Building Ads with Barry

Struggling to create high-converting ads that scale? Ad account begging for fresh creative, but don’t know where to start? Confused and misguided by tons of info on making good ads? People hate ads. In my live course, I’ll share the exact system I use to create ads people don’t hate. Join me and 100+ marketers to learn how.

Founder & Chief Ad Nerd

Hott Growth

Helping launch new businesses and grow established brands through modern advertising practices, relevant creative, and frictionless landing pages and CRO.

I'm available for projects, consulting, advising, or on a monthly retainer as a fractional CMO/VP, Growth.

Growth & Performance Marketing Consultant

Adcrate

Advisor

Rotten

Head of Growth

Harry's, Inc.

Performance Creative Strategy and Ad Consultant

The Perfect Jean

Growth Marketing Consultant

BeeRoll

Lone River Beverage Company

Consultant - Paid Social

Acquired by Diageo March 2021

Launched Lone River Ranch Water Hard Seltzer ads on Facebook, applying a DTC approach to CPG advertising.

Jump 450 Media

Clients: EA Sports, Nuts.com, MoneyLion, Spartan Race, Freedom Grooming

Growth Lead & Acquisition Manager

Thesis

Clients: Lumin, Hubble, Cerebral, Athletic Greens, Mirror, Mockingbird, Nuts.com, Urbanstems, Keeps, Feather, Olive & June, Wandering Bear, Glamsquad
● Guided high-level strategy for clients and executional excellence for the Growth team, representing over $6 million per month in paid social and search
● Led cross-functional creation and iteration of ad creative and landing page design to increase conversions by aligning internal CRO, media, and creative teams with external creators, client leadership, and platform partners.
● Forecasted team revenue and minimized expenses to maintain profitability and increase EBITDA
● Initiated and standardized processes for client and employee onboarding, retention, and ongoing improvement

VP, Growth

Clients: Lumin, Misen, Hawthorne, Baboon To The Moon, Glamsquad, Skylar, Clorox
● Strategize, implement, and optimize aggressive conversion-focused ad campaigns and creative for DTC startup clients
● Pioneer cross-functional policies, processes, and best practices across client services, CRO, and creative teams
● Establish high-trust, transparent partnerships with new clients to facilitate long term successful growth

Director of Growth

I've been buying and overseeing ads on Facebook since 2008. I have personally implemented, optimized, and managed monthly spends in the range of $1-5 million and cumulatively I have managed and overseen more than $600 million on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn for brands like AT&T, Toyota, Microsoft, Kraft, LG, Spotify, Hyatt, and many more. I'm comfortable with all objectives and buying types on these platforms, with expertise in branding as well as direct response.

In the last few years, I've been focused on helping grow DTC/startup brands like Hubble, Keeps, Nuts.com, Urbanstems, MoneyLion, Lumin, Cerebral, Wandering Bear Coffee, Flock Chicken Chips, Mirror, Athletic Greens, Spartan, and more.

In early 2020, I helped launch Lone River Ranch Water, and we were acquired by Diageo in 2021.

All three companies I worked for in 2021 were acquired: Lone River, Thesis, and Jump450.

Barry Hott

Do not trust screenshots anymore!

Nano Banana Pro can edit them with ease can be used to deceive.

Growing businesses with ugly ads, streamlined execution, and deep consumer empathy.

There's never been a worse time to say “that’s not my job” or “we’ve always done things this way.”

There's never been a better time to be a scrappy problem solver.

AI is multiplying the impact of people who take ownership, experiment quickly, build systems, and stay curious.

The people rising are the ones who run toward problems, learn without ego, and use AI to amplify their output and their team’s.

The people falling are the ones clinging to job descriptions, perfectionism, old hierarchy, memorized expertise, or protecting their ego.

The winners are scrappy problem solvers.

The losers are anyone still waiting to be told what to do.

Human Squared

We help enterprise brands navigate the new world of AI.

Co-Founder

Making content sucks. With traditional agencies it costs anywhere from 5 to even 6-figures, and this type of content isn't made for social. That's where we come in, applying a social-first lens to your paid ads strategy.

HONOR

- Reporting directly into the country lead for Huawei Honor devices as the marketing function of the business.
- Introducing new and cost-effective influencer engagement programmes to drive brand awareness.
- Leading the setup of the new Honor retail field force, including agency sourcing, team
recruitment/training, store mapping/grading, process management and driving commercial alignment with key channel partners to ensure alignment of objectives.
- Key focus around optimization of existing marketing channels, improving ROI expenditure across
PPC/Display/Social ad purchases (improving conversions by upwards of 212%).
- Agency management across PR, advertorial, launch events, ATL/BTL advertising- including
manufacturing and introducing new retail fixtures/security solutions for Honor at key events.
- End-to-end budget management, internal business sell-in, liaising with global HQ and Western Europe teams to drive brand messaging consistency across all key marketing initiatives.

