How We Combined UGC and Brand Creatives to Drive Qualified Leads via Meta Ads

55places is a U.S. real estate platform focused on 55+ and active adult communities, helping users explore communities and homes across the country.

We have been working with 55places on paid acquisition through Meta Ads, with creative testing being an important part of the account strategy.

Over time, we worked with two creative streams:

UGC videos provided by the 55places team
Brand static and video creatives developed by the Aimers design team

The formats were very different, both in production and in how they were used in campaigns, which gave us a strong base for ongoing testing and optimization.

+28%

higher CTR with client-provided UGC creatives

+31%

higher click-to-SQL conversion rate with Aimers brand videos

Challenge

55places had a library of UGC video assets they wanted to use in advertising, while the Aimers team was continuously developing brand creatives in motion and static formats.

Our goal was to keep the creative mix fresh, test different messages and formats, and use campaign data to improve performance toward SQLs.

The two streams also had very different production cycles. UGC required more time for concepts, filming, and approvals, while brand creatives could be produced and updated much faster. This made it important to use both in a way that supported ongoing campaign performance.

Solution

Combining UGC with Aimers brand creatives

Rather than relying on one creative format, we kept both UGC and brand creatives running in the account.

UGC added a more native, people-led format to the mix, while Aimers brand videos and static ads gave us more room to test different messages, lifestyle angles, offers, and visual approaches.

At the same time, our PPC and design teams worked closely together. We used campaign results to decide what to test next, develop new variations of stronger concepts, and replace weaker creatives without waiting for a new production cycle.

Results

Looking at performance across the funnel

As more data accumulated, we compared how the two creative streams contributed to performance from impression to SQL.

UGC was particularly strong at attracting attention. It delivered a 28% higher CTR and a 22% lower CPC.

Aimers creatives performed better further down the funnel, with a 31% higher click-to-SQL conversion rate.

Despite getting there in different ways, both creative streams ended up at almost the same cost per SQL.

Building on the strongest creatives

We also looked at individual ads to see which concepts were driving the strongest results.

Some of the highest SQL volumes came from UGC videos. At the same time, Aimers-produced videos delivered several of the strongest click-to-SQL conversion rates.

One Aimers lifestyle video generated the same SQL volume as the top UGC videos while reaching a 1.10% click-to-SQL CR. Other Aimers videos reached 1.36% and 1.29% CR, while one static creative delivered a 6.07% CTR, above the overall UGC average.

The strongest creatives results for Meta Ads

The results gave us more room to work with both formats rather than pointing to one clear winner.

UGC continued to bring strong engagement and traffic, while Aimers creatives gave us the flexibility to build on the messages and formats that performed well and quickly turn those findings into new tests.

Conclusion

The strongest approach was to combine the strengths of both UGC and brand creatives.

UGC worked well as a hook for reaching a broader audience and bringing new users into the funnel. Aimers brand creatives supported the next stages, especially remarketing, with more specific messaging, lifestyle angles, and offers for warmer audiences.

The two formats complemented each other well. UGC helped capture attention and generate traffic, while Aimers motion and static creatives helped move users further through the funnel toward becoming SQLs.

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