Creative Strategist · Paid Social · London

I help DTC brands define
what ads to test before
they spend money on production.

Most brands aren't short on creatives. They're short on a creative strategy. Rising CPAs, creative fatigue, ads dying after two weeks. The problem is usually upstream: no system deciding what to test and why.

Book a discovery call
8+ years in paid social Smartly Amazon Ads Shook Digital
The problem

Most brands already produce plenty of creative. What's missing is the strategy behind what gets tested.

Ads get produced, campaigns launch, results are analysed. But the layer defining what to test and why is almost always missing.

Creative assets Media metrics Creative strategy angles · hypotheses · testing
Why this happens
01

Creative and performance teams work in parallel

No one owns the layer between them. Production continues, but learning stays slow.

02

Teams optimise hooks instead of angles

Hooks optimise attention. Angles drive learning. Most brands only test one.

03

More volume doesn't fix it

Without clear hypotheses, more creatives just increases spend waste.

In modern paid social, creative is the targeting. The angle you choose determines who the platform shows your ad to. Yet most brands still treat creative as execution, not strategy.

In practice

What it looked like for one team.

A DTC brand in wellness had production, a designer, and a media buyer in place. But no system defining what creative angles to test.

DTC brand · Wellness · Strategy engagement

"We have no hypothesis, test and scale framework. We're explaining who we are and what we do, not why you should choose us."

Built

ICP map and content matrix: personas, pain points, and awareness levels mapped to specific creative concepts for each funnel stage.

Delivered

Testing framework: hypothesis structure, tagging taxonomy, kill criteria, and a learnings log the team could own going forward.

Produced

3-4 testing directions with hooks, scripts, and production-ready briefs, each anchored to a specific funnel stage and audience hypothesis.

Third dimension Conscious Buyer Busy Minimalist Deal Seeker Stage Pain point Unaware Problem aware Solution aware Product aware Skin sensitivity Eco guilt Convenience guilt-free swap vs. disposables hidden culprit done in 2 min derm-approved easy shelf swap Each coloured cell = a creative angle to brief and test
Internal team retained full production ownership. The engagement delivered the strategic direction.
How it works

One fixed engagement.
One clear output.

A two-week sprint that builds the system behind how your ads are tested. Everything from ICP mapping to the first batch of production-ready briefs.

1
2-week fixed engagement

Creative Strategy Foundation

Two-week sprint that builds the system behind how your ads are tested: ICP mapping, testing framework, and the first batch of production-ready briefs.

What gets built
01
Asset review and early hypothesesWhat's working, what's failing, and why.
02
ICP mapNamed personas, pain points, internal dialogue, and funnel-stage translation.
03
Content matrixThe master reference for which creative concepts belong where, by persona, pain point, and awareness level.
04
Testing frameworkHypothesis structure, tagging taxonomy, kill criteria, learnings log template.
05
First creative batch3-4 testing directions with hooks, scripts, and production-ready briefs.
Outcome
A clear creative strategy systemWhat to make, for whom, and why mapped to every funnel stage.
A testing framework your team can runHypothesis structure, tagging taxonomy, and learnings log.
Production-ready creative briefsConcepts your designers or production team can execute immediately.
You keep the entire framework regardless of whether you continue to ongoing support.

Optional add-on: AI-generated creative production

If you don't have an internal team or want assets produced alongside the strategy, I can deliver AI-generated video ads and statics built directly from the briefs. View AI portfolio →

Ongoing: Creative Strategy Engine

Once the Foundation is in place, an optional monthly engagement keeps the system running. Each week: new creative concepts tied to live performance signals, updated briefs ready for production, and a learnings database that builds over time. Each month: angle review, refreshed content matrix, and a new testing batch based on what the data is telling you. Either party can end with 2 weeks' notice.

What clients say
Josephine Ung
Creative Strategist · Managed Sophia directly

"Sophia is super knowledgeable when it comes to creative insights, strategy and testing, and solving creative problems. I have seen her give strong creative recommendations and host creative sessions that are genuinely effective for clients."

Julie Florin
Global Acquisition Lead · PayFit

"Sophia is second to none when it comes to managing fully automated paid social campaigns. She is rigorous, data-driven and a fast learner who can easily fix any performance decline and define a solid account structure to improve client KPIs."

Apolline Bossy-Guérin
Frappe Design

"Sophia created beautiful AI visuals quickly to meet our deadlines, and implemented all our feedback really efficiently. She clearly has a great sense of aesthetic and deep experience in creation."

Sophia Pashchenko About

I spent my career working at the intersection of paid social performance and creative production at Smartly, Shook Digital, and Amazon Ads.

What I noticed across teams was that the strategy layer connecting the two often didn't exist.

AI has changed the economics of production. But the strategy, the angles, and the hypotheses behind effective ads are still human work.

That's the layer I help teams build.

Previous work

Before independent practice, I led structured creative programmes at Shook Digital as Creative Operations Lead.

Sweaty Betty

Modular creative system for Meta testing

Built a modular production framework that separated hook, body, and CTA into interchangeable components. Enabled the team to scale creative testing across Meta without proportionally increasing production costs.

Read case study ↗
Estrid

Structured angle testing that reduced CAC

Introduced structured angle testing and a modular production workflow. By mapping creative concepts to distinct audience hypotheses before production, the team reduced cost of acquisition through more targeted and learnable tests.

Read case study ↗
Frequently asked.
Who is this for?

DTC founders or marketing leads at ecomm and service brands spending €10–100K/month on Meta or TikTok. You have a performance team and a way to produce creative, but no structured process connecting the two. You're seeing fatigue, rising CPAs, or stagnating learning and you can't clearly articulate why.

Who is this not for?

This is designed for brands already spending on paid social with an internal team or production resource in place. If you're still testing product-market fit or don't yet run paid acquisition, this probably isn't the right next step.

What's the difference between this and a creative agency?

An agency produces assets. This engagement builds the strategy that tells your team what to produce and why. Most creative agency relationships fail not because the creative is bad, but because there's no hypothesis behind what's being made. That's the gap this fills.

My team already has a media buyer. How does this sit alongside them?

Cleanly. A media buyer manages delivery and optimisation. This engagement produces the strategic direction: which angles to test, which segments to target creatively, what the hypothesis is behind each ad. Most media buyers are waiting for someone to own that layer.

Do you produce the actual creatives?

The Foundation delivers strategy and production-ready briefs your internal team or any production partner can execute from directly. If you need AI-generated video ads and statics produced alongside the strategy, that's available as an add-on. View AI portfolio.

Do we have to continue after the Foundation?

No. The framework is yours after the Foundation regardless. Many clients run with it independently. Others move to ongoing support once they've seen it deliver. Either is fine. There's no lock-in and no expectation of continuation.

How do I get started?

Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll review what you're running, identify where the strategic gap is, and I'll tell you whether this engagement is the right fit. If it is, I can start within a week of sign-off. Book here →

Let's define
what to test.

30 minutes. No pitch deck.

Book a discovery call
  • Review your current ads and funnel
  • Identify where creative testing is breaking
  • See if the Strategy Foundation is the right next step