Only 3.6% of marketers say the effectiveness of their ad creative is well understood and actively optimized today, according to recent research from EMARKETER and Perion.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted in February 2026 among 111 agency and marketing professionals in the US with annual media spend over $5 million.
Respondents say they primarily measure creative effectiveness by looking at business outcomes (75.7% do so) and media performance metrics (73%).
Marketers say social is the channel that provides the clearest visibility into creative performance.
Most marketers say creative optimization actions like testing, variant selection, and reformatting are not currently automated at their organization.
Respondents say the top issues that prevent creative from being treated as a continuously optimized variable are production constraints and measurement limitations.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted in February 2026 among 111 agency and marketing professionals in the US with annual media spend over $5 million.
