Artificial intelligence (AI) in advertising is changing how we create, strategize, and execute marketing campaigns.

So where does that leave you, the human marketer?

Our Think Big with AI report revealed that 67% of businesses already leveraged AI for content marketing and SEO in 2023.

Therefore, AI in advertising isn’t just a trend. It’s a tool for staying competitive and delivering precisely what your customers seek.

Let's look at ways you can leverage AI to get more done in less time.

AI in Advertising: How is it Being Leveraged? 

Artificial intelligence is a technology that allows a machine to read and understand patterns and make predictions about what will happen next.

Every day, this tech works behind the scenes in advertising, helping decide which ads to show you based on what you like and do online. For publishers, it makes their platforms more intelligent and effective. 

According to the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute, both Google Ads and Meta Ads “use AI to sell, target, and place ads micro-second by micro-second.” 

For advertisers, this is a game-changer. No more long hours crafting the perfect ad copy or design—AI handles that in seconds. 

Plus, it keeps tabs on your campaign, tweaking things here and there to ensure every dollar you spend is used effectively. It can even turn off ads that aren’t performing well

AI can transform digital advertising by dynamically monitoring performance, adjusting budgets and bids in real-time, and automatically turning off underperforming ads to optimize campaign efficiency.

Elena Guseva, Paid Traffic Channel Manager, Semrush

Consider the following examples of AI in everyday life:

• Personalized shopping recommendations on ecommerce sites
• Voice-activated assistants like Siri and Alex, 
• Social media feeds curated based on your interests
• Navigation apps based on real-time traffic data
• Personalized recommendations on streaming TV

But it's not just about personalization.

AI in advertising also makes streamlines efficiency. Machines can handle repetitive tasks, like generating a large number of different ad designs, much faster than a human could. This saves time and money, allowing businesses to focus on other things.

However, when using AI, there are issues to consider. Concerns, and the risk of over-reliance on technology are important considerations that businesses should address thoughtfully.

The Impact of AI on Advertising: Will It Work for You?

Are you using AI in your marketing efforts?

Although most companies have embraced AI, not everyone is ready to incorporate it due to challenges such as understanding the technology and concerns about plagiarism, quality, and legal implications.

Like any tool, AI in advertising has its ups and downs, and ultimately, it's all about how you use it. 

Let's break down the pros and cons of AI in advertising:

Pros:

• Personalization: AI can tailor ads to individual preferences at scale, leading to more effective campaigns that resonate with the target audience on a personal level.
• Automation: AI can automate many manual campaign processes, such as designing ads, writing copy, targeting audiences, and managing campaign budgets and analytics, freeing up time for other tasks.
• Dynamic Optimization: Google’s AI tools can optimize ad campaigns in real-time, adjusting variables like bidding, targeting, and creative elements to maximize ROI. 
• Time-Saving Content Creation: Generative AI streamlines the creative process, enabling copywriters and designers to produce content more quickly and efficiently​​​​.

Cons:

• Data Privacy: The data collection required for AI-driven advertising raises concerns about consumer privacy and the potential misuse of personal information.
• The Human Factor: Often, generative AI misses the mark on the emotional connection that only humans can bring. 
• Algorithm Bias: AI algorithms can create biases in the training data, leading to unfair targeting or exclusion of certain groups.
• Overreliance Risk: Leaning too heavily on AI can lead to a lack of human oversight and creativity, damaging your reputation instead of enhancing it

Ultimately, AI excels in efficiency but may struggle to capture human emotion. 

The key is combining AI's strengths with human insight. This approach should begin with a well-thought-out game plan that leverages the best of both worlds.

Crafting Your AI Advertising Game Plan

Incorporating AI into your marketing strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s all about making your life easier. 

Start by constructing a strategic game plan that outlines your objectives, the AI tools you'll use, and how you'll measure success. 

Let's explore a sample strategy to kickstart your AI journey. 

Step 1: Assess Your Current Advertising Landscape 

Start by auditing your existing advertising strategies, channels, and outcomes. 

Dive into:

• Your target audience demographics, online behavior, and engagement patterns.
• Ad spend efficiency across platforms to identify top-performing campaigns.
• How your advertising aligns with overall marketing objectives.

For instance, if you’re marketing a local coffee shop, examine your social media ads for reach and engagement. Consider enhancing personalization and targeting, using AI to test various ad elements to engage more effectively

Personalization is key in digital advertising. AI can support this by testing different ad copies, languages, and images to find the most effective combination for engaging the target audience.

