Field notes
Notes from running real ad spend.
Operator essays on paid acquisition, creative strategy, and what actually moves the needle when you stop reading Twitter advice and start spending money. No frameworks named after the alphabet.
- Creative·8 min read·
How to test ad creative without burning budget
Most creative testing is random variation with no hypothesis. Here's the testing hierarchy, the weekly cadence, and the kill rules that make every dollar teach you something.
Read → - Diagnostics·9 min read·
Why your Facebook ads aren't converting: an operator's field guide
Spend going out, clicks coming in, zero sales. Here are the five real reasons Facebook ads don't convert, ordered by how often I actually find them, with exact places to look in Ads Manager.
Read → - Fundamentals·6 min read·
The only three numbers that matter in your ad account
Forget the dashboard. Forget the 40-column report. Three numbers tell you everything you need to know about whether your paid acquisition is working.
Read → - Creative·5 min read·
Why your hooks are too clever (and what to do instead)
Clever hooks lose. Specific hooks win. A short field guide to writing the first three seconds of an ad like an operator, not a copywriter.
Read →