AI Advertising: Meta Plans to Automate Entire Ad Campaigns by 2026

Facebook and Instagram owner, Met has announced plans to roll out new artificial intelligent tools, Reuters reported. The company says it will launch Meta AI advertising tools by the end of next year. With the tools, brands will be able to fully create and target ads without conventional marketing agencies.

Meta’s applications currently have 3.43 billion active users across the globe. Its AI-driven tools will allow users to develop personalized image backgrounds, ad variations, and automated adjustments, and video ads. These aspects make them highly lucrative for advertisers.

Disrupting Advertising

Meta’s artificial intelligence ads could disrupt the advertising industry because it gives companies direct access to the tools they need to build ad campaigns based on their marketing budgets. These tools can carry out a range of tasks, from generating images and videos to targeting specific audiences.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the AI tools will allow businesses to create ads using a product image and planned spend. Meta already offers some AI features that fine-tune existing ads on its platforms. However, the new ad tools will handle the entire creative and targeting process.

Meta’s automated advertising threatens the role of ads and media agencies, which traditionally, plan, design, and buy ads for their clients. They create new possibilities for small businesses that previously could not afford agency services. For instance, a travel company could use the new tools to automatically generate a campaign tailored to users interested in specific holiday destinations, based on geolocation data.
Meta Chief Marketing Officer and VP for Analytics said the Meta AI tools will go a long way in leveling the playing field for small businesses that don’t have the financial resources or time to hire marketing agencies.

“Millions of small businesses rely upon our platform to grow. For these businesses who aren’t able to work with an agency, or don’t have time during their busy days to think about their creative or targeting, that’s where AI can help level the playing field,” Shultz said.

Industry Shock

News of Meta future ad strategy shocked the marketing industry. Investors in some of the world’s biggest marketing services sold off stocks following Meta’s AI advertising announcement. Shares in some of the world’s biggest advertising firms dropped after the announcement on June 2. WPP stocks dropped by 3% while those of French firms Publicis Groupe and Havas dropped by about 3.9% and 3% respectively.

The Instagram owner currently generates about $160 billion annually from advertising. The expanded use of AI could significantly boost that figure. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is heavily invested in advancing AI-powered advertising. Zuckerberg termed the new tools as “a redefinition of the category of advertising.”

In April this year, the social media giant updated its forecasted spending for this year. The company now plans to spend up to $72 billion in capital expenditure, which includes setting up AI infrastructure. Initially, Meta had planned to spend a total of $65 billion.
Meta says its decision to ramp up its AI capabilities is not designed to eliminate marketing agencies.

“We believe in the future of agencies. We believe AI will enable agencies and advertisers to focus precious time and resources on the creativity that matters. While we think there will ultimately be more automation in marketing, the role that agencies play is going to become ever more important through their ability to plan, execute and measure across platforms,” Schultz said in a recent online post.