Anthony McGrathWhat does AI ad creative involve?
AI ad creative covers images, video, copy, testing plan, platforms and brand safety. Anyone can make AI images now. Anthony McGrath does the work himself, with 22 years in digital marketing, for businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia.
- Best for
- Businesses and marketing teams that want AI to save time and win more customers, without the hype
- What you get
- Images, Video, Copy, Testing plan, Platforms, Brand safety
- First step
- Talk it through: a short call about your business, your goals and where AI could save time or win more customers.
- Where
- The UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, working remotely across time zones
- Who does the work
- Anthony McGrath, hands-on, with 22 years in digital marketing
Why AI creative needs a performance marketer
Anyone can make AI images now. The hard part is knowing which hooks, formats and angles will work in a feed, and testing enough of them to find winners before your audience gets tired of the same ads.
I have managed ad accounts for 22 years, so creative is planned around what the data says. Every batch is built for testing, tracked properly and refreshed before performance drops.
What's included
A one-off creative batch or a monthly creative refresh.
Images
- Product shots in new settings
- Lifestyle scenes without a shoot
- Sizes for every placement
- Brand colours and fonts kept
Video
- Short vertical videos for Reels and TikTok
- AI presenters and digital twins
- Product demos and explainers
- Captions and voiceovers
Copy
- Hooks and headlines in volume
- Primary text for Meta
- Responsive search ad assets
- Copy for ChatGPT ads
Testing plan
- Angles and hooks planned for testing
- Batches built for clean tests
- Winners scaled, losers cut
- Learnings fed into the next batch
Platforms
- Meta Ads and Advantage+
- Google Performance Max and YouTube
- TikTok Ads
- ChatGPT ads
Brand safety
- Rights-safe tools and assets
- No misleading claims
- Your approval before launch
- Platform ad policies checked
Before and after
An example of what an AI creative programme typically looks like on a Meta account.
- New ads launched each month: 4 before, 30 after
- Cost per creative: 400 before, 60 after
- Click-through rate: 0.9% before, 1.6% after
- Cost per purchase: 38 before, 26 after
An example of the kind of change this work aims for, based on typical starting points. It is not a promise or a specific client result: every business starts somewhere different. Money figures are shown without a currency: the same pattern applies in pounds, dollars, dirhams or Australian dollars.
How it works
- Talk it throughA short call about your business, your goals and where AI could save time or win more customers.
- Plan and priceA clear written plan: what gets built or changed, which tools, how long it takes and what it costs.
- Build and testSet up on your real data and tested properly, with a person checking the output before anything goes live.
- Launch and improveLaunched with tracking, so you can see what AI is adding, then improved month by month.
Platforms and tools
Questions
Do AI ads perform as well as real ones?
Often, yes, especially for product and explainer ads. The best accounts mix AI creative with real footage and let the testing decide.
Can you make a digital twin of me?
Yes. With your consent and a short recording, I can create a digital twin presenter that delivers new scripts on camera without a new shoot.
Will the ads look obviously AI?
Not if they are made with care. I edit and check every asset, and avoid the tell-tale AI look that puts people off.
Are AI images allowed on Meta and Google?
Yes, within their ad policies. Some platforms label AI-generated content, and I follow their rules and avoid misleading claims.
Can you just make the creative, not run the ads?
Yes. I can supply tested creative to your team or agency, or run the ads as well.
About Anthony McGrath
Tip of the day
Avoid tiny split audiences. Combine similar ad sets so Meta gets enough conversion data to exit learning phase.
A UK-based freelance digital marketer with 22 years across Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, conversion rate optimisation, funnels, Google, Meta and TikTok ads, SEO and tracking. He works directly with businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, so the person who plans the work is the person who does it. More about Anthony or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Running out of fresh ads?
Tell me what you sell and where you advertise. You get a creative plan and a first batch to test.
Talk about creative