Creativity continues to be a critical part of a digital ad campaign's success. According to a recent Deloitte study, creativity in marketing not only contributes to growth but also is an increasingly imperative element to an advertiser’s success amidst current economic challenges.
That’s why it’s critical to consider how to unlock new ways to fuel your creativity. It may sound counterintuitive, but utilizing artificial intelligence-based advertising tools can help unlock your next campaign’s creative idea. With the frequent dialogue on AI’s evolving role - it may feel daunting to some, but AI-powered tools and algorithms have been integrated into the marketing industry for some time. Since its early days, Meta has used machine learning and AI to power its apps and services, including its ads system. Now, we’re using AI to help advertisers see what’s working faster and devote more time to creating the ads that will resonate with their customers.
2023 will be the first AI powered holiday season for both marketers and consumers, and there are plenty of opportunities for advertisers to lean in and provide more strategic value to their businesses. Here are a few ways advertisers can use AI to improve their creative strategy.
Constant iteration fuels performance
By using AI to find new customers and generate new ad concepts, marketers have the ability to move faster than ever before. The insights that businesses gain from constant testing of their marketing strategies is invaluable as a signal of what’s working and where they need to focus their efforts. Did a new model unlock a new customer demographic? A great sign to further a relationship. Did a creator do a better job of explaining your value prop than your existing messaging? Let’s have them generate a Reels review for our most popular products. By using AI and social media as a feedback loop marketers can continue to refine their strategies with confidence and optimize their investments for incremental performance gains.
Personalize creative for customer needs
When an ad works the first time, continuing on the tried-and-true path with messages meant for large audiences can be tempting. But overtime, showing the same creative to the same audiences can become stagnant - and result in diminishing returns. AI unlocks an advertiser’s ability to test and learn faster by finding the best customer for your ad at the right time by testing multiple types of creatives.
Using tools like Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, advertisers can gain insight into what ad creatives perform best and what campaign components to shift to unlock new customer segments. Take Jones Road Beauty, for example. Launched in 2020 by Bobbi Brown, the DTC clean beauty brand leverages Meta’s Advantage Suite to grow its business online. The brand uses Advantage+ shopping campaigns to streamline audience targeting, test the best ad placements and efficiently allocate spend. Compared to manual shopping ads, AI-powered tools like Advantage+ shopping campaigns can test up to 150 different ads, enabling advertisers to gain feedback on what creative resonates most with varying audiences. According to Cody Plofker, Jones Road Beauty CMO:“Through Meta’s Advantage+, we’ve been able to take a test-and-learn approach to ensure we’re reaching the right audience and find what resonates best, whether that be a Reel, static post or GIF.”
Optimize your content
AI is not just limited to data and targeting; it is rapidly becoming a tool to expand artistic expression. By harnessing AI-based tools, campaigns can be streamlined and personalized while optimizing results, ultimately saving advertisers time and ad spend.
Platforms are now introducing AI tools tailored to enhance ad creatives through visual enhancements that can support drafting copy. In May, Meta announced AI Sandbox for advertisers, a testing playground for AI-driven tools that fuels experimentation with new content possibilities such as text variation, background generation and image outcropping for Facebook and Instagram Stories or Reels. “We’ve taken advantage of generative AI tools like AI Sandbox to create a variety of assets, product features and messaging to help us test new variations quicker,” said Plofker after receiving a preview of the tech. Tools like these provide a valuable opportunity for advertisers to refine their strategies, iterate on their creatives and inform stronger marketing campaigns. Advertisers should expect features from the AI Sandbox being directly integrated into our products later this year.
With new AI-powered digital tools emerging, an indispensable opportunity exists to create cutting-edge campaigns that target the most relevant audiences. Whether used for ideation support, creative enhancement or personalization, advertisers can embrace AI as a supportive leg up on creativity like never before.
