Welcome back to Marketing Qualified! Here’s what we’re talking about this week:
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Good marketers save ads. Great ones dissect them. 5 steps to take next time you see a great ad.
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The B2B Trust Spectrum. You need to know where you sit.
🔪 Good marketers save ads. Great ones dissect them.
You see a killer ad.
You screenshot it.
You dump it in a swipe file.
Congrats, you just created a Pinterest board for work.
Real value doesn’t come from saving a bunch of ads for later.
Value comes from dissecting good ads piece by piece to understand why they worked and then turning what you learn into creative leverage.
So next time you see a great ad, rather than screenshotting, do this instead:
1. Determine the emotional thesis:
What core belief or fear is the ad pressing on?
Example: “Enterprise decision-makers fear wasting budget on solutions that won’t deliver ROI.”
2. Identify the persona fit:
Who is this ad really speaking to? Is it the technical evaluator, the economic buyer, the end user, etc.?
3. Understand which framework was used:
Is it PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve)? Is it Testimonial-Driven? Is it “Before/After Transformation”? Or is it something else?
4. Get the tone, structure, and rhythm:
Authoritative expert? Empathetic peer? Short, punchy lines or narrative format? CTA placement? Etc.
5. Clock any other important creative elements:
What visuals made it scroll-stopping? Data visualization, customer environment, problem dramatization, movement, etc.?
Then use your teardown to take action.
Give it to your ad manager or use it to create your next few ad variants.
If you need some additional help, feed your answers into your AI prompt system:
“Create new ad variants that: 1) Target the [emotional thesis], 2) Speak directly to [specific persona], 3) Follow the [specific framework], 4) Maintain the [tone, structure, and rhythm], and 5) Include [additional creative elements].”
Don’t just save ads.
Extract the patterns. Feed them into your system. Multiply the results.
📰 In the news this week.
🔓 Instagram launched unlockable reels.
📈 Tips on tracking Reddit trends.
🔎 6 tactical ways to responsibly use AI for everyday SEO.
❌ Max was an all-time bad rebrand.
🎨 Tyrants, committees, and the case for better creative leadership.
🤝 The B2B Trust Spectrum.
The more risk a buyer feels, the more trust you need to earn.
But many marketers make the mistake of only using low-trust tactics to try and drive high-trust sales.
The B2B Trust Spectrum:
0 – Cold call
1 – Cold email
2 – Display ad
3 – Organic post (from the company)
4 – Organic post (from a human)
5 – Customer testimonial
6 – Guide, help doc, walkthrough
7 – Webinar, podcast, or longer video
8 – Very specific case study
9 – Their boss forwarding your content with “let’s look into this”
10 – Peer intro or trusted referral
Make sure the content you create and the action you drive align with the level of trust your product or service requires.
The more trust you need, the more work it will be.
😂 Marketing meme of the week.
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