Sentrum vs Motion

Motion finds winning creative patterns. Sentrum diagnoses why your whole account performance changed.

Before you ask 'which creative won?' — ask 'is creative even the problem?'

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Motion

Creative Analytics Platform

Visual-first creative analytics for paid social. Frame-by-frame video analysis, AI-powered creative recommendations, automatic creative grouping, and reports that bridge performance and creative teams. Used by brands like Ridge, HexClad, and Jones Road.

Best for: Creative strategists and growth teams who need to analyze creative performance, find winning patterns, and brief designers with data-backed direction
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Sentrum

Diagnostic dashboard for Meta + TikTok

Root cause diagnosis for Meta campaigns. Tells you why performance changed and what to do next.

Best for: Media buyers who need to diagnose performance and take action
TikTok support coming soon

Motion is a best-in-class creative analytics platform. If you need to know which ads are winning, analyze video performance frame-by-frame, and brief your creative team with data — Motion is excellent. But here's the trap: not every performance problem is a creative problem. Your CPA might have spiked because of CPM pressure from audience overlap, not creative fatigue. Your ROAS might be sliding because of budget pacing issues, not bad ads. Motion can't tell you that — it only sees the creative lens. Sentrum is the diagnostic dashboard for Meta buyers. Built by a media buyer with 8 years of experience, it starts with the question 'why did performance change?' and works through every possible cause — creative fatigue is ONE signal among many, alongside CPM shifts, audience saturation, budget allocation, frequency patterns, and placement mix. Motion tells you which creative won. Sentrum tells you whether creative is even the problem.

What Motion does well

Visual-first reports — see actual ads alongside performance metrics
Frame-by-frame video analysis (thumbstop rates, hook rates, drop-off)
AI trained on $14B+ in ad spend for creative recommendations
Automatic creative grouping — find patterns, not just individual winners
Bridges communication between growth/media buying and creative teams
Naming convention parsing for structured creative categorization
Comparative reports across agencies, influencers, formats
Trusted by top DTC brands (Ridge, HexClad, Jones Road)

Why choose Sentrum instead?

If diagnosis and action are your priority, here's where Sentrum delivers:

Diagnosis first, creative second

Motion assumes creative is the lever. Sentrum diagnoses which lever actually moved. Was it CPM pressure from auction saturation? CTR decline from fatigue? CVR drop from landing page issues? Budget shifting to inefficient ad sets? We identify the root cause BEFORE pointing at creative — because 60% of the time, it's not just creative.

Full account diagnosis, not just creative lens

Motion is creative-only — it can't help with budget allocation, audience saturation, account structure, or CPM dynamics. Sentrum covers every diagnostic signal a senior media buyer would check: spend pacing, efficiency trends, mix shifts, frequency patterns, and yes — creative fatigue too.

No attribution dependency

Motion requires Northbeam or a similar tool for accurate ROAS/CPA overlay — it doesn't have its own attribution. Sentrum works directly with Meta's reported data. No third-party attribution tool required.

Recommendations tied to diagnosed causes

Motion says "this creative is winning." Sentrum says "refresh these 3 creatives BECAUSE frequency hit 3.2 and CTR has declined 0.08%/day for 5 days — and reallocate $X from fatigued ad sets." Every recommendation maps to a specific diagnosed problem.

Built for the media buyer, not the creative strategist

Motion bridges creative and performance teams. Sentrum is built specifically for the media buyer sitting in Ads Manager asking "why did this change?" Different user, different workflow, different tool.

Feature comparison

FeatureSentrumMotion
Root cause diagnosis
Full account-level analysisCreative only
Driver breakdown (CPM/CTR/CVR)
Optimization timeline tracking
Mix shift detection
Objective-aware KPIs
Works without third-party attributionNeeds Northbeam
Frame-by-frame video analysis
Visual creative reportsBasicBest-in-class
AI creative recommendationsCause-basedStandalone
Creative grouping & pattern finding
Multi-platform supportMeta-deepMeta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn

The verdict

Choose Motion if...

Your biggest bottleneck is creative strategy. You need to analyze which ads work, find winning patterns across your creative library, and brief designers with data. You have a creative team that needs visual reports alongside metrics. Your question is 'what creative should I make next?'

Choose Sentrum if...

Your CPA spiked and you need to know if it's creative fatigue, CPM pressure, audience saturation, or budget pacing before jumping to conclusions. You want full account diagnosis — not just the creative lens. You're a media buyer who needs to diagnose, decide, and act. Your question is 'why did performance change and what do I do?'

Frequently asked questions

Can I use both Motion and Sentrum?

Yes — and many teams should. Sentrum diagnoses the problem ("CPA increased because CTR is declining from creative fatigue in ad sets X, Y, Z"). Motion helps solve it ("here are the winning creative patterns and what to brief next"). Sentrum tells you what to fix. Motion helps you fix the creative part.

Does Sentrum have creative analytics?

Yes, but diagnosis-first. We identify creative fatigue as a diagnostic signal — declining CTR trends, frequency thresholds, performance decay curves. We don't do frame-by-frame video analysis or creative grouping. We tell you creative is the problem; Motion helps you solve it.

Motion requires Northbeam for accurate ROAS. Does Sentrum?

No. Sentrum works directly with Meta's reported data. No third-party attribution dependency. We diagnose performance using the numbers Meta already gives you — CPM, CTR, CVR, frequency, spend, and placement data.

Is every performance problem a creative problem?

No — and that's exactly our point. CPM spikes from audience overlap, budget pacing issues, seasonal auction pressure, and account structure problems all affect CPA. Motion only sees the creative lens. Sentrum diagnoses the full picture so you're not blaming creative when the real issue is elsewhere.

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