The AI arms race continues as social platforms have spent the last few months releasing generative AI-powered creative tools to (theoretically) allow marketers to move faster to generate ad copy and images.
Reddit, TikTok, Meta and Snap have all created such tools as social media platforms that focus on expanding the ways marketers can use generative AI to create ads. Marketers, who are reading the tea leaves to see why these platforms are releasing AI-driven creative updates, say the tools are aimed at small businesses, making it easier for smaller advertisers to create ads within the social media platforms (and spend ad dollars with them).
“We call them BFF features at our agency, which is ‘beginner friendly’ or ‘budget-friendly,’” said Brandon Biancalani, head of paid media at Modifly, a social agency. “If I was a beginner to paid media and I was having trouble [with] how to exactly spell out the promotion, then you can use those features to come up with ideas.”
Last month, Snap announced that it was working on generative AI ad tools, including AI-powered lenses (or augmented reality effects) and an AI copy generator to create ad headlines. TikTok launched its creative AI suite Symphony over the summer. At the same time, Pinterest launched Pinterest Ad Labs, a new program for select brands to test prototypes of new creative and ad tools, including generative AI features. Meanwhile, Meta expanded its generative AI ad tools in May, allowing advertisers to upload reference images to create AI-generated variations.
To marketers, the rush to offer AI-powered creative tools is a matter of keeping up with the Joneses. And at least, partly, to keep AI capabilities in-house as opposed to relying on partnerships with the likes of OpenAI or Microsoft. The other part is to retain ad dollars from small businesses, agency execs say. Notably, small to medium-sized businesses have always been platforms’ secret sauce in some form or fashion, offering smaller marketers a way to reach their target audience without major budgets.
“I think that’s a selling point for small businesses to now invest in these platforms where before you needed a media buyer, you needed to hire an agency,” said Ashvin Melwani, CMO and co-founder of Obvi, a supplement brand. “There was a barrier to entry for a certain type of small business. Now that barrier is eliminated.” Melwani told Digiday Obvi has experimented with various social platforms’ AI-powered creative tools but has yet to use them in a consumer-facing campaign.
The offerings are a good start, Melwani said, but the creative tools aren’t yet advanced enough to be a marketer’s go-to in creating a consumer-facing campaign. For example, Melwani said, it makes sense to use these generative AI tools to quickly produce image variations or ideate potential ad copy, but things get more murky when considering brand-specific ad copy.
One agency exec who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Digiday that they tested the generative headline tool in Snap, asking it to tell users to check out a free trial using emojis and FOMO (fear of missing out) in the copy and the platform spit out options like, “Try our free trial, hurry up,” which sounds more threatening than inviting, they said.
The real test, according to agency execs, is a matter of how quickly the social platforms’ tools are able to learn a brand ethos and create a brand-specific campaign. Marketers question the source of such data that could inform and customize these tools.
“Generating text is a much easier starting point,” said Kristin Wanek, vp of operations and client strategy at Stealth Venture Labs digital marketing agency. “We’re still not very trustful of it, or it’s still not solid enough, where there’s still not a need for a human eye to comb through and make sure that it’s on brand that.”
AI is in its infantry as far as advertising and marketing is concerned, experts say. But adoption could increase as the social platforms have more data to inform these tools.
“I don’t think we’re at a place yet where I can go and tell Meta ‘go and do everything for me and let me publish it,’ and have me confident of that going live,” said Melwani.
— Marty Swant, senior reporter, marketing and technology, contributed to this reporting.
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