UGCtrending styles
We make
ads that
sell.
Performance ad creative for
Meta,
YouTube, and TikTok.
- UGC video
- Founder ads
- Static image
- AI video
- 3D modeling
- Podcast style
- Lifestyle
- Animation
Our team has experience with
dozens of winning brands
SCROLL-STOPPING VIDEO
3D MODELSno shoot needed
Animationcreative storytelling
Demosshow the benefits
FOUNDER ADSshow authenticity & build trust
Explainersex: problem → solution
MOTION GRAPHICStext & data visualization
AGCcreators that sell
Creative strategy comes first
AI has made ad production cheap, but
creative strategy more valuable.
As AI drives down the cost of production, the strategic layer and experienced human judgment is the driving force behind profitable ads.
At SAWMILL, every client's creative strategy is built from three questions:
WHY × WHO × WHAT
That formula becomes your ad creative testing framework. Your budget sets how many concepts we run and what we prioritize first.
WHY
Why do people buy from your brand?
4 PRIMARY REASONS:
- 01
It looks or tastes good. "I just want it."
- instant gratification
- 02
It fixes something. A problem, a pain, a hassle.
- fear
- happiness
- 03
It saves me time or money. Convenience, value, the deal.
- greed
- instant gratification
- 04
It says something about me. Identity, status, belonging, values.
- affirmation/belonging
- truth/values
WHO
Who is buying your products?
Are your ICPs specific and descriptive? Not just "women, 35-45"? We get specific with your core audience so that message angles truly align.
WHAT
What type of ad?
- UGC
- Demos
- Carousels
- Static Ads
- Storytelling
- Animation
- Podcast Style
- Long-form DR
- 3D Modeling
- ...and more
We create a prioritized map for testing what ad formats and hooks work best for each audience.
What clients say
"Ads are a huge part of the business that I didn't need to think about anymore. The fact that I could offload that, is the best decision I ever made. It's not just ads, it's design, educated conversations around building a brand and the data side that is invaluable."
EMILY, FOUNDER OF TARRY'S APPAREL
Performance
ad creative
for scaling brands
You're buying distinct creative ideas, built out for the dimensions, safe space and specs each platforms need.
Static image ads
Statics are essential for every brand. Creative communication, captured in an instant. Delivered in 9x16 and 4x5 formats.
Short-form video ads
15s or less edited videos built to stop the scroll and engage the viewer to take action ASAP. Short-form videos typically use b-roll, fast transitions and text overlays.
Long-form video ads
Longer-form videos designed to deliver a specific point of view about the product that is relevant to the viewer. Typically used with more traditional UGC/AGC ads, video mashups, storytelling and a variety of frameworks utilized in direct selling. Great for paid social ads, but also landing pages.
Creative strategy
The brains behind ad concepts, UGC and creator scripts, messaging angles and hooks. We analyze your individual customer profiles and test messaging specific to them.
Creative strategy is included in every package. UGC scripts are included at Cedar and above.
Working with us is easy.
Four steps. No calls you don't need.From kickoff to first ads live in under two weeks.
Survey
We analyze your existing ad creative; your current and past winners, and your competitors' library, and give you a full report. This report is delivered in presentation and markdown format, for you, AI, or another agency to use, whether you work with us or not.
A $449 value, included at Cedar and above.
Craft
You provide us with your brand kit and archive of raw image and video assets. We comb your entire website, product pages and reviews and contextualize distill everything into a messaging architecture relevant to each of your ICPs. Then we write messaging concepts, angles and hooks, and get to work.
Cut
Our team competes internally to design and edit ad creative that drives ad accounts forward. Delivered weekly, in platform-ready formats. Nothing ships without human context, creativity and judgment behind it.
Ship
You run the ads. We read the data and iterate on what works. Our team works asynchronously on Slack, and is available for bi-weekly brainstorming sessions and creative review calls.
We're not for everyone
Two lists, so nobody wastes a call.
Good fit
- more than $20K/mo in paid social
- someone in-house or an agency that does your media buying
- you need consistent creative specifically for paid ads
- you want a creative partner with strategic opinions
- your designer doesn’t have a background in ad design or is simply too busy to keep up with volume
Bad fit
- less than $20K/mo in paid social
- looking for a partner that is more of a media buyer vs. a creative partner
- looking for the cheapest per-asset price
- think AI can do all the work for you
- don’t see the value between creative strategy and specific business results
Questions, answered
Only at Mahogany, where we bring in a trusted senior media buyer. Everywhere else, your own media buyer owns the account and we build the creative for it. We read the data with you either way, because the data is what tells us what to make next.
People. Strategists, designers and video creators who have spent years inside DTC and CPG accounts write the angles, scripts and hooks. Production work happens under their review, and nothing ships without a human signing off.
Production, mostly: variants, resizes, cuts, iterations, first-pass edits. None of the thinking: what the ad says, who it is for, why anyone should care. Every asset is reviewed by a person before you see it, and we never use AI-generated images without your explicit permission.
Kickoff to first ads live in under two weeks. Initial analysis typically takes the first five business days after we receive your raw assets, and the first batch is ready the following week.
Yes, and no. If you explicitly want all your ads to be on brand, then they will. If you're open to experimentation in an effort to drive results, we'll test angles and designs that mimic native content, trending creative and unique concepts. Either way, send us your brand guide and we work with it. If we think something in it is costing you performance, we will say so and let you decide.
You can pause, scale up or scale down on any plan with a 30 day notice. Mahogany is capped at three clients, so a seat may not be available.
We love
making ads ❤️
See why successful DTC and CPG brands in home, apparel and wellness trust SAWMILL with their ad creative.