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Concepts: how an ad frames its story
A concept describes how an ad frames its story. Concepts is the library of concepts for your store. Open it from Create > Concepts.
Problem and intended user
A creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) and a media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) need a shared name for how each ad tells its story. Without one, two people call the same frame by different names. Results then split across labels, and nobody can say which frame carries the spend.
Current workflow
The creative strategist writes the frame into each ad name or campaign name by hand. Spellings drift, so "problem-solution" and "problem/solution" become two labels. Before the media buyer can compare frames, someone cleans those labels in a spreadsheet next to a Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads export.
Prerequisites
- Concepts needs nothing beyond an installed store.
- Built-in concepts exist for every store from the first day, so the list is never empty.
- The Ads column counts ads that Nexus has labelled. Connect Meta Ads, Google Ads or both, and let Nexus sync your ads, so the counts fill in.
How Nexus works
Nexus labels each of your ads with a concept. It matches names first, then text similarity. When those two are unsure, an AI judgment picks the closest concept or leaves the ad unclassified. Nexus also considers the concepts you add when it labels ads. Fixed rules produce the Ads counts.
Each ad has one concept. If you pick a concept by hand in Ad detail, under Creative Taxonomy, Nexus keeps your choice until you select Let the system update this on the next analysis.
Adding and editing save at once. Deleting asks you to confirm. Closing the drawer with unsaved text asks you to confirm. Nothing here changes your ad accounts.
Curate both libraries before you design. An angle is the idea an ad argues. A concept is the frame the ad uses to tell it. They sit side by side under Strategy in the Create menu.
System and Manual concepts
Every concept has a Type:
| Type | Where it comes from | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| System | Built into Nexus. Every store has them from day one. | Read them. You cannot edit or delete them. |
| Manual | You added it. | Edit it. Delete it if no ad uses it. |
Search, filter and sort
- Type in Search concepts to match a name or description.
- Use the All, System and Manual buttons to filter by type.
- Move the Ads range slider to show only concepts used by a certain number of ads. Before the list loads, or when every concept has the same count, the slider is disabled.
- Select Concept, Type or Ads to sort. Select the same title again to reverse the order. Select it a third time to return to the default order.
- When the list is long, use Previous and Next to change pages.
Add a concept
- Select Add concept.
- Enter a Name. This field is required.
- Enter a Description (optional).
- Select Save concept.
Each field stops accepting text at its character limit. If Nexus cannot save the concept, it shows the reason in the drawer and keeps your text. If the name matches another concept, the drawer says A concept with this name already exists or A system concept with this name already exists. Nexus ignores case, accents, spacing and punctuation when it compares names.
If you close the drawer after you typed something, Nexus asks Discard this concept? Select Discard only if you want to lose your text.
Edit a concept
- Select the pencil button on a Manual row. The drawer opens as Edit concept.
- Change the name or description.
- Select Save concept.
If you clear the description, Nexus removes it.
Delete a concept
WARNING
A deleted concept stops appearing in Concepts. Nexus no longer applies it to new ads.
- Select the trash button on a Manual row.
- Confirm Delete this concept? with Delete concept.
A concept that ads use cannot be deleted. The trash button is dimmed. Hover over it to read the reason: Used by N ads. Concepts with ads can’t be deleted.
Exact output
The concept list
The table has four columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Concept | The name, with the description under it. |
| Type | System or Manual. |
| Ads | How many ads use the concept. |
| Actions | Edit and delete buttons, on Manual rows only. |
By default, the newest concepts come first. A concept you add appears at the top. System rows have no actions.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| A System concept with a high Ads count | Decide whether that frame carries too much of your output. Check how it performs in Performance > Ad performance. | media buyer |
| A frame you use that has no row | Select Add concept and name it, so the list matches your own words. | creative strategist |
| A Manual concept with no ads | Select the trash button, then Delete concept, to remove a name nobody uses. | creative strategist |
| A dimmed trash button on a Manual row | Keep the concept, or change the Concept of each of its ads in Ad detail, under Creative Taxonomy. Then delete it. | creative strategist |
| A market idea you have not tried | Go to Insights > Competitors > Competitor Synthesis and select Add to testing roadmap. See Testing Backlog. | creative strategist |
Expected value and measurement
One set of frame names can help the people who label ads use the same words, so a comparison between frames is like with like. It does not change ad results by itself.
To check it, look at two places:
- Create > Concepts: the Ads column shows how many ads sit under each name. A Manual concept with no ads is a name nobody uses.
- Performance > Ad performance: the By concept view, the default, compares Spend and ROAS across concepts for the same dates and platform.
Warning: the effect of a concept cannot be isolated. Budget, season, product mix and the angle behind the ad move results at the same time. Treat a gap between two concepts as a reason to test.
Limitations and exceptions
- AI labels can be wrong. Nexus can label an ad with a concept that does not fit, or leave it unclassified. Open the ad from Performance > Ad performance and change its Concept under Creative Taxonomy. See Ad detail.
- System concepts are fixed. You cannot edit or delete them.
- Names must be new. If a name matches another concept, Nexus refuses it and shows A concept with this name already exists or A system concept with this name already exists in the drawer. The same check runs when you rename. A name that matches a Manual concept you deleted brings that concept back.
- Nexus never adds a concept by itself. If no concept fits an ad, the ad stays Unclassified until you add a concept or set one in Ad detail.
- Delete can fail. If Nexus cannot delete a concept, the dialog stays open and shows why.
- Save can fail. If the drawer cannot show the server's reason, it reads "This concept could not be saved. Check the fields and try again." Your text stays in the drawer.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| No concepts match your search. | Shorten or clear the search. |
| No concepts to show. | The type toggle or the range left nothing. Widen them. |
| No custom concepts yet. | Shown above the System rows when no filter is on and you have no Manual concept. Select Add concept if you want one. |
| Concepts could not be loaded. Reload the page to try again. | Reload the page. |
In Demo Mode, Add concept, edit and delete work, and the changes apply to the demo data only. In the public demo, adding, editing and removing a concept is blocked with "This action is not available in the public demo."