Scaling creative: Mirella Crespi’s proven ad production workflow

Your ad creatives are crushing it. Engagement is high, click-through rates are peaking, and ROI has never been stronger.

But here’s the catch: unless you scale strategically, that momentum won’t last forever.

Scaling means taking what's already winning and turning up the volume—more campaigns, broader markets, new channels. The best teams do it by systematizing creative testing, aligning teams, and using real-time analytics to double down on what works.

But scaling doesn’t have to be complicated.

Mirella Crespi, a seasoned DTC creative strategist, has distilled years of experience into a straightforward workflow that turns ad scaling into a predictable, repeatable process (with the help of Motion).

If you prefer to listen to smart people like Mirella talking in-depth about their insights, check out the video where she talks about how her team ships 2,000 ads per month:

But if you’re after a quick summary, stick around for Mirella’s stop tips on scaling winning ad campaigns.

Ready to amplify those results?

When are you ready to scale?

Scaling your ad campaigns sounds exciting, but jumping into it prematurely can literally burn through your budget. So, how do you know exactly when you're ready?

Mirella says:

“Every ad creative is a hypothesis that needs to be tested. Whenever you put budget behind your creative, you know exactly what you are learning.”

In other words, test and validate. Look for consistent performance against these benchmarks:

• Stable CPA: Your cost per acquisition has reached a steady baseline, ideally at or below your target threshold.
• Proven creative: You have ads that consistently outperform others, showcasing clear, repeatable success.
• Scalable KPIs: Engagement data and click-through rates are stable or increasing, meaning your ads genuinely resonate.
• Budget flexibility: You have the budget to incrementally test and scale without stretching your resources too thin.

If your campaigns meet these criteria, congrats—you're ready to scale.

How to scale your ad campaigns step-by-step

There are really only four major steps (or phases) to scaling ad campaigns with Mirella’s workflow.

1. Build a creative-led scaling framework

Your creatives are your engine. To scale sustainably, you’ll need a systematic approach to creative generation and deployment.

“The brands that are winning on paid social are shipping a lot of creative fast—they’re testing high volume and that’s what makes them successful.”—Mirella

You should encourage a culture of experimentation and iteration alongside high-volume creative production. But how?

• Identify winning elements: Clearly analyze your highest-performing ads. For example, are short-form videos (typically 6–15 seconds) outperforming static images? Are product-centric visuals beating lifestyle shots? Does trending audio resonate more than audio memes? Find and use patterns that drive performance.
• Standardize your creative workflows: Clearly define steps from ideation to deployment for streamlined production. Use templates and automation where possible to maintain consistency and speed.
• Prioritize creative iteration: Build on the first point, develop variations of winning ads for systematic testing and find the most impactful versions. These will prove to be your lever for growth.

Key takeaway: A structured creative workflow isn’t optional; it’s crucial for sustainable scaling.

2. Expand and refine your audience targets

High-performing ads aren’t universal wins—they’re tailored to precise audiences. When you’re scaling, you need to refine and expand deliberately:

• Broaden incrementally: Start by targeting adjacent audience segments that share similar attributes to your original high-performing groups.
• Use lookalikes: Use solid data from your best-performing user segments to build accurate lookalike audiences.
• Geographic scaling: Methodically test new locales, monitoring performance at each step. It’s safer and smarter than diving headfirst into unfamiliar territory.

As mentioned in the last point, monitor performance after any change to avoid premature scaling that might tank efficiency.

To help you do that, use Motion’s Comparative Analysis report to see which audiences and placements respond best to which creative angles.

3. Monitor performance and adjust in real time

Scaling demands vigilance. As you expand reach, even slight fluctuations can have an outsized impact. So, as you make changes, make sure you:

• Track clear KPIs: Go beyond spend. Monitor key creative analytics like Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM), Thumbstop Rate (how quickly users pause scrolling to view the ad), and First-Frame Retention (user attention on the ad's opening moment).
• Automate tracking: Real-time, centralized dashboards are where it’s at. Use them alongside automated alerts to stay proactive, not reactive. Spot trends, ad fatigue, channel saturation, or even breakout winners.
• Plan for variability: Allocate flexible budgets to double down quickly on what’s working and pause underperforming campaigns.

Actively monitoring performance gives you the opportunity to act fast on early signals—good and bad. This helps with decision-making while keeping your scaling controlled and profitable.

