I was always inclined to refrain from making promotional videos as much as I could.
As a content creator who occasionally does small brand collaborations and advertises my own online products, I felt like shooting an ad was a whole different ballgame than posting my normal creations. It was a laborious procedure that included everything from the development of a script to the selection of photographs, shooting of videos, clip editing, resizing it for various platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc. and finally the tweaks after watching the ad stats.
The real challenge was not that of creating a video but generating the right set of variations to know what actually works. An average 15-second ad would require several hours and if the first cut was not successful, coming up with the second version would feel like a fresh start of the entire process.
It is Because of this that I began to test out AI Ad Creative Generator tools. I wasn't dreaming of AI taking creativity away, but was only hoping to cut some repetition tasks between having an idea and testing it.
Why My Old Workflow Became Difficult to Maintain
For a solo creative, time is mostly the biggest constraint. Making a commercial generally involves a writer designer video editor, marketer, and analyst all at once. The problem is each phase is connected to the one before.
Editing is time-consuming and it is inevitable that you will have only little time for testing if you get it all together. On top of that, I also noticed how different is organic vs. advertised content. Regular content, on most days, is something very personal and spontaneous to me as all come from my own thoughts and memories whereas most of the ads didn't really resonate or connect with the audience. I mean they were quite nice looking, but they were not exactly authentic.
Searching for a middle ground between speed & character - that's the core of why I got interested in AI apps.
My First Experiments With AI Video Ads
Initially when I tried artificial intelligence based marketing tools, there were some obvious gaps between what I had written in the first version and what was outputted by the AI. Starting with easy inputs like a picture of the product, a paragraph of descriptions, and a general idea of what would be shown in a video.
The first outputs were clearly flawed. One AI voice read like a script because it sounded like it was only reciting the text, not being able to convey the feelings of the words. In one the product was showcased in a scenario quite out of place as if it was something from a different category. Other variants had good visuals but the text elements were very small that one could not read them easily on smartphone screens.
However those setbacks proved a very good point that AI is not just the alternative route for vague thoughts. It is the quality of your inputs that decide on the quality of outputs that you get from the AI tool.
Instead of asking just "Create an advertisement for a product', I got into the habit of putting in a bit more details, namely the length of the video, the platform where it would be published, the artistic style, the kind of people they were supposed to reach, and the key message to be communicated through it. A request like "Design a 15-second vertical video to engage with the mobile audience, feature the product in a simple workspace background, the text needs not to be overwhelming and end it with a compelling call to action", usually produced good result.
And, I stopped looking only for the first result, that the AI comes up with. Rather, it became the first version which the humans could go to for finalising it by reviewing the AI's work.
What Actually Improved My Workflow
The biggest improvement was not creating one perfect advertisement. It was creating multiple versions faster.
Before using AI tools, testing different hooks, visual styles, or messages required a lot of manual editing. Now I can create several early concepts, compare them, and decide which direction is worth improving.
My current workflow is relatively simple:
- Write down the main idea and audience problem.
- Prepare a few product images or existing assets.
- Generate initial concepts with an AI Ad Maker.
- Review the structure, pacing, and visual style.
- Adjust anything that feels unnatural.
- Export versions for different platforms.
The AI handles some repetitive production work, but the final decisions still come from me. I may change the opening scene because it does not match my audience, rewrite the text because it feels too generic, or replace the AI voice with my own recording.
Those small changes usually make the biggest difference.
Finding the Right Balance Between AI and Human Creativity
During this phase, I tried a number of AI advertising tools. One of the platforms that I used was Adsmaker.ai. One of the good things that I thought about this solution was that it made it easier to produce various advertisement forms from one idea without manually rebuilding every single version.
Still, it was always necessary for me to double-check every piece of output. It is quite obvious that a computer can generate pictures, advise on layouts, and cut down the production time. Yet, it is unable to know the reason behind a message that appeals only to one particular audience.
That's why, part of this is still very much in the human hands.
I find that the best manner of exploiting AI is to consider it not as the replacement of creativity but as an aid that speeds up creative workers without giving away their final control.
What AI Still Cannot Replace
I used to think advertising was all about creating the best piece. But after getting the hang of some of these production tools, I came realized that the hardest part, by far, is understanding consumers!
We can rely on AI to come up with different versions of videos, design concepts, write a script, prepare different presentation formats, etc. But AI can never be like you knowing your customers. It is not always able to tell that a joke is good, that a voice-over is genuine, or that the advertising tone is believable.
All of these judgments continue to be based on comments, conversations and real life audience reactions that people watch or overhear.
Final Thoughts
Before, I always saw the task of creating video ads as something totally apart from the kind of creative work I actually enjoyed. AI Ad Creative Generator tools completely changed that dynamic for me. They didn't take away the need for creativity, but they eliminated some of the problems around trying out ideas and making several versions
By far the most significant thing I realized is that AI functions at its optimal level in assisting and amplifying human decision making rather than substituting it.
Creators avoiding video advertising due to its overwhelming production process might find that experimenting with AI tools is a valid option. Begin with one simple concept, realize some of the results may be very good while others may be less than expected, and don't take yourself too seriously through it.
Content that has been created by an automated system is not the end objective here. What we really want to do is reduce our time working on the boring things and at the same time we will have more time to make something that still feels like "me".
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