Guide
A normal ad creative win rate is 5 to 8%
Updated
An ad creative win rate is the share of your ads that become winners. A normal win rate is 5 to 8%, or about 1 winning ad in every 13 to 20.
In short
- A normal ad creative win rate is 5 to 8%, according to Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads.
- Your win rate is your winning ads divided by all the ads you launched.
- Motion counts an ad as a winner when it spends at least 10 times as much as a typical ad, and at least $500.
- Set your winner rule before the ads go live, because deciding afterwards makes it easy to count a lucky ad.
- The fastest way to get more winning ads is to test more ads each month.
- Share of Meta ads that become winners, per Motion
- 5-8%
- Ads per winner at an 8% win rate
- 1 in 13
- Ads per winner at a 5% win rate
- 1 in 20
What is an ad creative win rate?
It is the share of your ads that turn into winners. A winner is an ad that does well enough to get a big part of your budget.
- Motion, an ad analytics company, looked at 550,000+ Meta ads and found that 5 to 8% became winners.
- Motion counts an ad as a winner when it spends at least 10 times as much as a typical ad in the same account, and at least $500.
- Motion divides the winners by every ad the account launched, including ads that got little or no spend.
- Win rates depend on how you count, so a range like 5 to 8% is more honest than one exact number.
Win rates in plain numbers
| Win rate | Winning ads | Ads you need for one winner |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | 1 in 20 | 20 |
| 7% | 1 in 14 | 14 |
| 8% | 1 in 13 | 13 |
Win rate: 5%
- Winning ads
- 1 in 20
- Ads you need for one winner
- 20
Win rate: 7%
- Winning ads
- 1 in 14
- Ads you need for one winner
- 14
Win rate: 8%
- Winning ads
- 1 in 13
- Ads you need for one winner
- 13
How to calculate your win rate
Divide your winning ads by all the ads you launched, then multiply by 100.
- Say you launched 40 ads last quarter and 3 became winners. Your win rate is 3 ÷ 40 = 7.5%.
- If you only count the 12 ads that got real spend, you get 3 ÷ 12 = 25%. That looks better, but it hides the 28 ads you also paid to make.
- Count every ad you launched, as Motion does, so you can compare your rate with the 5 to 8%.
- Wait until you have tested about 40 ads. Below 20 ads, your win rate is mostly luck.
One example, two ways of counting
The same 3 winners. Only the first row can be compared with Motion's 5 to 8%.
| You divide by | Sum | Win rate |
|---|---|---|
| All 40 ads you launched | 3 ÷ 40 | 7.5% |
| Only the 12 ads that got real spend | 3 ÷ 12 | 25% |
You divide by: All 40 ads you launched
- Sum
- 3 ÷ 40
- Win rate
- 7.5%
You divide by: Only the 12 ads that got real spend
- Sum
- 3 ÷ 12
- Win rate
- 25%
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What counts as a winning ad?
Set your winner rule before the ads go live. If you decide afterwards, it is easy to count an ad that was only lucky.
- Motion calls an ad a winner when it spends at least 10 times as much as a typical ad in the same account, and at least $500.
- Spend works as a signal because Meta puts more budget behind ads that perform.
- You can also use your own rule, such as an ad that stays at or below your target cost per sale for at least 50 sales.
- Add a time rule, so an ad that does well for two days and then drops does not count.
- Do not name winners on click rate alone. A misleading opening line can raise clicks without bringing sales.
- Click rate is still useful for switching off clear losers early.
What winner rule should a small account use?
Motion's $500 floor is hard to reach on a small budget. At $30 a day, one ad would need more than two weeks of your whole budget to spend $500.
- A small account can keep the first half of Motion's rule: a winner spends at least 10 times as much as a typical ad in the account.
- Then set a lower floor that fits your budget, such as $100 or $150, and write it down before launch.
- A rule based on 50 sales is even harder to reach. At a $30 cost per sale, 50 sales means $1,500 of spend on one ad.
- Expect your win rate to swing more on a small account, because each sale counts for more.
Why does your win rate go down?
Your win rate can fall even when your ads are not getting worse.
- When you raise your budget, the cost per sale often rises, so fewer ads reach the same target.
- When you call ads winners after only a few sales, some of them fade later. Your win rate then falls the next time you count.
- When you start counting ads you used to leave out, the rate drops. 3 winners out of 32 ads is about 9%, but add the 8 ads that never got spend and it becomes 3 out of 40, or 7.5%.
- Pick one way of counting and keep it, so each quarter compares fairly with the last.
How to get more winning ads
There are two ways: raise your win rate, or test more ads. Testing more ads works faster.
- Winners per month equal your win rate times the ads you test. At 7%, going from 6 to 14 ads a month takes you from 0.42 to about 1 winner.
- A better offer or a better opening line raises your win rate, but you only find them by testing.
- If your win rate stays well below 5% after about 40 ads, look at the offer and the price before you make more ads.
- If your win rate is already around 5 to 8%, making more ads is the quickest way to more winners.
Two ways to get more winners
| Way | How | How fast it works |
|---|---|---|
| Raise your win rate | Better offers and better opening lines | Slow |
| Test more ads | Make each ad quicker and cheaper | Fast |
Way: Raise your win rate
- How
- Better offers and better opening lines
- How fast it works
- Slow
Way: Test more ads
- How
- Make each ad quicker and cheaper
- How fast it works
- Fast
Where Cutroom fits
Cutroom makes each test ad quicker and cheaper to make, so you can test more of them.
- You upload one clip of yourself talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- Cutroom cuts it, adds captions and b-roll, and gives you a finished 9:16 MP4 in about a minute.
- You change the ad by editing the text of what you said, not a timeline.
- A 30-second ad costs 110 credits: 100 to edit and 10 to export. Another version of the same video costs only its export.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it.
Questions people ask
- What is a good ad creative win rate?
- 5 to 8% is normal. Motion found that range in its analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads. It means about 1 winning ad in every 13 to 20.
- How do you calculate ad creative win rate?
- Divide your winning ads by all the ads you launched and multiply by 100. For example, 3 winners out of 40 ads is a 7.5% win rate.
- Should an ad that wins for one week count as a winner?
- Usually not. Before launch, add a time rule, such as staying at your target cost per sale for a set number of days. Then an ad that does well for two days and then drops does not count.
- Should I measure win rate per ad or per idea?
- Both. Per ad shows how many ads you need to make. Per idea shows how good your ideas are. A good idea can fail in one version and win in another, so judge an idea on all its versions.
- How many ads do I need before my win rate means anything?
- About 40. Below 20 ads your win rate is mostly luck, so plan with the published 5 to 8% until you have tested more.
- Is a high win rate a good sign?
- Not always. A very high win rate usually means your winner rule is too easy, or your ads are too alike to teach you anything new.
- When will testing more ads not help?
- When the offer is the problem. If your win rate stays well below 5% after about 40 ads, look at the offer and the price before you make more ads.
Film one video and turn it into your next round of test ads. Your first video is free.
Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it