4. Foster rapid feedback loops between teams

To scale fast, your team communications need to move even faster:

“Producing data-driven assets at scale boils down to two key things: Having a common language and shared knowledge.”—Mirella

To help you and your team develop that common language and shared knowledge, you should:

• Have regular stand-ups: Short, frequent check-ins (ideally daily) align creative, media buying, and analytics teams around immediate campaign performance, which helps drive fast responses to performance shifts.
• Create shared dashboards: Visibility drives alignment. Everyone sees real-time results, reducing response lag.
• Have clearly documented insights: Custom tagging and organizing performance insights allows fast retrieval and rapid creative iteration.

Streamlined collaboration isn’t just nice; it’s essential.

Motion can help you bridge the gap between creative and performance teams with ad analysis tools, giving both sides actionable insights, not just numbers.

Creative testing and iteration: The heart of sustainable scaling

Let’s talk a little more about the creative testing part of Mirella’s process in step one of her workflow. Continuous testing and iteration is a huge part of success. It’s also the key to making sure your scaled ads deliver sustained results.

So, let’s get practical:

• Test methodically: Isolate variables clearly—use a creative testing tool to evaluate one creative aspect at a time, like your copy, imagery, video length, etc.
• Rapid iterations: Generate multiple versions of each ad, quickly rotating out lower-performing options. You can use a creative reporting tool to identify which hooks/angles drive the best engagements and conversions.
• Insights-driven approach: Ask yourself, “Why did this ad resonate?” Understanding the “why” behind performance paves the way for future wins.

When you’re testing, pay special attention to your hook:

“Doubling down on hooks is hands down the most effective and efficient way of increasing your creative output and pouring more variations into your ad account.”—Mirella

Mirella and her team are fond of using AI-driven scriptwriting tools to quickly get multiple versions of hook scripts for generating new hook iterations to test.

On top of that, she also recommends testing hooks not just against each other broadly, but also specifically testing what hook style resonates best with particular audience segments, like UGC/native style or a “shocking alternative solution” hook.

If you struggle with keeping all your ad variations organized for proper iterative testing, you’ll want to check out Motion’s automatic grouping and hook iteration with optimization tools to accelerate this process.

Or maybe you need expert help with testing and diversifying your ad formats? If so, you can chat to Mirella as an always-on AI Agent. She worked with us to develop an AI agent that replicates her brand of creative strategy insights to help you get work done 100X faster.

When you know exactly how each little adjustment impacts performance, you can quickly compare new creative against winners to iterate with confidence and drive key business outcomes.

Scaling beyond your initial market: When and how to expand

Successful scaling in your primary market usually indicates you’re ready for broader horizons. But expanding internationally or onto new platforms brings both opportunities and risks.

Evaluate your readiness by asking yourself:

• Do you have substantial data supporting the demand or market alignment?
• Do you have the operational bandwidth to handle the logistics, like translation, localization, and regulatory compliance?
• Are your current KPIs strong enough for meaningful comparison in a new channel or geography?

Mirella, who has a lot of experience here, suggests using AI tools to help with early-stage validation:

“If you have proven ads in the US and you want to scale to other countries, use AI to overdub, translate, and test these new markets. If you’re seeing great results, double down on hiring native talent.”

But even with AI tools, there’s still a fair risk of wasting resources if you dive in too enthusiastically. We’d suggest a phased rollout. First, test the new market using AI with smaller budgets, then only scale what maintains performance. Only after this initial scaling should you think about investing in native/local talent.

Are you ready to scale smarter?

Scaling your ad campaigns is about strategic momentum—not reckless acceleration.

Mirella Crespi’s proven workflow guides you through each step, from building sustainable creative production processes to confidently entering new markets.

Stop guessing. Start scaling smarter.

Book your demo today and see firsthand how streamlined creative workflows can supercharge your advertising performance.

Scaling successful ad campaigns FAQs

How do I know when my ad campaign is ready to scale?

Confirm consistency across key performance metrics (CPA, ROAS, CTR), build repeatable creative wins, and verify sufficient budget flexibility exists. Meeting these criteria means you're ready.

What KPIs should I focus on when scaling ad campaigns?

Prioritize metrics indicating direct performance (CPA, ROAS, conversion rates) alongside engagement-driven indicators (CTR, CPMs). Continuously tracking these makes for intelligent scaling decisions.

Should I scale to new channels or markets, or maximize my current ones first?

Fully capitalize on your existing channels to maximize efficiency. Once you've sustainably optimized these platforms—proven through consistent KPIs—then carefully expand into new segments or channels.

‍