If a Meta ad works in English, will it work in other languages?

Here is what one subscription app account with more than $1.2 million in Meta spend showed.

We looked at 58 creative concepts, 160 edits and 917 localized ads across 10 languages, and measured how much of the variation in ROAS each factor explained.

One subscription app account, $1.2M Meta spend, 917 localized ads, 10 languages. Spend weighted, ad weeks above $300. The concept alone sits inside concept and variant, so the shares do not add up.

Language explained 4.8% of the variation. The creative concept together with its variant explained 25.2%, more than five times as much. The concept on its own explained 17%, the week and market 14.2%, the hook theme 7%.

In plain terms: what the ad shows and how it puts the idea across matter far more than the language it speaks. The creatives that spent well in English kept spending well across the translations.

What it does not mean

It does not mean every translation performs on its own. Market conditions still matter, and a poor localization can hurt. What it does mean is that a creative that works in English has a strong chance of working in other languages too.

What I do with it

Most of the time you do not need a separate creative strategy for every country.

Test in English.
Find the winners.
Localize them quickly.
Validate each market before you scale it.

The testing method I use for the first two steps is on the ad production page.