Elena Guseva, Paid Traffic Channel Manager, Semrush

Step 2: Define Clear Objectives 

Set specific and measurable goals for your AI advertising efforts. These objectives could include things like:

• Reduce the time to launch campaigns by 20% this quarter
• Increase personalized ad testing audience segments by 30% in six months
• Improve the spend return by 15% over the next year

Defining your objectives early in your campaign strategy ensures your goals align with your broader business objectives and are achievable with the AI tools you decide to use.

For example, by using AI, you could aim to boost foot traffic to your coffee shop by 25% over the next month. To do this, you target local enthusiasts with personalized ads for a new seasonal latte, aiming to increase in-store visits.

Step 3: Understand AI Capabilities and Limitations 

AI is powerful but not perfect. Here’s where it shines and falls short:

Strengths : Rapid ad creation, data-driven targeting, and efficient campaign

Limitations: Struggles with emotional nuances and contextual understanding, and depends heavily on quality data.

In addition, when using AI tools, pay attention to privacy and security concerns and ensure your AI applications respect confidentiality.

For your coffee shop's campaign, you might use AI to automate the targeting of your ads, ensuring they reach local coffee enthusiasts on social media. 

Step 4: Select the Right AI Tools 

After researching, it's time to pick the right tools for your advertising needs. Look for tools that match your advertising goals and integrate seamlessly with your marketing setup. 

Here are some features to consider:

• Dynamic design creation to keep things fresh
• Automatic copywriting tailored to your message and your audience
• Predictive analytics to foresee how your campaign will roll

Make sure the tool is user-friendly, scalable to accommodate your business growth, and backed by reliable support.

For the coffee shop, you might choose an AI platform that excels in creating dynamic ads and segmenting audiences, enhancing your social media advertising efforts.

AI can be a game-changer in ecommerce by automatically pausing ads for out-of-stock products and turning them back on once they are restocked, ensuring advertising efforts are always aligned with inventory availability.

Elena Guseva, Paid Traffic Channel Manager, Semrush

Step 5: Run Your Ad Campaign

With your strategy set and AI tools selected, it’s time to launch your ad campaign. 

Here's how AI can enhance the process

• Launching with Confidence: Kick off your campaign using the insights and strategies you've refined with AI.
• Monitoring Performance: Track key metrics like click-through rates and conversions to measure your campaign's success. Opt for AI tools that automate this monitoring, like Google Ads.
• Adjust as Needed: Use the data you gather to make real-time adjustments to your ads, ensuring they resonate with your audience and achieve your objectives.

For example, if your coffee shop's social media ads for a new seasonal latte are hitting the mark, consider increasing your budget for these ads or quickly generate more related ads using AI.

Step 6: Scale AI Integration

If all is going well, consider expanding the use of AI in your marketing strategy. Pick AI tools that fit your bigger marketing goals and ensure your team knows how to use them. Keep an eye on how these AI-powered efforts are doing and tweak as needed. 

AdCreative.ai - Your AI-Powered Solution for Effortless Ad Creation 

AdCreative.ai in the Semrush App Center simplifies ad creation across multiple platforms.

This app automates the generation of custom, brand-specific ads, ranging from display and video ads to product photos and even stock images. 

It's designed to save time by replacing lengthy design and copywriting sessions

Plus, it’s powered by its proprietary language model, AdLLM Spark, trained on real advertising data from platforms like Google and Meta. That means your ads will be intelligently created to convert your audience. 

While the process can be fully automated, you can edit and provide input at every step, ensuring the final ads align with your brand and goals.

Getting started is as easy as entering your URL and letting the app scan your website. 

AdCreative.ai will automatically detect your brand name and colors, and logo. Once you review and confirm the information, click "Create Brand" to proceed.

Once your brand is created, you can pick the assets you want to generate. For this example, we’ll use the Ad Package. 

To generate your ad package, enter your URL and choose your goals, tone of voice, and language. You can also edit your auto-generated product name, audience, call to action, and description. 

Once you’re happy with this information, click “Next Step,” and AdCreative.ai will guide you through platform selection and creative sizes.

First, choose your ad strategy.

Then, choose your platform.

Next, pick out the ad size you want to run.

To illustrate your ad, you can choose from free stock photos, paid options, or upload your own images.

Once you’re happy with your image and copy, click “Generate” to create ads. 

In seconds, AdCreative.ai generates conversion-focused ad creatives specific and copy specific to your brand. It also offers a conversion score to aid in selecting the ideal creative for your objectives. 

You can download and use the creatives as needed. Repeat the process whenever you need new assets for your campaigns.

