SoldierStrong Creative Forensics Dashboard

Section 1

The 10 Laws of SoldierStrong Creative

Ten rules distilled from 224 creatives. Break them at your own peril.

01

Dana Perino Is the Money Machine

7×

yield vs no-celebrity ($0.140 vs $0.023/send)

"Hi [firstname], it's Dana Perino. I'm asking you to step up and support our soldiers." — Cr-13, $0.129 yield, 23 polls, $29,794 donated.

02

Holidays Win — Thanksgiving Is King

$0.199

Thanksgiving yield/send — highest of any category

"🦃 Urgent: A Thanksgiving Plea from Dana Perino" — Cr-34b, $0.193 yield, 16 polls, $48,552 donated.

03

The Sweet Spot Is 351–500 Characters

$0.135

yield/send for 351–500 chars, 3.9 avg polls

Celebrity intro (50) + holiday context (100) + mission (100) + ask (100) + CTA (50) = the perfect message.

04

Open with Celebrity + Personal Address + Urgency

10/10

top 10 creatives open with a celebrity name

Every single creative that expanded to 10+ polls opens with a celebrity name in the first line. Zero expanded creatives open with organizational voice.

05

One CTA, One Link, at the End — With >> Arrows

11/12

expanded creatives use a single CTA link at end

"Please, give what you can - right now >> [link]" — Simple. Direct. One link. Done.

06

Don't Put Dollar Amounts in the Body

0

dollar amounts in top 5 by yield — let the LP close

Exception: "If we all chip in $20, we can help a paralyzed veteran walk again." Social proof frame, not ask amount.

07

Holiday + Celebrity + First Person = The Trifecta

$0.131

yield for the trifecta formula (Cr-25, 26 polls)

"Hello [firstname|patriot], Dana Perino here, wishing you a happy upcoming 4th of July!" — Cr-25, $46,969 donated across 26 polls.

08

Martha MacCallum Is the Strong #2 — Especially Christmas

$0.221

yield for Martha's #1 — the all-time champion

"🎅 This Christmas, join forces with Martha MacCallum..." — Cr-138, the highest-yielding creative in the entire dataset.

09

Don't Combine Dana and Martha — Pick One Voice

$0.067

yield for Dana+Martha combined — below either alone

Too many cooks. The reader needs ONE authority figure to respond to, not a committee.

10

No-Celebrity Creative Dies in the Test Phase

0

no-celebrity creatives that expanded past 5 polls

63 no-celebrity MMS creatives, 0 expanded. Chris Meek: $0.018/send. Letterman: $0.010. The data is brutal and clear.

Section 2

Voice Performance

Celebrity, perspective, and authority — how voice determines everything.

Yield per Send by Voice

Dana dominates. No celebrity = no chance.

Average Polls by Voice

Polls = expansion confidence. More polls = more sends.

Total Revenue by Voice

Dana: $287K. Martha: $57K. Everyone else: scraps.

Voice Perspective Yield

Multi-voice (1st+2nd+3rd) crushes single-perspective.

Winning Voice Snippets

Dana Perino — 1st Person

"Hi [firstname], it's Dana Perino. I'm asking you to step up and support our soldiers."

Cr-13 · $0.129 yield · 23 polls · $29,794

Dana Perino — Pattern Interrupt

"Dana Perino's heart beats for our heroes 💖 Yours too?"

Cr-79 · $0.113 yield · 8 polls · $6,395

Martha MacCallum — Christmas

"🎅 This Christmas, join forces with Martha MacCallum and SoldierStrong to bring joy and freedom to our disabled veterans."

Cr-138 · $0.221 yield · #1 All-Time · $13,607

Martha MacCallum — Gift Frame

"3 days left to Christmas! Martha MacCallum here. Can you go in on a gift 🎁 with me for our brave disabled veterans?"

Cr-47b · $0.113 yield · $5,047 from 1 poll

Section 3

Creative Anatomy

Character length, openings, CTAs, emoji — the structural DNA of performance.

Yield by Character Length

351–500 is the goldmine. 750+ is the graveyard.

Hook Taxonomy — What Opens the Wallet

Holiday/Seasonal and Celebrity hooks dominate. Emotional stories fail.

CTA Pattern Effectiveness

Single >> link at end wins. Multiple links = death.

Emoji Impact

Marginal overall, but holiday emojis correlate with seasonal winners.