Senior Marketing Manager

Huawei Technologies

Marketing Manager

Samsung Electronics

- Trial and testing new initiatives in a structured phased approach (examples include analytics based security solutions) delivering strategic recommendations and introduced efficiencies.
- Management of a £50M budget between key stakeholders of the business, delivering this within the selected timescales and creating a management ‘blueprint’ that is now being used for best practice.
- Launching new marketing/experience led programmes in the retail estate (developing 100% engagement uplift), managing agency RFP to source new partners to build marketing initiatives.
- Partner sourcing and development on in-store marketing initiatives (including Projection technologies), developing business sell-in, ROI analysis, project management and handover, resulting in technology being utilised in our ATL campaigns.
- Audit of existing sales/marketing contracts with network partners and commercial renegotiations of contracts to maximise investment from a brand, marketing and fixtures perspective, driving costs down by circa £500K and maintaining revenue projection.
- Undertaking go to market manager role for 2 month period, covering merchandising, retail marketing, new store fixture development and development of maintenance programmes.

Omni-Channel Innovation Executive

Blue Square Marketing

- Maintain an expert understanding of Samsung products along with an understanding of competitor products to show Samsung’s USPs in order to gain sales.
- Build meaningful customer relationships to generate leads with repeat purchases.
- Managing group conversations and other staff members to ensure job role requirements are being fulfilled.
- Maintain brand visual and operational standards. 
- Capture and report relevant data on a daily basis and report this back to head office (e.g. stock levels and any pricing based issues).
-Responsible for training staff in order to drive Samsung sales and build better product knowledge throughout the store.

Samsung Retail Team Leader

- Supporting the European Brand Director and Senior Brand Manager to create a marketing platform for the 17 European subsidiaries focused around the digital appliances product range.
- Responsible for developing the brand strategy, supporting subsidiaries to maximize their usage of marketing materials/assets with localizing opportunities.
- Managed the creative direction of 4 digital videos in collaboration with agency partners.
- Managing the legal/finance side of the platform, including the successful maintenance of a £2M budget, liaising with internal/external contacts to ensure the process runs efficiently.
- Supporting subsidiaries in increasing local budgets to maximize usage of both ATL/BTL campaign assets across all touchpoints (launched ATL campaign in several european countries with localised marketing)
- Creating monthly based reports on all subsidiary activities and updates on work progress to HQ

Results: 

An award winning advertising campaign that is currently being developed into a version 2.0 that will introduce many more product ranges.

Brand Marketing Executive

- Sourcing and building relationships with new partners in the Education vertical across content, software, service and support channels. 
- Providing support to European subsidiaries across all education related marketing/product based queries, delivering results and ensuring a strong relationship is maintained between the business stakeholders.
- Improving communication between subsidiaries and European HQ through managing social channels and increasing user engagement on internal social network.(+100 new registrations onto community network).
- Leveraging with 17 EU Subsidiaries to obtain project status reports, sharing best practice cases in order to maximize results and increase sales.
- Helping organize B2B events for Samsung catered around the education sector.

B2B Placement

- Maintain an expert understanding of Samsung products along with an understanding of     competitor products to show Samsung’s USPs in order to gain sales.
- Understanding the needs and requirements of B2B users to sell them the best solution for them.
- Build meaningful customer relationships to generate leads with repeat purchases.
- Maintain brand visual and operational standards. 
- Capture and report relevant data on a daily basis and report this back to head office (e.g. stock levels and any pricing based issues).
- Responsible for training PC World staff in order to drive Samsung sales and build better product knowledge throughout the store.

Experience Consultant

Dixons Retail

- Achieving top sales for the weekend within the first week of working at £4000+.
- Keeping up to date with the latest technologies to enhance customer service therefore sales.
- Ensuring customer complaints are handled in the correct manner for a positive outcome.
- Providing demos for Apple, Microsoft, HP and Samsung products.
- Ability to identify customers’ needs, satisfy it and then close the sale.

Sales Advisor

Mothercare

Generating sales worth in excess of £30,000 over the course of a year (part time).

Dealing and communicating effectively with customers and their queries.

Specializing in the home and travel department, which was a very active role, based mainly on providing customers with a good experience and service to maximize sales.

Creating relationships rather than just a quick sale to generate repeat purchases.

Training new employees in order to allow them to work independently and effectively. 

Working under pressure during busy periods whilst still maintaining quality of service.

Customer Sales Advisor

The Tribal Company - Student Enterprise

•	Creating financial statements for the closing period of the business including the SoFP and income statement.
•	Strategic social media planning in order to gain an online following through various different social media websites in order to achieve a target of 500+ followers.
•	Conducting sales in a team and also individually to generate sufficient profit.
•	Creating informative presentations as a group and participating in presentations.

Social Media Strategist/IT Manager

8+ years experience building marketing campaigns for tech brands. 

