Advertising has undergone many changes over time. Once again, making an ad involved sitting down with a designer, a writer, a photographer and/or a marketing team, and thinking through the entire process from start to finish. Today, there are many tasks that can be automated using AI that can be done in a fraction of the time.
So, does that render traditional advertising obsolete? Not really. The larger shift is the creation, testing and management of ads by businesses. So, what’s new?
How traditional advertising worked
Typical advertising is typically very labour-intensive. The first step in creating an ad would be for a business to determine what it wanted to advertise, then it would have people make the graphics, write the ad, and get it ready to go.
For instance, a fashion brand that wishes to release a new fashion collection may require a photoshoot, Photoshopping the best images, drafting the ad copy, designing various layouts and preparing it for all channels. Does all this sound like a lot of work to you?
This approach might result in well thought out and innovative campaigns, but sometimes the time was longer. Changes may also entail returning to the designer or marketing team and the repetition of efforts.
What AI has changed
There are many aspects of advertising that are faster with the help of AI. Rather than making all of the elements individually, now businesses can use AI to come up with ideas, write copy, create images and make different versions of an ad.
Looking for three headlines for the same product? AI can help. Need an alternative visual concept? That can be developed much more quickly, too. Lapis simplifies this process by helping businesses generate ad creatives with AI, making it easier to turn marketing ideas into visual advertisements without starting every design from scratch.
This is particularly beneficial when done for businesses that require their new content on a regular basis. For instance, ecommerce brands can potentially be running multiple products and promotions simultaneously. When the workload continues to increase, it can become challenging to make all the ads manually.
More ad variations
A key difference with one is the amount of ad variations that companies are able to generate. In the traditional advertising world, producing 10 variations of an ad requires a lot of effort and time.
With the help of AI, this process can be accelerated to create multiple variations of the same concept. The business will then be able to select which versions will be selected for its brand and campaign.
How does this affect you? Different people react in different ways to different messages and/or pictures. There is more choice for businesses to test ideas, rather than relying on one creative.
Faster testing
Another area where advertising has changed is testing. In the past, making changes to an ad could take time when several people were involved in the process.
AI can help generate new versions more quickly. A business can experiment with different headlines, images, offers, and layouts before evaluating how customers respond.
With agentic AI advertising, businesses can also move towards more automated campaign workflows. Depending on the tools being used, AI agents can help analyze performance data, identify opportunities for improvement, and support adjustments to creative elements or campaign settings.
The key point is that AI does not automatically know what customers want. Businesses still need to examine performance data and understand their target audiences. AI makes experimentation faster, but sound decisions still depend on relevant data and human judgment.
Lower creative workload
Typical advertising can be a very resource and man intensive business, particularly for businesses that operate more than one campaign. Some repetitive creative efforts can be minimized by the use of AI.
It’s not to say that human designers and writers aren’t still needed. It’s still important to have humans involved in the creative direction, understanding the brand, and for good ideas. AI is just another solution for teams to complete tedious tasks.
Increase emphasis on personalization
One other important attribute that can be noticed is personalization. Traditional ads were often targeted at a wide target audience. Nowadays, businesses are able to make various sorts of advertisements for various audiences.
For instance, the same product could have a different message for a first-time visitor vs a repeat visitor.
AI can assist businesses to make these variations faster. Brands don’t need to create a single message for everyone; they have the opportunity to try out different messages which feel more relevant to different audiences.
What has stayed the same?
Despite all these modifications, the fundamental objective of the advertising continues to be the same. But now, businesses have to make sure they know their customers, communicate effectively, and provide a purpose for people to listen.
While AI can generate an image or come up with an idea for a headline, it can’t replace a good brand idea. Creating a campaign with AI doesn’t guarantee it will be successful if not well planned.
Finding the balance is the best approach. Leverage technology to save time; always remember to incorporate creativity and judgment into the campaign from a human perspective.
Final thoughts
While traditional advertising methods and AI advertising methods have distinct characteristics, they share a common goal of targeting the right audience with the right message.
The most significant difference is the speed and agility. In the world of advertising, AI can help businesses generate, refine, and prototype a wider variety of ads without undertaking each small adjustment as a massive undertaking.
The dilemma of today’s businesses is more complex than just whether to employ traditional techniques or AI. It’s about knowing where AI can help make the advertising process easier, while still maintaining the human touch to the creative process.