Opening Line Taxonomy

What the top 10 and bottom 10 openings look like side by side

✅ What Works

#1 Cr-138 $0.221 — 🎅 + Holiday + Celebrity Name

#2 Cr-34b $0.193 — 🦃 + Urgency + Celebrity Name

#3 Cr-32 $0.149 — Personal Address + Celebrity

#4 Cr-25 $0.131 — Personal Address + Celebrity

#5 Cr-16 $0.131 — Personal Address + Celebrity

#6 Cr-13 $0.129 — Personal Address + Celebrity

#7 Cr-79 $0.113 — Celebrity + Pattern Interrupt

#8 Cr-47b $0.113 — Countdown + Celebrity

#9 Cr-34 $0.106 — 🦃 + Urgency + Celebrity

#10 Cr-19b $0.104 — Celebrity + Urgent Plea

❌ What Dies

💀 Cr-07 -$0.033 — "The folks at SoldierStrong need..."

💀 Cr-06 -$0.026 — "It's the last day to get that sweet tax deduction..."

💀 Cr-33 -$0.022 — "Scars are unavoidable in war."

💀 Cr-39 -$0.022 — "In 2021, a tragic incident..."

💀 Cr-40 -$0.022 — "At SoldierStrong, our commitment..."

💀 Cr-71 -$0.022 — "Hey, have a minute to change..."

💀 Cr-36 -$0.022 — "MUST READ:" (clickbait)

💀 Cr-78 -$0.022 — Martha misspelled, 78 chars

💀 Cr-80 -$0.022 — Off-topic Israel/war angle

💀 Cr-61 -$0.022 — No celebrity, 156 chars

Section 4

Winners Gallery — Top 20

The creatives that drove the money. Full copy, full stats, full breakdown.

Section 5

Losers Autopsy — Bottom 20

What went wrong, and how to never repeat it.

The Pattern of Failure

Common to 16+ of the bottom 20 creatives

16/20 No celebrity or misused celebrity

15/20 No holiday/seasonal hook

15/20 Wrong hook (suicide, origin, current events)

14/20 Institutional/organizational voice

12/20 Too long (>500) or too short (<150)

20/20 Exactly 1 poll — tested once and killed

Section 6

Shootout Playbook

The recipe card for building winning SoldierStrong creatives.

THE FORMULA

The template every winner follows

[Holiday Emoji] [Urgency/Holiday Label] from [Celebrity Name]

[Greeting] [firstname|patriot/Friend], [Celebrity] here. [30-second hook / stop scrolling / don't delete].

[Celebrity's relationship to SoldierStrong] [Mission in 1-2 sentences]. [Emotional payload — "walk again" / "stand tall" / "overcome"]. [Ask — "Will you help?" / "join me"].

[Themed CTA verb] >> [link]

✅ Voice — DO

✓ Use Dana Perino as primary celebrity voice
✓ Use Martha MacCallum for Christmas creative
✓ Write in first person: "Hi, it's Dana Perino" / "Martha MacCallum here"
✓ Use "my friends at SoldierStrong" (Dana's actual language)
✓ Weave between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person within same message
✓ Use [firstname|patriot] or [firstname|Friend] personalization

❌ Voice — DON'T

✗ Don't write as Chris Meek (founder) — yields $0.018
✗ Don't use David Letterman — yields $0.010
✗ Don't combine Dana AND Martha in same creative — yields $0.067
✗ Don't use anonymous/organizational voice — yields $0.023, 0 expansions
✗ Don't write in pure third person — use multi-voice instead
✗ Don't sign as "SoldierStrong Team" or "Chris Meek, Founder"

✅ Opening — DO

✓ Open with celebrity name in first 10 words
✓ Use holiday emoji as very first character (🦃🎄🎅❣️)
✓ Add urgency: "Urgent:", countdown ("3 days left!")
✓ Use "pause your scrolling," "stop what you're doing for 30 seconds"
✓ Use "please don't delete this text" pattern interrupt

❌ Opening — DON'T

✗ Don't open with org statements ("At SoldierStrong, our commitment...")
✗ Don't open with statistics ("17 veterans commit suicide...")
✗ Don't open with philosophical musings ("Scars are unavoidable...")
✗ Don't open with clickbait ("MUST READ:")
✗ Don't open with gratitude ("I'm so proud of you")
✗ Don't lead with current events / geopolitics

✅ Body & CTA — DO

✓ Keep MMS 300–450 characters (sweet spot: 351–500)
✓ Keep SMS 101–160 characters
✓ Focus on "walk again" / "stand tall" / "regain independence"
✓ Single link at end with >> arrows
✓ Tie CTA to theme: "Give thanks by giving back >> [link]"
✓ Let the LP handle dollar amount selection
✓ If dollar amount, keep low ($20) + social proof framing

