Marketing Operators Podcast

Episode: Performance Creative in 2026: What We’ve Updated and Why

Hosts: Connor Rolain, Connor MacDonald, Cody Plofker
Date: February 17, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, the Marketing Operators hosts revisit their earlier discussions on performance creative workflows and ad creative analysis. With more than two years of learning, iteration, and shifting industry standards, the conversation centers on how performance creative has evolved in 2026. They focus on the shift from creative volume to concept development, AI and signal engineering in creative strategy, new creative testing workflows, and the role of creators and in-house teams versus agencies. The hosts share their current processes, granular tactical changes, and predictions for where performance creative is heading next.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. From Creative Volume to Concept-Driven Approaches

• Past Focus: Chasing high volumes of low-fidelity content (UGC, iPhone shots) just for the sake of output.
• Current Shift: Prioritizing quality, thoughtful concepts, and meaningful creative over arbitrary volume targets.
  • “We are very much now not going towards volume and going towards... more of like a concepts to be done approach.” — Connor Rolain (06:43)
• Practical Numbers:
  • Past: 15-20 concepts per week, high iteration count.
  • Current: 5-10 concepts per week for some, up to 30 for others, with less focus on iterations for quantity’s sake.

2. The Reality of Modern Creative Strategy

• Training & Talent Gap:
  • Creative strategists are vital but scarce, with many still learning through intuition rather than structured programs.
  • AI has become integrated into workflows, not just for asset production but for analysis and ideation.
• Live, Up-to-Date Training:
  • Recognition that creative best practices are evolving so rapidly, only live education or immediate feedback keeps teams ahead.
    • “Courses that were recorded six or eight months ago, like those are all outdated by now. The course won’t just be listening to people talk about ads, you know, you will actually be hands on...” — Connor MacDonald (04:37)

3. Structuring Creative Testing in 2026

• Testing Budgets & Ratios:
  • Creative testing budget as a percent of total spend ranges from 10%–40%, but much of the “testing” budget is now a hybrid of testing and scaling winners in the same campaigns.
• Campaign Structure Evolution:
  • Increasing consolidation of campaigns, allowing for more budget liquidity within Meta, less granular “one campaign per product” structure.
  • Discussion on when and how to use custom conversion events, multiple pixels, and account segmentation for signal engineering.
  • “We went from thinking…every new launch should have its own campaign to saying, we think there's value in, you know, meta uses the phrase 'budget liquidity'... Let's roll up more of these campaigns and group them together a little bit more.” — Connor Rolain (24:17)

4. Defining a “Concept”

• Concepts are now more carefully defined as a unique combination of message and format, with variations (hooks, edits, statics) falling under the same “concept” umbrella, but still variable per organization.

5. Creator Sourcing & Organizational Structure

• In-House vs Agency Balance:

  • A marked increase in hybrid in-house models where internal teams coordinate a wide network of creators/freelancers, rather than producing all assets internally or relying exclusively on agencies.
  • Agencies are preferred for expertise (especially in influencer/creator orchestration), but brands seek to reduce agency footprint and maximize strategic in-house oversight.
  • “I would consider that an internal process. I just don’t see any scenario where we have any sort of system that is truly employees of Ridge creating content in that way.” — Connor Rolain (57:24)

• Creator Networks & “Creator-in-Residence” Programs:

  • Emphasis on building ongoing pools/discord communities of creators for on-demand content, trend responsiveness, and diversity.

6. Balancing Volume and Quality/Diversity

• The “Volume vs. Quality” Debate:
  • Most teams have shifted away from maximizing volume for volume’s sake — except in early funnel development or with new products, where rapid testing and sheer volume can still be valuable.
  • As creative pipelines mature (i.e., for core products), more intentionality and quality are prioritized.
• Role of Coaching and Briefing:

  • High creative diversity comes not just from volume but from effective, strategic coaching and open briefs to creators.

    “If you're working with them properly and you're not like overly scripting it and briefing it and trying to make it on brand, I think you actually get that natural creativity if you're doing properly.” — Cody Plofker (71:57)

7. Tactical Campaign Management

• Scaling Winners:
  • CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization) plus ad set min/max spends is the preferred flexible approach for both testing and scaling.
  • When an ad emerges as a winner, increase ad set minimums or duplicate into a scale campaign.
• Liquid Budgets:

  • Liquidity in campaigns allows for immediate scaling of creative winners, bypassing the lag of manual intervention.