Pricing: AdCreative.ai offers a free three-day trial, after which you pay $109 per month per 5 brands and 100 credits. 

For an extra $50 per month, you can stack another 100 credits and 5 brands. 

AdCreative Real World Use Cases 

From startups to established brands, here’s how businesses can leverage AdCreative.ai to transform their advertising efforts. 

Ecommerce Retailer Boosts Conversion Rates

Goal: You’re an online clothing retailer that aims to enhance ad performance and update its ad creatives and product photos for a fresh look across platforms.

Scenario: Using AdCreative.ai, you input detailed brand information and high-quality product images. The platform then generates a variety of visually stunning ad creatives and optimized product photos specifically tailored for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and the Google Display Network.

Result: This strategic use of AI-driven visuals and copy leads to a noticeable increase in click-through and conversion rates, showcasing the power of AI in creating ads that resonate with the target audience and drive engagement.

Startup Leverages AI for Launch Campaign

Goal: You’re a startup that aims to maximize its advertising impact for an innovative gadget launch with a limited budget.

Scenario: Your startup turns to AdCreative.ai to create ads without the cost of a professional agency. They input their product details and brand identity and quickly receive tailored ad creatives and copy optimized for their target audience on social media and display networks.

Result: This approach allows them to swiftly test various ad sets, identifying the most effective creatives that boost visibility and sales for their launch, all while keeping their marketing budget in check.

Ad Agency Increases Efficiency and Client Satisfaction

Goal: Your ad agency seeks to efficiently meet the varied advertising needs of your clients with limited resources.

Scenario: Your agency, tasked with creating customized advertising for a diverse client base, integrates AdCreative.ai into its workflow. This tool enables them to swiftly produce tailored ad creatives and copy, meeting each client's specific requirements for their products and campaigns.

Result: Leveraging AdCreative.ai enhances the agency's operational efficiency, facilitating extensive A/B testing and leading to better-optimized ad performances. This approach elevates client satisfaction by delivering personalized, results-oriented ad campaigns.

More AI Advertising Tools to Try 

While AdCreative.ai offers robust AI-driven advertising capabilities, let’s highlight a few more AI advertising tools available.

Here are three more options that can complement or enhance your advertising strategy:

Jasper.ai Ad Copy Generator

Jasper.ai Ad Copy Generator is a specialized tool within the Jasper.ai platform designed to supercharge your ad creation process. It provides a streamlined approach to generating persuasive, engaging ad copy that resonates with your target audience. 

Pros:

• Speeds up the ad copywriting process, allowing for rapid campaign deployment
• Learns and maintains your brand's tone and style across all ad copy
• Optimizes copy for conversions, driving better campaign results.

Cons:

• Learning curve to familiarize yourself with tool features
• Output can become repetitive, requiring edits

Pricing: Jasper.ai offers a free 7-day trial. After the trial, subscription costs for limited users and features begin at $39/month. 

Smartly.io

Smartly.io is an advertising automation platform that enhances social media ad campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

Smartly.io’s features include automated ad optimization, creative scaling, and detailed analytics, making it a good solution for advertisers aiming to optimize their social media presence and engagement​​​​. 

Pros:

• Uses AI to automate ad optimization for better performance and ROI automatically
• Allows for the centralized management of ad campaigns across multiple social media platforms
• Provides ad targeting options so you can reach specific audience segments 

Cons:

• No free trial
• Pricing format may end up being a higher-priced option 

Pricing: Smartly charges users based on percentages of their advertising spend.

AdRoll

AdRoll is a marketing tool that focuses on retargeting, assisting companies in reconnecting with their website visitors through tailored ads. With its AI, AdRoll analyzes user behavior to create personalized ad campaigns that improve conversion rates and drive sales. 

Pros:

• Can run ads on various platforms, including social media, search engines, and websites
• Able to use machine learning to target users based on their behavior, interests, and demographics 
• Integrates with popular ecommerce and marketing platforms

Cons:

• Ad approval process can be slow
• Ad customization may be limited

Pricing: AdRoll offers a pay-as-you-go plan for display and native ads.

The Future of Advertising: Will AI Take Over? 

The future of advertising will undoubtedly be intertwined with AI, as it offers unprecedented efficiency and personalization. 

However, keeping your human touch remains irreplaceable, providing creativity and emotional intelligence that AI can't replicate. 

As AI tools evolve, they will become indispensable in crafting data-driven campaigns, but the art of advertising will always require a human touch to truly connect with audiences. 

Get started today by trying out AdCreative.ai in the Semrush App Center.