Lately I’ve been wondering if I’ve been overthinking my insurance ads creatives. At one point, I was trying to make everything look super polished—nice layouts, perfect images, catchy lines. But the results didn’t really match the effort I was putting in.
The main issue I faced was low engagement. Impressions were fine, but clicks were just not there. It felt like people were seeing the ads but not really connecting with them. I started questioning whether the typical “professional” look actually works for insurance anymore.
So I decided to try something different. Instead of going all-in on design, I simplified things. I used plain backgrounds, minimal text, and focused more on one clear message. For example, one ad just said what the policy covers in a very direct way. No buzzwords, no extra fluff. That one surprisingly did better than most of my earlier creatives.
I also tested some text-heavy creatives, which I usually avoided before. Turns out, if the message is clear and easy to read, people don’t mind less visual appeal. In fact, it sometimes feels more honest. I think users are getting better at ignoring anything that looks too much like a typical ad.
Another small thing I noticed was using questions in creatives. Instead of telling people what they need, asking something like “Are you covered if something unexpected happens?” seemed to get more attention. It felt more like a conversation than a pitch.
While trying to figure all this out, I spent some time going through different formats and ideas around insurance ads. It helped me see that there isn’t really one “perfect” creative—just a bunch of approaches you can test and adjust based on what works.
At this point, my takeaway is pretty simple: clarity beats creativity most of the time in this space. People don’t want to decode your ad. They just want to quickly understand what you’re offering and why it matters to them.
I’m still experimenting, but I’ve definitely stopped chasing overly fancy designs. If anything, keeping it simple and real seems to be doing a better job.
Would be interesting to know if others here have tried scaling down their creatives and seen better results too.
The main issue I faced was low engagement. Impressions were fine, but clicks were just not there. It felt like people were seeing the ads but not really connecting with them. I started questioning whether the typical “professional” look actually works for insurance anymore.
So I decided to try something different. Instead of going all-in on design, I simplified things. I used plain backgrounds, minimal text, and focused more on one clear message. For example, one ad just said what the policy covers in a very direct way. No buzzwords, no extra fluff. That one surprisingly did better than most of my earlier creatives.
I also tested some text-heavy creatives, which I usually avoided before. Turns out, if the message is clear and easy to read, people don’t mind less visual appeal. In fact, it sometimes feels more honest. I think users are getting better at ignoring anything that looks too much like a typical ad.
Another small thing I noticed was using questions in creatives. Instead of telling people what they need, asking something like “Are you covered if something unexpected happens?” seemed to get more attention. It felt more like a conversation than a pitch.
While trying to figure all this out, I spent some time going through different formats and ideas around insurance ads. It helped me see that there isn’t really one “perfect” creative—just a bunch of approaches you can test and adjust based on what works.
At this point, my takeaway is pretty simple: clarity beats creativity most of the time in this space. People don’t want to decode your ad. They just want to quickly understand what you’re offering and why it matters to them.
I’m still experimenting, but I’ve definitely stopped chasing overly fancy designs. If anything, keeping it simple and real seems to be doing a better job.
Would be interesting to know if others here have tried scaling down their creatives and seen better results too.