Where do ecommerce brands get their ad creatives made?

By Dan BartleyUpdated 11 October 20263 minute read

The short answer

From five places: their own team, using tools such as Canva or Meta’s built-in AI features; freelance designers and video editors; UGC creators who film themselves using the product; creative studios and agencies; and sometimes the agency that runs their ads. Growing brands often combine two or three. The right mix depends on how many new ads you need each month and whether you have good photos of your product.

What is an ad creative?

The picture or video in an ad, together with the words on it. On Facebook and Instagram it can be a single image, a video or a carousel of several cards, made in a few shapes for different places on the screen.

People say “creatives” because a store needs a lot of them. An ad stops working once the same people have seen it too often, so new ones have to keep coming. That wearing out is called creative fatigue.

What are the options, and which suits my store?

Each option trades money for time. The one that costs the least money usually costs the most of your own hours.

Where online stores get their ads made

Option	What you get	Suits	Watch for
Your own team	Ads made in-house with Canva, a phone or Meta’s built-in tools	New stores running their first ads	Your time, and photos that look home-made
Freelance designer or editor	Designed ads from photos you supply	A few ads a month with a clear brief	You still need good product photos
UGC creators	Videos of a real person using your product	Products that need showing or explaining	Paying for the right to use them in ads
Creative studio or agency	Ideas, imagery and finished ads in every size	Stores that need many new ads each month	What the price includes
Your ads agency	Sometimes the ads as well as running the account	Stores already paying an agency	Whether making the ads is included

Check the last row early. If an agency runs your account, ask who is meant to make the ads before you assume it is them.

Where do the product photos come from?

From a photoshoot, from your supplier, or made from photos you take on your phone.

Supplier photos are a fine start, but other stores selling the same product often use the same ones, so your ads look like theirs. A photoshoot gives you your own images but costs another day for every new setting. Imagery made from phone photos puts your real product into new rooms and scenes without a shoot, which is how Bartley Studio’s product imagery works.

How many new ads will I need?

More than most new advertisers expect, because ads wear out as the same people see them again.

Start with a handful of genuinely different ideas rather than many versions of one. Once something works, plan for several new ads every month, and more as your budget grows. How many new ads a month shows how to work out your number.

How do I tell a strong ad from a weak one before I spend money?

Look at it on your phone, in the feed, for two seconds. If the product and the reason to buy are not clear in that time, it needs work.

The product is obvious in the first second
There is one clear message, not three
Any text is readable on a small screen
The offer or price is clear, if there is one
It comes in the right shapes: tall 9:16 for Reels and Stories, and 4:5 or square for the feed

Those are the shapes Meta’s creative checklist recommends designing for.

Can I get ads made from my product photos without a shoot?

Yes. Bartley Studio makes ad creative from a couple of phone photos of each product: the photos become product imagery and video, which are then designed into finished ads in every size.

Sources

Meta: Creative diversification cheat sheet

Dan Bartley

Founder, Bartley Studio

Dan runs Bartley Studio. He has spent eight years in design, creative direction and paid ads, and now directs the imagery, video and Meta ad accounts the studio delivers for e-commerce brands in Australia and New Zealand.