craft short, engaging story ads that resonate with users during their brief time spent on the platform. Also, don’t forget to leverage Meta’s cross-platform campaigns (Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger) to increase reach and consistency.

Bottom Line: With their vast array of ad types ranging from banner and video ads to carousel formats; Meta can be somewhat overwhelming. You must be able to crack which creative elements perform best for you with each ad type.

For my service provider business out there, I’ll bet you didn’t know that since the beginning of 2025, there has been a clear increase in engagements in creatives that include in the hook scene themes of Lifestyle/UGC content. Those creatives then evolve to more product-oriented themes, resulting in an increase of up to 25% in engagement. The classic “pitch it to me” story ad is no longer enough to draw your audience in, times have moved on since the beginning of the Facebook dominance era. This differentiation in tone between the hook and core scene of your creative, allows users to connect and truly relate first to an individual, and their personal experience, and only then to relate to your suggested and peer-tested solution. This makes sense, as we are much more likely to connect with a brand if we feel we can relate and connect with an authentic ambassador, who isn’t on the brand’s payroll. 

Creatives on Meta share similarities to our TikTok “coffee-loving, girl next door” storyline, but with a slight twist. As the trend in personalized content is also reflected in the growing popularity of Facebook’s Reels feature. The Facebook Reel ad, allows for an immersive and engaging experience, and such ads are currently getting up to 32% higher view rates than regular in-feed ads.

3. Google: Optimizing for Reach and Precision 

The Audience: Literally everyone, from the 13-year-old browsing makeup tutorials on YouTube, to the grandpa looking for a new kettle.

Ad Types: Search ads, YouTube video ads, display network banners, and Shopping ads. Basically, everything.

In General: Google remains the leader of search advertising, but in 2025, its ad platform has evolved significantly to incorporate further automation and machine learning, making it easier for advertisers to optimize campaigns.

Essentially, Google ads are all about capturing user intent. So advertisers must invest in keyword research and should harness the power of smart bidding. Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) and Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), are continuing to become even more effective in 2025. When it comes to YouTube Ads, consider using more interactive video formats, like shoppable ads or 360-degree video, to keep users engaged and increase conversion rates.

Bottom Line: Your creative focus must be flexible enough to include both relevant and compelling copy and cinematic brilliance for YouTube and video ads. Google’s vast network is like an all-you-can-eat digital buffet – search ads, display ads, video ads… you name it, Google’s got it. If you’re creating captivating video content for YouTube, we’ll help you optimize your creative strategy to get the best possible results. Imagine if you could discover using Alison which key text phrases and words featured in your creatives, – that’s a game-changer, right? Such was the case with a food delivery client of ours, that added simple text elements into their creatives, and shot their campaign to success, resulting in an uplift of 28% in overall engagement. This brand is slowly saturating the European market, who knows, maybe that double-decker sandwich and side salad you just ordered to the office for lunch was targeted to you with Alison’s assistance…

4. IronSource: Monetizing Mobile Games (And Not Just in Gamer Coins)

The Audience: Mobile game enthusiasts, app developers, and generally folks who spend far too much time on their phones.

Ad Types: Rewarded video ads, native in-house ads, and offerwalls.
Your creative focus must be centered around game-centric creatives that get players engaged in your ads whilst trying to beat the boss level. 

In General: IronSource has carved out a niche in the app monetization space, offering a robust set of tools for developers who want to leverage in-app advertising to generate revenue. With the continued growth of mobile apps, IronSource is doubling down on delivering high-quality, non-intrusive ad experiences for users. It’s best to embrace a mix of IronSource’s video types and to test out a variety of video formats and types. Take note, rewarded video ads remain one of the most effective monetization strategies for mobile apps. By offering users rewards in exchange for viewing ads, you can increase engagement and drive revenue without alienating your audience. 

Bottom Line: Mobile game developers, we hear you, getting your in-game ads just right, can be tricky. You don’t want to annoy players, you want them to engage with your ads and generate revenue. Alison can help you strike that perfect balance between user experience and creative ad content, ensuring players are more likely to watch your ads and, most importantly, continue playing your game. 

Knowing how to master Ironsource’s best practices of 25-30 second ads, using strong gameplay concepts, along with your unique top creative elements, will assure you keep gamers happy and keep your monetization strategy on track. At Alison, we’ve picked up on a recent trend in the gaming industry, whereby creatives that merge between both UGC-themed elements and pure gameplay elements have been performing very well, with an uplift of 42% in engagement. This is a change from the classic pure gameplay model – perhaps similar to the TikTok Meta trend, hinting at an overhaul in users engagement and interaction with ads. Perhaps users have had enough of the salesman pitch and want to interact with characters or individuals they feel they can trust. Que to, our “girl next door” enthralled in a fantasy puzzle game on her phone, whilst waiting in line for her morning coffee (just before she spills the Moka on her trendy kicks), you get where I’m going with this right? 

5. Moloco: Using AI to Drive E-Commerce Conversions

The Audience: E-commerce businesses, app advertisers, and shopaholics.

Ad Types: Display ads, native ads, in-app ads.

In General: Moloco stands out from the crowd with its ad platform, designed to optimize ad placements across mobile and in-app environments. Moloco uses advanced machine learning to enhance targeting and ad performance, making it a great choice for advertisers looking for data-driven strategies.

The first step, make sure you’re taking full advantage of the platform’s data insights to optimize your bids. Next, utilize Moloco’s machine learning capabilities to optimize your ads for maximum performance. And finally, make sure to regularly measure and adjust your campaigns with Moloco’s in-depth reporting and analytics capabilities, to ensure your ads are reaching the right people at the right time.

Bottom Line: In the world of eCommerce, your creative focus must be centered on data-driven creatives designed to drive conversions – after all, it’s all about the bottom line. Moloco is one of the best in the game at utilizing machine learning and delivering real-time insights. For creative focus, you must deliver hyper-relevant ads that users actually want to engage with, and not just skip. In a nutshell, creatives must be personalized, powerful, and precise. 

The Moka sipping, fantasy-simulation game playing, “girl next door”, isn’t going to connect with a hard-sell, overcomplicated ad. Luckily, combining Moloco’s best practices and Alison’s insights, we can help you. For example, some of Moloco’s best practices include utilizing a graphic hand, implementing UGC elements and adding a promo code. Recently, we had a case where a prominent eComm fashion company couldn’t quite crack the balance and wasn’t receiving the results they were used to. Alison helped deliver them crucial insights on their creative engagement, and we were able to pinpoint for them that they should feature a graphic hand in their creative. Get this, we even knew to advise exactly what type of graphic hand they should use; a hand with nail polish, a gloved hand, a colored graphic hand? As a result, they saw an uplift of 23% in overall engagement. This diverted the conversation from “How to utilize Moloco’s best practices” to “What type of ad, hand type, and promo code is our “girl next door” most likely to engage with, and when during her day is she most likely to interact with the creative during her Moka run?” To all those questions and more, Alison had the answers. 

By understanding the strengths of each platform and implementing the right strategies, you can take your advertising impact to the next level. If you feel like the above struck a chord, and maybe your ads aren’t performing as well as they should and could, feel free to get in touch with us; we’ll share with you the Alison safeguarded secrets of the dark arts of digital creative marketing.