Guide
How often to refresh ad creative: when results drop, not on a fixed schedule
Updated
No fixed schedule fits every account. Replace an ad when its results drop, and plan how many new ads you need each month with one simple sum.
In short
- Refresh an ad when its results drop, not on a fixed date. How fast that happens differs per account.
- An ad is wearing out when the same people see it more often and fewer of them watch or click.
- To plan, multiply the ads that wear out each month by the new ads you try for each one you keep.
- If 6 ads wear out a month and you keep 1 in 3 new ads, you need 18 new ads a month.
- The cheapest refresh is a new opening on an ad that already works. A shorter version or new captions also help.
- How often each person has seen your ad, shown for every ad in Meta Ads Manager
- Frequency
- Cheap ways to refresh an ad without filming again
- 5
- Cutroom credits to export a new 30-second version of an ad you already made
- $0.16
How often should you refresh ad creative?
When an ad's results drop, not on a date. How long an ad lasts depends on your budget, your audience and the ad itself.
- Keep an ad running as long as its cost per sale stays under your limit.
- Pausing an ad that still works, just because a date has come, wastes money.
- A bigger budget or a smaller audience wears ads out faster, because the same people see them more often.
Signs an ad needs a refresh
Frequency is how many times, on average, each person has seen your ad. Meta Ads Manager shows it for every ad.
What you see, and what to do
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Frequency goes up and fewer people watch past 3 seconds | Try a new opening on the same video |
| Cost per sale rises above your limit and stays there | Pause the ad and replace it |
| You raise the budget | Add new ads at the same time |
| Cost per sale is still under your limit | Keep the ad running |
What you see: Frequency goes up and fewer people watch past 3 seconds
- What to do
- Try a new opening on the same video
What you see: Cost per sale rises above your limit and stays there
- What to do
- Pause the ad and replace it
What you see: You raise the budget
- What to do
- Add new ads at the same time
What you see: Cost per sale is still under your limit
- What to do
- Keep the ad running
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How many new ads do you need a month?
Multiply the ads that wear out each month by the number of new ads you try for each one you keep.
- To find how many ads wear out a month, multiply the ads you keep live by 4 and divide by the weeks an ad lasts.
- Then look at your recent new ads. If you kept 1 in 3 of them running, you try 3 new ads for each one you keep.
- Multiply the two numbers. That is how many new ads to make each month to keep results steady.
- To grow, make more new ads than that.
Example: 3 live ads that last 2 weeks each
Made-up numbers to show the sum. A month is counted as 4 weeks. Put in your own numbers.
| Number | Example |
|---|---|
| Ads you keep live | 3 |
| Weeks an ad lasts | 2 |
| Ads that wear out a month | 6 (3 × 4 ÷ 2) |
| New ads you try for each one you keep | 3 (you keep 1 in 3) |
| New ads to make a month | 18 (6 × 3) |
Number: Ads you keep live
- Example
- 3
Number: Weeks an ad lasts
- Example
- 2
Number: Ads that wear out a month
- Example
- 6 (3 × 4 ÷ 2)
Number: New ads you try for each one you keep
- Example
- 3 (you keep 1 in 3)
Number: New ads to make a month
- Example
- 18 (6 × 3)
Why you make more ads than you replace
Most new ads do not beat the ads they replace, so you try several for each one you keep.
- Motion's analysis of more than 550,000 Meta ads found that 5 to 8% of new ads become big winners.
- For the sum above, use the share of your own new ads that you keep running. It is higher, because an ad can be worth keeping without being a big winner.
Cheap ways to refresh an ad
Try these on an ad that already works before you make a new one.
- A new opening on the same video is the cheapest refresh, and the first one to try.
- A shorter version cuts the lines people skip.
- A different caption style makes the ad look new to people who have seen it.
- Music, or a different track, changes the feel of the ad.
- Different b-roll over the same words changes what people see.
- When the message itself is worn out, a refresh stops helping and you need a new video.
Refresh an ad or make a new one
What changes
- Refresh an ad
- Opening, length, captions, music or clips
- Make a new ad
- The whole message
What it takes
- Refresh an ad
- An edit of the video you have
- Make a new ad
- A new script and a new recording
When to choose it
- Refresh an ad
- The ad works but is getting tired
- Make a new ad
- Refreshes no longer help
| Refresh an ad | Make a new ad | |
|---|---|---|
| What changes | Opening, length, captions, music or clips | The whole message |
| What it takes | An edit of the video you have | A new script and a new recording |
| When to choose it | The ad works but is getting tired | Refreshes no longer help |
Where Cutroom fits
In Cutroom, each cheap refresh is a change to an ad you already made, not a new shoot.
- You can write a new on-screen headline, or pick one Cutroom drafted.
- For a shorter version, film the script again without the lines people skip, because Cutroom keeps the lines you say.
- You can switch the caption style or the hook style, or swap the b-roll over any phrase. The editing pace stays with the style you picked at upload.
- Exporting a new 30-second version uses 10 credits, about $0.16 on any paid plan.
- Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits. Basic is $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits and adds generated music.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It has a Cutroom watermark until you upgrade.
Questions people ask
- How often should I refresh ad creative?
- When an ad's results drop, not on a set date. Keep an ad while its cost per sale stays under your limit, and replace it when the cost rises and stays up.
- How do I know an ad is worn out?
- Its frequency rises and fewer people watch or click. When its cost per sale then stays above your limit, replace it.
- Can refreshing too often hurt performance?
- Yes. On Meta, adding new ads to an ad set can send it back into the learning phase, and results can be unstable for a while. Add new ads in batches, not one at a time.
- Can I refresh an ad without filming again?
- Often, yes. A new opening, a shorter version, new captions, music or different b-roll can all be made from the video you already have.
- Do I need a whole new ad, or just a new hook?
- A new hook is enough if fewer people stop scrolling but those who stop still watch. If both dropped, the message is worn out and you need a new video.
- What if my audience is small?
- Your ads wear out faster, because the same people see them more often. Plan for more new ads, or widen the audience so each ad reaches new people.
Refresh the ads that still work, and film a new one when they stop. Your first video is free.