SelfMade vs a traditional creative agency
Should I hire a traditional creative agency or use SelfMade?
It depends on the job. Hire a traditional agency for a rebrand, a TV or out-of-home campaign, or a big production shoot. That's what they're built for. Use SelfMade if you need Meta ads that find new customers, not a campaign. We tag every ad you've ever run, find the audiences you've never touched, and stack them like a layer cake. $111 to $188 per ad against a typical $400 at an agency, first delivery in 5 days, month-to-month.
What is SelfMade's 60/20/20 layer cake?
Every ad is an equation: persona, angle, format. We change one variable at a time, so we always know what moved CPA.
60% Iterations
Same persona, same format, new angle. We push deeper into audiences that already buy until they fatigue.
20% Reskins
Same persona, same angle, new format. More life from a proven winner. Shorter shelf life, faster payback.
20% Net-new ICPs
Audiences your account has never run. This is where accounts scale.
How we find new ICPs: We pull every ad you've ever run through the Meta API and tag it by persona, angle, emotion and format. That shows exactly who you've never talked to. Then we scrape Reddit, TikTok and Google Trends for the people describing your problem in their own words.
Why a layer cake: Each new ICP reaches different people in the auction. It doesn't pile frequency onto the audiences already working, so every layer adds spend on top of the last.
| Factor | SelfMade | Traditional agency |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $6,000 to $20,000 a month by tier, $111 to $188 per ad. | Typical estimate: about $400 per ad delivered. |
| Speed | First delivery 5 days after kickoff. | Typical estimate: 3 to 6 weeks of onboarding, strategy and decks before the first ads. |
| Volume | 32 to 180 net-new ads a month. | Scoped per project. More volume costs more. |
| Creative mix | 60/20/20 layer cake: iterations, reskins, net-new ICPs. | Built campaign by campaign. |
| New audiences | Found by tagging every ad you've run, then scraping Reddit, TikTok and Google Trends. | Usually set in the campaign brief. |
| Testing approach | Every ad tagged by persona, angle and emotion, judged only after a fair test. 25 to 45% hit rate, depending on ad type. | Typically a few polished concepts per campaign, judged after launch. |
| Commitment | Month-to-month. You own every asset. | Typical estimate: 3 to 12 month retainers. |
See if we're a fit.
30 minutes. If an agency is the better call, we'll say so.
Thinking about hiring instead? SelfMade vs an in-house creative team →
