Guide
Ad creative budget planner: the ads you can test times the cost to make one
Updated
Your ad creative budget is the number of new ads your ad budget can test each month, times what one ad costs to make. For example, 20 test ads cost about $1,270 to show and $39.99 to make in Cutroom.
In short
- Your ad creative budget is the number of new ads you can test each month times the cost to make one.
- The number of ads you can test is your ad budget divided by the ad spend one test needs.
- For example, 20 test ads cost about $1,270 to show and $39.99 to make in Cutroom.
- In Cutroom a 40-second ad costs 114 credits, about $1.82. Lite covers 10 ads a month, Basic 21 and Premium 43.
- Twenty 30-second creator videos on Billo cost $2,780. Making 20 ads yourself in Cutroom fits in Basic at $39.99.
- Credits to make one 40-second ad in Cutroom, about $1.82
- 114
- Basic, 2,500 credits a month, about 21 ads
- $39.99
- One 30-second creator video on Billo
- $139
How to plan your ad creative budget
First work out how many ads your ad budget can test. Your creative budget follows from that number.
- The ad spend one test needs depends on your click rate and what 1,000 views cost you.
- For example, at a 1% click rate and $10 per 1,000 views, one test needs about $63 of ad spend.
- With $1,270 a month for new ads, that is 20 tests. Making 20 ads in Cutroom fits in Basic at $39.99.
Four steps to an ad creative budget
Example numbers, not benchmarks: a 1% click rate and $10 per 1,000 views.
Your monthly ad budget for new ads
Example: $1,270
Ad spend per test
Example: about $63
Ads you can test
$1,270 divided by $63 is 20 ads
Ad creative budget
20 ads at 114 credits is 2,280 credits, Basic at $39.99
What it costs at 6, 20 and 40 ads a month
Cutroom makes vertical 9:16 ads from a clip you film of yourself talking. These are the credits for 6, 20 or 40 ads of 40 seconds a month.
- Making the ads is the smaller cost at every number of ads. With $63 of ad spend per test, 6 tests cost about $380 to show and 40 tests about $2,530.
- If you make more ads than your ad budget can test, the extra ads never get enough views to judge.
Credits to make 6, 20 or 40 ads a month
114 credits per ad, each made from a clip you filmed.
| New ads a month | Credits to make them | Plan | Credits left over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 684 | Lite: $19.99 for 1,250 credits | 566 |
| 20 | 2,280 | Basic: $39.99 for 2,500 credits | 220 |
| 40 | 4,560 | Premium: $79.99 for 5,000 credits | 440 |
New ads a month: 6
- Credits to make them
- 684
- Plan
- Lite: $19.99 for 1,250 credits
- Credits left over
- 566
New ads a month: 20
- Credits to make them
- 2,280
- Plan
- Basic: $39.99 for 2,500 credits
- Credits left over
- 220
New ads a month: 40
- Credits to make them
- 4,560
- Plan
- Premium: $79.99 for 5,000 credits
- Credits left over
- 440
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Why budget for many cheaper ads?
Only about 5 to 8% of ads become winners, according to Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads. So you need 13 to 20 ads for each one.
- A budget for 4 new ads a month means a winner every 4 to 5 months.
- A budget for 20 new ads a month means about one winner a month.
- Twenty 40-second ads cost 2,280 credits in Cutroom, which fits in Basic at $39.99 a month.
- Twenty 30-second creator videos on Billo cost $2,780, or $4,080 with editing.
Costs to add to your budget
These are the costs on top of editing and exporting a filmed ad.
- A 40-second AI presenter ad costs 395 credits in total, over 3 times a filmed ad.
- Presenter videos and generated music need Basic or higher.
Extra costs to plan for
| Cost | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| AI presenter | 350 credits a minute | Made from a photo and a voice. Basic and up |
| Generated voice | 70 credits a minute | Used for presenter videos |
| Generated music track | 50 credits up to 60 seconds | 90 for 90 seconds, 130 for 2 minutes. Basic and up |
| Your time to film | No credits (your own time) | Up to 3 minutes of talking per clip |
Cost: AI presenter
- Price
- 350 credits a minute
- Note
- Made from a photo and a voice. Basic and up
Cost: Generated voice
- Price
- 70 credits a minute
- Note
- Used for presenter videos
Cost: Generated music track
- Price
- 50 credits up to 60 seconds
- Note
- 90 for 90 seconds, 130 for 2 minutes. Basic and up
Cost: Your time to film
- Price
- No credits (your own time)
- Note
- Up to 3 minutes of talking per clip
Questions people ask
- How much of my budget should go to ad creative?
- There is no fixed percentage that fits everyone. Work out how many new ads your ad budget can test, then multiply by the cost to make one. In Cutroom that is 114 credits, about $1.82, for a 40-second ad.
- How many ads does each Cutroom plan cover?
- About 10 on Lite ($19.99), 21 on Basic ($39.99) and 43 on Premium ($79.99), for 40-second ads. A $39.99 top-up adds 2,500 credits, about 21 more ads.
- Is it cheaper to buy creator videos or make ads yourself?
- Making them yourself is far cheaper per ad. A 30-second creator video costs $139 on Billo. A 30-second ad made in Cutroom from your own clip costs 110 credits, about $1.76.
- Do I need Premium?
- Only if you make more than about 21 ads most months. For one busy month, a $39.99 top-up of 2,500 credits on Basic does the same job.
- What costs do people forget in an ad creative budget?
- AI presenter videos, generated voices and music, and the time someone spends filming. A 40-second presenter ad costs 395 credits, over 3 times a filmed one.
- When does this way of planning not fit?
- It does not fit brand campaigns judged on recall, or products with a long buying cycle where results take months to show. It is built for finding winning ads by testing.
Plan your creative budget from the ads you can test, then make each one for 114 credits. Your first video is free.