Now building Adcrate.co - a performance ad agency. We've worked with leading brands across the US and UK.

Ali Qureshi

Adcrate just turned 3.

36+ people. 50+ clients serviced. 500+ ads a week.

Year 3 is weird. This is where most businesses stop pushing.

Not because they're failing, they just stop trying as hard.

There’s product/market fit, revenue is solid, everyone knows what they’re doing. But this predictability creates complacency.

You start protecting what you built instead of building what's next. 

We played it safe this year, I believe that was the right call.

Built the foundation, figured out our pod structures, I got more involved ON the business than IN the business.

Basically, we made sure everything actually worked before trying to scale it. Foundation's solid now.

Year 4 is about getting aggressive. Hiring people who are better than us at things we used to do. Making bets that feel uncomfortable (but calculated).

If you're not uncomfortable with your growth targets, they're not ambitious enough.

On that note, we're hiring:

- Creative Strategists
- Video Editors
- Senior Account Managers
+ a few other roles. 

We’re looking for people who've been through this stage and know the difference between momentum and being busy.

If you get restless when things plateau, if you'd rather build than maintain, if "steady growth" sounds like slow death - we should talk.

To everyone who's been a client, supported us, or just followed along on this journey. Means more than you know 🫡❤️

Special shout out to a few people that have really helped steer the way as friends and mentors:

Barry Hott, Nick Shackelford, Azam Jaafri, Jesse Pujji  - appreciate you all!!

Co-Founder @ Adcrate (Performance Ad Agency)

2 years. That’s how long I ran this agency like I was still employee number one.

Newly 40 people on the team, 500+ ads shipping every week, and I still wanted my eyes on everything. 

Quality control was the hardest thing to let go of. Part ego, part fear, part identity. I built this on my standards.

But here’s what I didn’t see at the time: I wasn’t leading the business. I was just another team member with a founder title. And when the founder operates like a team member, the business stagnates.

Once I had the right people in place, people who already understood how we operate, the culture, the standards, I stopped reacting and started steering. 

We built our entire 2026 roadmap, not because I suddenly had more hours, but because I finally had the headspace to think six months ahead instead of six hours ahead.

Most founders aren’t overworked. They’re under delegated.

If you haven’t made this shift yet, start by looking at who’s already inside. Promote from within, people who already live the culture don’t need to learn it. 

That handoff is 10x smoother than hiring someone from outside and hoping they figure it out.

When you have the right systems in place, you can keep finding winning ads.

For this specific brand, we've done it several times.

Here's the thing: they have multiple agencies already producing high volumes of creative.

But we still keep finding winners because we challenge what's already in the account. 

We do dedicated shoots and we test angles everyone else is avoiding.

More volume doesn't win. Creative diversity does.

If you're a brand or agency looking to scale creative production, let's talk.

Been using Claude's deep research and ChatGPT's deep research side by side for a few weeks now.

It's not even close.

ChatGPT pulls from maybe 10-15 sources. Claude's pulling from 300+. But honestly the source count isn't even the thing.

Claude gives me something I can actually use. The structure makes sense, the insights connect to each other, and there's stuff in there I didn't even think to ask for but genuinely found useful. 

ChatGPT gives me a report that looks like research but doesn't actually move my thinking forward. It's fine, it's serviceable, but that's kind of it.

If you're making real decisions off AI research (strategy, market sizing, competitive intel), test them both yourself.

You'll see it immediately.

I've been watching brands completely mess up Q4 by doing the exact opposite of what works.

They're tightening brand guidelines right when they should be throwing them out the window. The creative team gets a deck that says "use this exact shade of teal" and "no UGC unless it's been professionally shot and graded" and "make sure every ad reflects our new premium positioning."

WHY ARE WE DOING A REBRAND IN NOV/DEC?

Here's what's actually happening: these brands are confusing their brand guidelines with their brand itself.

Your brand isn't the colours, font, the exact shade of teal or how polished your UGC looks. 

Your brand is the belief. 

Look at what's actually cutting through right now. Messy founder videos. Ugly UGC shot on someone's phone in bad lighting. Raw product demos that look like they weren't made for an ad at all. None of this follows anyone's brand guidelines, but the ones that work are communicating a clear belief about why the product matters.

If your brand is actually strong, if the belief is clear, it'll survive some messy creative. If your brand falls apart the moment someone uses the wrong hex code, you don't have a brand problem, you have a belief problem.

In Q4, when everyone's screaming and the feed is pure chaos, what matters isn't how "on brand" your creative looks.

What matters is whether your customer understands why they should buy from you instead of your competitor. And they don't need perfect fonts to understand that.

taplio

The Battle

Barry Hott

Ali Qureshi

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreBarry Hott's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAli Qureshi's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Barry Hott

Ali Qureshi

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Barry Hott's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAli Qureshi's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreBarry Hott's LinkedIn Performance