# What is creative research?

> Creative research means studying ads, rivals and customers to decide what your next ad says. What it covers, how it differs from an ad spy tool, and an example.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-10-31
- **Category**: Creative
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-glossary/creative-research

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Creative research is the work of studying ads, competitors and customers to decide what your next ad should say and show. It turns "we need a new ad" into a short list of angles, hooks and formats worth testing.

## What it covers

| Source | What you learn | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Competitor ads | Which angles and formats they keep running | Public ad libraries, such as the [Meta Ad Library](/glossary/meta-ad-library) |
| Your own ads | Which hooks and angles won, and which are tiring | Your ad account |
| Customer words | Reasons to buy and objections | Reviews, comments, sales calls |
| Category trends | Formats and themes on the rise | Platform trend pages |

## Creative research vs an ad spy tool

An [ad spy tool](/glossary/ad-spy-tool) finds ads. Creative research is the whole job: find ads, save them to a [swipe file](/glossary/swipe-file), tag each by [hook](/glossary/ad-hook) and [angle](/glossary/ad-angle), compare them with your own results, then decide what to make. A creative research platform puts those steps in one place. [Creative intelligence](/glossary/creative-intelligence) is the part that reads your own ad account.

## A worked example

Say you sell INR 799 packs of cold brew coffee. You save 30 competitor ads from the Meta Ad Library and tag each one by angle:

| Angle | Competitor ads |
|---|---|
| Taste | 18 |
| Price | 9 |
| Convenience | 3 |

In your own account, your two taste ads cost INR 420 per sale and your one convenience ad cost INR 260. Few rivals use convenience, and it already worked once for you. So next week you test three new convenience angles.

## How to do it well

- Write down why you saved each ad. Saves without a note are hard to reuse.
- Count angles across ads instead of collecting favourites.
- Note how long an ad has kept running. It is a public signal, not proof the ad makes money.
- End every round with a decision: the three angles to test next.

The full method is in [how to do ad creative research](/guides/how-to-do-ad-creative-research). For tools, see [the best creative research platforms](/best/best-creative-research-platforms).

## FAQ

### Is creative research the same as market research?

No. Market research studies a whole market. Creative research studies ads and the words buyers use, to decide what the next ad says.

### Do I need a paid tool for creative research?

No. The public ad libraries from Meta, Google and TikTok are free. Paid tools save time by tracking brands, tagging ads and keeping a shared swipe file.

### How often should I do creative research?

Before every new batch of ads. Many teams do a short round each week.

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- [More Creative articles](https://marxx.ai/library-glossary/category/creative)
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