Today, we are talking with our creative lead, Daniella Propati. She’ll tell you exactly how you can level up your content.

What are the biggest mistakes political teams make in terms of their creative?

On both the corporate and political sides, I always notice how brands or candidates rarely change up the creative variants they have. They find a few that work, and then run them—for MONTHS!

At any given time, all DP clients have at least 100 combinations of unique creative designs, programs, and copy running across all of our platforms. It may take more work, but you’ll never hit the jackpot running one ad creative for 5 months. Diversity of content is key. Constant refreshes will ensure you’re always landing at the top of the auction and your users have new content to engage with.

When launching ads for a new client or campaign, what do you think is the key to starting off successfully?

Testing, testing, testing! What works for one client probably won’t work for another. What you think will work for a client might not land well. You should never just go with your gut—always test and analyze the data to make informed decisions about what actually resonates with your users. 

You should start by A/B testing a wide variance of ad programs, creative designs, copies, and landing pages and optimize your content from there. You should never be saying, “Well, I think this will work. You should always say, “I know this will work because I have the data to back up why it will work.”

What was your favorite ad creative that Direct Persuasion has ever run and why?

My favorite creative was one we actually ran on one of our (20!!) Youtube Mastheads during the 2020 elections. It was a creative featuring an everyday American direct-to-camera video that he shot himself while working in the back of a truck talking about why President Trump was the best candidate for the job. The reason this ad was so powerful wasn’t because it had the highest production value it was because it was AUTHENTIC. It was a genuine emotional appeal that we couldn’t have scripted if we tried. Ads only work if you’re appealing to users’ emotions, and you can only do that if you genuinely understand your audience. 

What’s your favorite part of working for Direct Persuasion?

There are so many reasons why I love working at DP—our amazing clients, great co-workers, and an environment that challenges me every single day. But, if I had to narrow it down to just one thing, it would be the ability to follow my passion every day. We work on some of the biggest campaigns in GOP digital, and it is a privilege to be able to communicate with users who support the same causes I do. It’s not every day you can do your job and feel like you’re making a difference, and I know how lucky I am to be able to do so.