❌ Body & CTA — DON'T

✗ Don't exceed 500 chars for MMS (yields crash at 750+)
✗ Don't use tiered dollar amounts ("$25, $50, or even $100")
✗ Don't use hashtags (#SoldierStrong #SupportOurVets)
✗ Don't use more than 3 emojis in one message
✗ Don't use multiple links or mid-message links
✗ Don't use "Learn more:" or "Tap here to read his full story"
✗ Don't focus on PTSD/suicide prevention as primary hook
✗ Don't misspell Martha MacCallum (not McCallum)

Proven Templates

Template 1 — Holiday + Dana (Thanksgiving / Easter / 4th of July)

Expected yield: $0.10–$0.20/send

[Holiday Emoji] [Urgency Label]: A [Holiday] Plea from Dana Perino

Hello [firstname|patriot], Dana Perino here. Pause your scrolling and read this crucial message:

SoldierStrong is doing incredible work providing resources to our brave men and women. This [holiday], they need our support more than ever. Will you take a moment to help? Every second counts! [Holiday-themed CTA] >> [link]

Template 2 — Dana Personal Direct

Expected yield: $0.08–$0.13/send

Hi [firstname], it's Dana Perino. [Urgency line — "I'm asking you to step up" / "Please know, this is your last chance"].

My good friends at SoldierStrong provide our patriots with the resources they need to overcome obstacles new and old. Will you help today? Take 2 minutes and make a difference with me! >> [link]

Template 3 — Martha Christmas Gift

Expected yield: $0.05–$0.11/send

[Countdown] days left to Christmas! Martha MacCallum here. Can you go in on a gift 🎁 with me for our brave disabled veterans?

[firstname|Patriot], my friends at SoldierStrong are changing the lives of our wounded warriors with their "wearable robot" SoldierSuits. They're the perfect Christmas gift.

If we all chip in $20, we can help a paralyzed veteran walk again. You'll never feel better about giving a Christmas gift than this one. Click here now: ==> [link]

Template 4 — SMS: Celebrity + State Personalization

Expected yield: $0.04–$0.07/send

Dana Perino: Will [statename] step up for our vets? Help them walk again and SERIOUSLY change lives. PRESS HERE > [link]

Section 7

Season & Holiday Heatmap

Thanksgiving is king by yield. Christmas is the workhorse by volume.

🦃 Thanksgiving

$0.199

10 creatives · 6.1 avg polls · 3 expanded

🇺🇸 4th of July

$0.144

33 creatives · 2.7 avg polls · 4 expanded

🐣 Easter

$0.121

9 creatives · 5.0 avg polls · 3 expanded

🎄 Christmas

$0.095

25 creatives · 4.5 avg polls · 6 expanded · 961K sends

📅 Non-Holiday

$0.070

121 creatives · 1.7 avg polls · 5 expanded

Yield by Holiday/Season

Volume (creatives) vs. Yield — size of opportunity by season

Topic Elements That Work vs. Die

Inside the message body — what resonates with donors

Works Inside Messages

✅ Exoskeleton / walking again — the core emotional payload

✅ "Paralyzed veteran takes first steps" — signature story arc

✅ Countdown urgency — "3 days left," "before the 4th"

✅ "Wearable robot" — memorable copy for the SoldierSuit

Dies as Primary Hook

❌ Suicide prevention / PTSD — $0.017 yield or below

❌ BraveMind VR therapy — too technical for SMS

❌ Chris Meek origin story — nobody cares in a text

❌ Israel/Ukraine/current events — off-mission

❌ SoldierScholar scholarships — too abstract

Section 8

Expansion Tracker

From test poll to full deployment — the cascade pattern of winning creatives.

Expansion Predictors — What Gets the Green Light

12/12 Celebrity name in opening

12/12 Dana or Martha voice

10/12 Holiday/seasonal context

10/12 251–500 character range

11/12 Single CTA link at end

10/12 Multi-voice perspective

One-and-Done Antipatterns — Why 141 Creatives Never Expanded

14% No celebrity at all

Heavy Institutional voice

751+ Too many characters

Wrong Suicide/origin/tech hooks

0 Thomas Carufel expansions

0 Mike Hahn expansions

Creative	Polls	Poll Expansion	Yield	Voice	Theme	Opening Pattern

Author/Agency Expansion Rate

Who gets creatives past the test phase?

Expansion by Voice Type

Dana + Martha = 19 of 21 expanded creatives