Meta’s Bet on Automation and the New Source of Advertising Advantage

Meta's large-scale bet on automated advertising is true.

Through 2026, they will allow brands to drop in a product image, budget, and desired goal, and have AI crank out ad versions and dynamically optimize delivery across Instagram and Facebook.

But the thing is, when everyone will have equal access to the same automation tools, the differentiation is no longer the tool. It is the one who knows how to leverage the tool.

If AI is spinning out permutations, what keeps your ad distinctive, what prevents it from being generic, is a human brain. You require a person who can grasp the feeling, the narrative, the idiosyncrasy of the audience. AI cannot "feel" the subtlety; all it can do is reproduce what it's watched.

So definitely, very soon, the marketers will be employing these very same Meta AI tools. That levels the playing field. But on that leveled playing field, the champions will be the ad managers who
• Use copy that addresses human beings, not algorithms
• Provide the AI with the highest accuracy, clearest signal inputs
• Recognize when something is going off track and shift course
• Overlay brand voice and human intuition on the output of the machine

That is, it's not that the AI is going to do our work. It's going to make our work more seen, more critical, more judged.

If you would like to experience that equilibrium, human and AI, we'd be more than happy to demonstrate what we at Creston Consulting are doing.