How to read the Creative Performance score

Greg McConnell

Sep 22

4 min read

Three different platform metrics converted onto a single Creative Performance scale where 0 is average.

A 1.1% click-through rate on LinkedIn. A 38% view rate on TikTok. A $42 cost per lead on Meta. Which ad did best?

Nobody in the room can say. Each number uses a different unit and answers a different goal. So the LinkedIn owner defends click-through rate, the social lead defends view rate, and the budget conversation ends in a draw.

mktg.ai settles it with one number. The Creative Performance score, or CP, puts every ad on the same scale, whatever the platform, format, or goal.

The mktg.ai view: Channel metrics start arguments. One scale ends them.

What is a Creative Performance score?

CP is a single score for how well a piece of creative performed against the goal set for it. Every asset gets one. So does every campaign, channel, and stage of the funnel. Here is the definition in the app:

CP compares performance across channels, formats, and KPIs. 0 means average performance. Positive scores mean above average. Negative scores mean below average.

Why does 0 mean average?

The most useful thing to know about an ad is how it compares. Putting average at 0 makes that instant. A score of 1.5 is well above average. A score of -1.2 is well below. A score of 0.1 is about par.

That makes CP easy to use out loud. Positive is good news. Negative needs a look. The further from 0, the louder the signal.

What do the CP bands mean?

Every score falls into a band. Each band has a color you will see across the heat map, campaigns, channels, and reports.

Band	CP range	Color
Excellent	Above 1	Green
Good	0.5 to 1	Light green
Average	0 up to 0.5	Yellow
Low	-1 up to 0	Orange
Very Low	Below -1	Red
Unknown	Not enough data yet	Grey

The five Creative Performance bands from Very Low to Excellent, with 0 marked as average.

The short version: green is working, yellow is holding, orange and red need attention, grey needs time.

Example: comparing a LinkedIn post and a TikTok video

This example is illustrative.

Ad	Judged on	Result	CP	Band
LinkedIn document post, Consideration	Click-through rate	1.1%	+1.3	Excellent
TikTok video, Awareness	View rate	38%	-0.4	Low

The raw numbers make the TikTok video look stronger. A 38% view rate sounds great next to 1.1%. The scores say the opposite: against the standards this brand set for each kind of ad, the LinkedIn post did its job far better. That is the conversation CP makes possible.

Who decides what counts as good?

You do. The cut points behind each band live in Operations, then KPI Settings, set for each platform, paid or organic, funnel stage, and format. mktg.ai can propose thresholds from your own history.

This matters more than it looks. Industry benchmarks describe someone else's audience, budget, and category. A CP score describes performance against the standard your team set for your brand.

How do you read the score on a single ad?

Open any asset and look at the Performance tab:

CP Score: the number
Based on: the KPI used to score it, such as Engagement
Rating: the band

The Performance tab of an asset showing its Creative Performance score, the KPI it is based on, its rating, and raw metrics.

Below that are the raw platform metrics, with the one that drove the score underlined.

Always read Based on. If an awareness video scored poorly on clicks, the problem is the goal, and the fix is in KPI Settings.

How should you use CP to decide what to look at first?

Read the score next to the spend. A Very Low score on $50 of spend is a footnote. The same score on $50,000 is the most important thing on your screen. Campaigns, Channels, and Reports show both side by side.

Watch the blended score week to week. The Creative Library shows a blended CP for each week. When this week drops below last week, find out why before the monthly report finds it for you.

Give grey assets a few days. Unknown means there is not enough data to score yet.

Where you will see CP in mktg.ai

Place	What CP tells you there
Creative Library tiles	How each ad is doing
Library week headers	How each week's creative is doing overall
Campaigns	Overall CP, plus the share of assets and spend in each band
Customer Journey	CP for Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion
Channels	Overall CP for each platform
Reports	Every live asset grouped by band

The Creative Performance score shown on an ad tile

One scale, everywhere. The rest of this series is built on it.

FAQ

What is a good Creative Performance score? Anything above 0 is above average. A score between 0.5 and 1 is Good, and above 1 is Excellent.

Can I change what counts as Excellent? Yes. The cut points for each band are set in KPI Settings for each platform, paid or organic, funnel stage, and format.

What does an Unknown score mean? The ad does not have enough data to score yet. Check back after it has more delivery.