Name your ads S07 H03, and see which ideas sell.
Ads Manager is good at telling you which ad did best. It is bad at telling you which idea did best. When the same script runs as three cuts, two sizes and four openings across Meta and TikTok, its results are spread over twenty rows with twenty different names. A simple naming habit pulls them back together.
The problem with ad names
Most ad accounts end up with names like "Video 3 FINAL v2 copy" or "UGC Sarah Oct". A month later, nobody can say whether the founder story beat the unboxing video, because each one exists as a dozen ads in several campaigns. Decisions get made on the single best ad, which is often luck, rather than on the idea behind it, which is what you'd actually make more of.
Scripts and hooks
- A script is the idea and the body of the ad: what it says and shows. "The founder explains why they started the brand" is a script. So is "Five reasons customers switch from supermarket coffee".
- A hook is the opening, roughly the first three seconds: the line, image or moment that stops the scroll. The same script can be tested with several hooks.
Separating the two lets you answer two different questions. Which ideas sell? Look at results by script. Which openings stop people? Compare hooks within the same script. If you'd like a system for writing scripts in the first place, that is what our ad script system is for.
The naming format
Start every ad name with its tags, then whatever else helps you:
- S07 H03 | Founder story | 9:16
- S07 H04 | Founder story | 9:16 (same script, new opening)
- S08 H01 | Five reasons to switch | 4:5
Keep a simple sheet, one row per number: S07 is "Founder story", H03 is "Close up of the pour, line: I nearly gave up in year one". Numbers never get reused. When you write a new script it gets the next number, even if it is a variation on an old one.
Hook numbers can either run across all scripts (H03 is always the same opening) or start again within each script (S07 H03 means the third opening written for script 7). Both work. Choose one and write it at the top of the sheet.
Rules the tags must follow
That Other Dashboard finds the tags automatically, as long as they look like this:
- An S or an H followed by one to three digits. S7, S07 and s07 are all read as S07.
- Each tag stands on its own, with a space, a pipe or a dash either side. "S07 H03", "S07|H03" and "S07-H03" all work. "S07H03" and "S07_H03" don't, because the tags run into each other or into the underscore.
- Only the first of each is read. If a name has two S tags, the first one counts.
- Watch for words that look like tags. "H1 sale" or "Size S2" in an ad name would be read as a hook or script. Put your tags first and keep other codes out.
Where to put the name
- Meta: the ad name, at ad level. Campaign and ad set names don't need tags.
- TikTok: the ad name.
- Google Ads: video ads take a name you can tag, and Performance Max shows each asset group by its name, so tag the asset group. Search ads usually have no name of their own, so they show as untagged, which is fine: they aren't scripts.
Tag ads when you make them rather than renaming them later. Changing only an ad's name doesn't change how it is delivered, but That Other Dashboard keeps the name each day's figures arrived with, so older days of a renamed ad can keep its old name for a while.
Reading the results
In That Other Dashboard, the creative performance panel lists every ad from every connected platform in one table, with spend, purchases, cost per purchase, ROAS, click rate and thumbstop (three second plays over impressions, a fair measure of the hook). Each ad shows its script and hook tags. Beside it, a By script table adds up spend and ROAS for each script across all its ads, with untagged ads grouped together.
To use it well:
- Judge scripts on enough spend. A script with £40 behind it hasn't been tested yet. Wait until each one has had a fair share before you call it.
- Compare hooks within a script. Pick a script in the filter and compare its ads' thumbstop and click rate. The hook that holds more people is the one to keep.
- Make more of what wins. A winning script deserves new hooks, new formats and new faces. A winning hook can be tried on other scripts.
- Remember what ROAS is. These are each platform's own figures, best for comparing ads with each other, not for judging the business. Our guide to MER against ROAS explains why.
Common questions
Do I have to rename my ads to use That Other Dashboard?
No. Every ad shows in the table whatever it is called. The tags only add the roll up by script, so ads without them sit together as untagged.
Can I use other codes in the name too?
Yes. Add anything you like after the tags, such as the creator, the format or the size. Just avoid other words that are an S or an H followed by a number.
Does this work for static image ads?
Yes. A static ad has an idea and a headline just like a video. Give the idea a script number and the headline or image a hook number.