In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often face the dual challenge of staying competitive without overspending. Ad creative production, a key component of successful marketing campaigns, can be particularly resource-intensive. Fortunately, AI-powered tools are revolutionizing how businesses create and optimize their ad content—cutting costs while maintaining, and often exceeding, performance standards.

Cost-Cutting Opportunities Through AI-Generated Creatives

Automation Reduces Labor Costs

AI platforms like Canva’s Magic Studio and Adobe Firefly enable businesses to create high-quality visuals and ad copy without extensive design expertise, minimizing the need for costly external services.

Scaling Without Scaling Costs

AI facilitates dynamic creative generation, allowing for personalized and localized ads without additional design expenses. For instance, Headway, an edtech startup, utilized AI tools such as Midjourney and HeyGen to produce AI-driven ads, achieving a 40% improvement in return on video ad investment and 3.3 billion ad impressions in the first half of 2024.
Source: Business Insider

Efficient A/B Testing

AI accelerates the creation of multiple ad variations, enabling rapid testing and optimization. Klarna, a Swedish buy-now-pay-later company, leveraged AI to reduce image production costs by $1.5 million and shortened development timelines from six weeks to seven days.
Source: The Times

Matching or Exceeding Performance with AI-Generated Creatives

Cost savings are just one side of the equation. The real power of AI lies in its ability to produce ad creatives that perform just as well—if not better—than traditional methods. Here’s how AI delivers competitive performance:

Data-Driven Optimization

AI analyzes audience behavior and market trends to craft content that resonates with target demographics. For example, Instreamatic partnered with advertising agency Dentsu to create personalized AI-generated audio ads, which significantly outperformed generic ones, increasing brand favorability by 22 percentage points.
Source: Instreamatic

Real-Time Adjustments

AI enables dynamic optimization of ad creatives based on real-time performance data, ensuring sustained campaign effectiveness. Perion utilizes AI to optimize ad placements and personalize content, resulting in improved campaign performance across various channels.
Source: Financial Times

Why Insourcing Ad Creation with AI is the Future

As AI continues to revolutionize the way businesses operate, small to medium-sized e-commerce companies are uniquely positioned to benefit from insourcing their ad creative production. By leveraging AI tools, businesses can significantly cut costs, streamline workflows, and maintain a competitive edge in their markets. However, transitioning to an insourced model can seem daunting, especially for teams unfamiliar with AI-powered solutions. This is where agencies play a pivotal role—not as creators, but as enablers.

The following highlights why insourcing ad creation is a smart move and how an agency can help you make the most of AI’s transformative potential.

How We Can Help You Transition to AI-Powered Insourcing

At our agency, we’re not just here to create—we’re here to empower your team to take control of your ad creative process with the help of AI. Here’s how we can guide you through this transformation:

• Recommending the Right Tools: With so many AI solutions available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. We’ll help you identify and implement the best tools that align with your business needs and goals.

• Hands-On Training for Your Team: AI tools are only as effective as the people using them. We’ll provide tailored training to ensure your team feels confident and capable with these new technologies.

• Building a Winning Strategy: Success with AI requires more than just tools—it’s about strategy. We’ll work closely with you to develop a creative roadmap that integrates AI seamlessly into your campaigns.

• A Smooth Transition: Moving from outsourced to in-house processes can be challenging. We’ll help you set up systems and workflows to make the shift as smooth and efficient as possible.

• Ongoing Performance Insights: To keep your campaigns thriving, we’ll assist in setting up metrics and monitoring tools so you can track and optimize performance over time.