Methodology & Definitions
This report analyzes creative-level performance data from advertisers connected to the Motion platform. The objective is not to evaluate outcomes like ROAS or revenue, but to understand how spend, winners, and hit rate distribute across accounts. Those metrics allow for more consistent cross-account comparisons than conversion-based measures, which vary widely by attribution setup, margin structure, and reporting practice.
All data is anonymized.
Scope
The analysis covers creatives launched between September 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026. The end date is set at least 28 days before the last available data point so that all creatives have an equal opportunity to be classified as mid-range, avoiding end-of-window censoring.
The dataset includes:
- 578,750 unique creatives
- 6,015 advertiser accounts
- $1.29 billion in realized spend
This window spans pre-holiday testing, Black Friday and Cyber Monday saturation, and the post-holiday reset — a period when competitive pressure is high and creative turnover is accelerated.
Spend as the primary success metric
Performance is evaluated using realized spend, not CTR, CPA, or ROAS. Spend reflects how budget is allocated within accounts. Creatives that receive continued spend are, by definition, being prioritized by Meta.
This does not mean spend perfectly captures business value. It serves as a consistent proxy for which creatives attract sustained delivery across many heterogeneous accounts. Using spend avoids distortions introduced by different attribution models or conversion setups.
Definitions
Creative volume
Creative volume is the number of unique creatives launched per week at the account level. It is treated descriptively, not as a success metric.
Winner
A creative is classified as a winner when:
- Spend ≥ 10× the account median, and
- Spend ≥ $500 floor
This rule identifies ads that meaningfully outperform their account baseline while filtering out low-spend noise. In this dataset, the 10× threshold corresponds roughly to the 92nd percentile of the ratio distribution.
Mid-range creative
A mid-rage creative:
- Has ≥28 days of spend, and
- Does not meet the winner threshold.
Mid-range ads are durable, scaled creatives that persist without reaching winner status.
Hit rate
Hit rate is calculated at the account level:
(Winning creatives ÷ Total creatives) × 100
Unless specified, hit rates are unweighted, meaning each account contributes equally regardless of size. Hit rate is expressed as a percentage.
Spend tiers
Accounts are grouped by average monthly Meta spend:
- Micro (<$10K)
- Small ($10K–$50K)
- Medium ($50K–$200K)
- Large ($200K–$1M)
- Enterprise ($1M+)
Spend–use ratio
A format’s share of total spend divided by its share of total creative usage.
Simple version: When we use this format, does Meta reward it with budget?
How to read it:
- >1.0 → Format punches above its weight
- ≈1.0 → Performs as expected
- <1.0 → Overused relative to results
Interpreting the metrics
These definitions are designed to describe how creative performance is distributed across Meta. They are not intended as recommendations for what advertisers “should” achieve.
A winner classification indicates statistical rarity, not creative excellence in isolation. Hit rate reflects how often rare events occur in a system, not how “good” a team’s ideas are.
The goal of this framework is to provide a consistent lens for observing how creative performance behaves at scale.
