To unpack what truly drives return on investment with performance advertising on the open web, we spoke with Nadim Batista-Kuttab, CEO of Xevio, whose team runs high-volume campaigns across multiple verticals and generative experience optimizations (geos). In our conversation, Nadim broke down his creative philosophy for advertising, what makes an ad “clicky without being clickbait,” and how advertisers can use storytelling to grab high-intent users even before the click.

The Creative Philosophy: A Stop Sign and Reason To Click

Advertising on the open web thrives because users have a different user mindset than they do on social media. On social platforms, users scroll for entertainment and personal updates, but on the open web, they’re actively consuming information, from news articles and reviews to educational content. That shift in intent changes everything about how your ads need to be built.

“You’re reaching people at a time when they’re browsing to consume content,” Nadim says. “The native feeds around articles are incredibly powerful at bringing people in to consume your content.”

For this reason, the open web can deliver exceptionally high post-click engagement: Xevio sees an average time on page of more than two minutes on quality content pieces — but only if the ad is built correctly.

“The ad is really just a stop sign to stop people from scrolling in the feed,” Nadim says. “The headline is the reason they click.”

The creative’s job is simple:

Image: The Stop Sign

The visual must be captivating or intriguing enough to interrupt the user’s natural scanning behavior. Humans can process an image in milliseconds, so your creative either stops their scroll or you’ve lost them instantly.

An image should:

• Stand out visually without looking like a traditional ad.
• Spark curiosity or resonate emotionally.
• Align with the theme, audience or problem without giving away the “punchline.”

Headline: The Reason To Click

First and foremost, a headline should immediately tell a user why this content is for them. This is where the filter begins.

A headline works when it:

• Identifies the audience.
• Connects to that audience’s problem, ignites their curiosity, and/or helps them reach a desired outcome.
• Gives a clear reason to click and read more.

Unlike paid social, performance creative is not the place to explain your offer. The ad exists solely to attract the right reader to your brand, product, or content.

“You don’t have a 60-second video like you do on other channels like Meta or Instagram, where you can really explain and sell,” Nadim says. “That’ll be done later, in your content piece, after the click.”

When you satisfy both image and headline expectations, you earn high-intent clicks from users who stay longer, scroll further, and convert at a higher rate.

Storytelling: Creating High-CTR Ads That Filter Your Audience

One of the biggest misconceptions about display ads is that they need to “sell harder” to win the click. In reality, this creative should repel the wrong audience just as intentionally as it attracts the right one.

The secret to a high-converting ad is not clear sales language, but effective audience filtering that will lead to an increased click-through rate (CTR). You want to attract the person who needs your solution while repelling everyone else.

“You need to find a middle ground,” Nadim urges. “Oftentimes, it’s storytelling: Why are people buying your product? You start with that. What is the problem that you’re trying to solve? Then, how do you get people to click on an ad, while filtering them for potentially having the problem that you’re trying to solve?”

The more precisely you filter before the click, the lower your blended cost per acquisition (CPA) will be.

The Filtering Formula

Effective ads don’t try to appeal to everyone — they strategically filter out users who aren’t a fit so that only the highest-intent consumers click through. Nadim explains that the most effective headlines clearly define the intended audience and why that audience should care. This method ensures you’re paying only for those who are already looking for your product or service, making them far more likely to engage and convert. Here’s how:

• Define the audience: Call out your target audience directly to ensure the ad only appeals to users who fit your ideal customer profile. For example: women over 45, or men with knee pain.
• Present a problem: Immediately introduce a relatable frustration, pain point, or unmet need. Users click to solve, understand, or fix something, not to be sold to.

The hook: Your Audience + Your Problem = Your Desired Audience.

Say your headline is, “Seniors: Do This Simple Stretch to Ease Lower Back Pain.” Anyone who isn’t a senior or doesn’t have back pain will automatically scroll past. That’s the goal.

This formula:

• Increases CTR without aggressive tactics.
• Pre-qualifies users on autopilot.
• Improves time on page.
• Boosts post-click engagement and conversion rates.

“You’ll see a lot of headlines where they’re not particularly clear on what they’re selling,” Nadim says.“Those are very generic headlines that work because they define the audience and the problem, which essentially filters out the people that aren’t interested in that topic.”

This is how ads become both “clicky” and compliant.

Avoiding the Traps: Aggression vs. Generics

When it comes to performance ads, you’ll need to avoid being either too aggressive, or too generic. Stray too far in either direction and your campaign collapses, either through compliance rejection or poor CTR.

The Aggressive Trap

It can be tempting to oversell your offerings, but that’s one quick way to alienate consumers and risk non-compliance.

“You don’t want to say, ‘Click here and cure your disease,’” Nadim cautions. “That’s a terrible approach. Compliance will butcher your ads and take them offline, and you get in trouble for it.”

To stay on the safe side, avoid:

• Promises of outcomes you can’t prove.
• Unsubstantiated medical claims.
• Fear-based hooks.
• “Click here”-style commands.

Performance advertisers speak to consumers who want trusted, educational content, rather than marketing hype.

The Generic Trap

On the other end of the spectrum, some advertisers default to bland, brand-centric headlines that don’t compel clicks. The lack of value means they don’t convert.

“You can’t just be like, ‘Buy my product,’ because people won’t click,” Nadim says. “There’s too much going on, on the open web for them to really be attracted to a generic ad.”

Generic ads fail because:

• They don’t speak to the user’s problem.
• They don’t identify the intended target user.
• They focus on selling rather than informing.

Open web users are in “content consumption” mode: They want to be educated, enlightened, or entertained. The best ads use storytelling to engage users and lead them to a landing page that satisfies their curiosity.

“Remember, everybody on the open web is looking for content to consume and is looking to be educated,” Nadim says. “So, use that to generate high-CTR creatives that aren’t aggressive.”

Key Takeaways

Performance advertising rewards marketers who understand that the ad is a hook, not a pitch. Lead with an image that stops the scroll, pair it with a headline that filters your target audience, and focus on educating rather than selling. When you avoid tipping too far into being either too aggressive or too generic, your ad earns attention without triggering compliance issues, or being ignored.

In the end, the brands scaling their display advertising profitably aren’t necessarily the ones with the prettiest creatives: They’re the ones sending high-intent users into their sales funnel. As Nadim notes, the right creative attracts users who are already looking for a solution like yours, making every click more likely to convert. Build your ads to filter before the click, and you’ll scale faster, spend smarter, and turn the open web into one of your most profitable channels.