    “What I think feels like a meaningful difference is the performance and scale we can get out of what is called a creative testing campaign...We were able to more quickly and more effectively get to winning ads getting budget.” — Connor Rolain (47:35)

8. The Impact of Platform Changes (Meta’s Andromeda)

• The hosts recognize the influence of Meta’s new infrastructure (Andromeda) on how creative is served and scaled, allowing for new creative winners to break through in ways not possible in previous years.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Creative Testing Budget:

  • “I would say all in all over this time period we're probably like 10%, 15% going into creative testing. So it's not even, it's not even that high as a, as an overall percent.” — Connor MacDonald (10:54)

• On In-Housing Content Production:

  • “We were just looking at the fees that we were paying some of these like buy spend agencies. We're like, we should hire two more creative strategists, more in house production people and like it'll be a fraction of the cost but probably better quality once we really get up and running.” — Connor MacDonald (13:01)

• On Creator Sourcing:

  • “All they're gonna be focused on is sourcing that like, like creator LED content and like filling our library with any gaps that we have. So that's like one of the big bets that we're taking in 2026.” — Connor MacDonald (65:40)

• On the Evolution of Testing Volume:

  • “Maybe the most important piece will be like the coaching aspect to make sure that you're not getting just a bunch of average concepts... Or I could also see, hey, it actually, it doesn't matter so much. We're just going to solve it with volume.” — Connor Rolain (68:02)

• On Approach to Briefing Creators:

  • “The right brief is like here's maybe a few of the value props that we want you to touch on. Here's what's performed for us, here’s dos and don’ts—and then go create.” — Cody Plofker (71:57)

• On the Cyclical Nature of Creative Strategy:

  • “We will probably, if we all do our jobs well...build communities of creators over the next year and then we won't care too much about the volume will help and then we will reach a certain point where it's like...maybe a little bit more effectively.” — Connor Rolain (73:41)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 - 01:19 — Episode theme introduction; reflecting on past vs. present workflows.
• 03:55 - 05:37 — The emergence of creative strategy as a vital role; importance of AI in modern workflows.
• 06:43 - 09:55 — The transition from volume-driven to concept-driven ad creation; real campaign/practical examples.
• 10:11 - 13:40 — Creative testing budgets, agency vs. in-house balance, how teams are structured for creative production.
• 15:16 - 19:51 — Defining “concepts”; how brands measure and organize ad creative for testing.
• 20:03 - 31:48 — Technical deep dive: campaign structures, pixel usage, signal engineering, and practical campaign management.
• 38:48 - 47:35 — New hybrid campaign workflows, creative testing and scaling mechanics.
• 49:24 - 59:08 — Sourcing content: agency, in-house, and creator pools; building pools/communities for content on demand.
• 63:49 - 65:21 — Vision for the future: daily creative launches, networked creator pipelines, platform-driven creative diversity.
• 67:19 - 73:41 — The future: coaching vs volume, the maturity curve from volume-first to strategy-first, experimentation with creator dashboards.

Takeaways & Flowing Themes

• The industry has universally moved away from simple volume-based creative strategies towards more thoughtful, concept-first approaches.
• Signal engineering—i.e., purposely structuring ad accounts, campaigns, and data signals—has become a critical strategic lever.
• Hybrid in-house/creator models deliver the creative diversity and speed now required, with deep partnerships (vs. one-off agencies) being key.
• The role of the creative strategist has grown, focusing on systematizing learnings, guiding creators, and ensuring quality within volume.
• Future creative workflows will further embrace community-driven creator pools, AI-assisted trend mining, and workflows built for daily iteration.
• Despite AI and technology, the core challenge remains: balancing iteration speed, creative diversity, and quality—while building teams and systems that can keep pace.

If you haven’t listened, this episode is a goldmine for current creative directors, paid media leads, and marketing operators seeking to build or update their creative testing engines for 2026 and beyond.