> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.adstellar.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creative Testing Mode

> Isolate creative performance by giving each creative its own ad set.

Creative Testing Mode changes how AdStellar structures your campaign to enable true A/B testing of individual creatives.

## What It Does

Normally, all your creative variants are placed as ads within each ad set. In Creative Testing Mode, each creative gets its own **dedicated ad set with a single ad**. This isolates creative performance so Meta's algorithm can't favor one creative over another within the same ad set.

## The Math

**Normal mode:**

```
Audience Templates × 1 = Ad Sets (each containing all creative variants as ads)
```

Example: 3 audiences × 4 creatives = **3 ad sets** with 4 ads each (12 total ads).

**Creative Testing Mode:**

```
Audience Templates × Creative Templates = Ad Sets (each with 1 ad)
```

Example: 3 audiences × 4 creatives = **12 ad sets** with 1 ad each (12 total ads).

Same total ads, but structured differently for cleaner testing.

## How to Enable

On the [Review & Publish](/guides/launch/review-publish) step, toggle on **Creative Testing Mode**. The toggle requires at least 2 creative variants — it's disabled if you only have 1 creative.

<Warning>
  Creative Testing Mode is not available when launching into existing ad sets.
</Warning>

## When to Use It

**Use Creative Testing Mode when:**

* You want to compare creative performance with equal budget distribution
* You're running split tests and need clean data per creative
* You want to identify your best-performing creative before scaling

**Use normal mode when:**

* You want Meta to optimize delivery across creatives automatically
* You have many creatives and want to let Meta find the winners
* Budget is limited and you don't want to split it across many ad sets

## Naming Tokens

Creative Testing Mode unlocks additional naming tokens at the **ad set level**, since each ad set now represents a specific creative:

| Token                      | Resolves To                       |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| `{headline}`               | The headline text of the creative |
| `{primary_text_preview}`   | Preview of the primary text       |
| `{cta}`                    | The call-to-action button text    |
| `{creative_type}`          | Image, video, or carousel         |
| `{landing_page}`           | The destination URL               |
| `{creative_template_name}` | Name of the creative template     |
| `{media_filename}`         | Filename of the media asset       |

These tokens are only available at the ad set level when Creative Testing Mode is enabled. See [Naming Patterns & Tokens](/guides/launch/naming-tokens) for the full list of available tokens.

## Budget Considerations

<Note>
  With Creative Testing Mode, your budget is split across more ad sets. If using **CBO** (Campaign Budget Optimization), Meta distributes the campaign budget across ad sets automatically. If using **ABO** (Ad Set Budget Optimization), each ad set gets its own budget.

  Make sure your total budget is sufficient — Meta recommends at least **\$5–10/day per ad set** for the learning phase.
</Note>