How to Create Ads in Agency AI

Quick answer

Open Create Ad, pick a platform, fill in the fields (or click Generate with AI), add images or video, and click Create Ad. Meta ads take about 2 to 3 minutes. Step-by-step for each platform: Creating a Meta ad and Creating a Google Performance Max campaign. This page covers what's common to both.

Before you start

Brand Info is filled in. Every headline, description and creative Agency AI generates comes from it. See Setting Up Brand Info.
Meta: connected under Settings → Meta account with ad account, Page and Pixel selected. Catalog synced through the Facebook & Instagram Shopify app if you'll run Dynamic ads.
Google: connected under Settings → Google account, with Merchant Center linked to that Google Ads account and products approved. See Merchant Center setup.

Each Ad Platform card shows a green Integration is setup check when ready. No check means connect first.

How much to budget

Running both Meta and Google: at least $75 a day total. Below that, don't split. Pick one channel and give it the full budget. Both platforms need a volume of conversions before their algorithms optimize, and a small budget split two ways leaves both still learning. Add the second channel when there's room.

Budgets are entered in your ad account's billing currency. The field label shows which currency. See Currencies in Agency AI.

Where ads go

Agency AI's standard structure, and the one it builds for you during onboarding:

New customer campaign: a Dynamic (catalog) ad plus your image and video ads in the same ad set.
Retargeting campaign: a Dynamic ad.

After your first campaign, add new ads and ad sets to existing campaigns rather than creating new campaigns. Both platforms optimize better with conversion data concentrated in fewer campaigns.

Generate with AI

Every text field has a ✨ Generate with AI button. Fill in the Ad Summary first (what you're promoting, which products, which offer, which audience), pick a Copywriting Angle, then generate. Copy is built from your Ad Summary as the primary message, with your Brand Info shaping voice, value propositions and tone. Edit anything.

If the copy doesn't sound like you, fix Brand Info, not the ad. Thin inputs produce generic copy.

Images and video

Three sources on every ad: Upload, AI Tools (Edit, Generate, Genie) and Asset Library. Up to 10 images per Meta ad, an even mix of Square (1:1) and Story (9:16) recommended, with a one-click variant to make the other size from any image. Details: Images and the AI Design Studio.

Testing

Meta image and video ads support ad copy testing: up to 3 extra primary texts, headlines and descriptions on one ad, so Meta can rotate combinations. Combine with multiple images and let delivery find the winner. See A/B testing ad copy and creative.

Review and submit

Click Create Ad. The ad goes to the platform for review. Meta usually approves within a few hours, up to 24. Google reviews Performance Max assets and Merchant Center products separately. Track status on Manage Ads. If a platform rejects the ad, the reason is theirs, not ours: Why your ad was rejected by Meta.

If you leave Create Ad before submitting, or creation fails, the page keeps what you entered. You can go to Manage Ads while AI creative generates and come back.

Tips

Keep Brand Info current. Highest-leverage input you control.
Concentrate budget before you spread it.
Use Dynamic ads for retargeting. They show people the products they browsed.
Give ads 7 days before editing. Early changes reset the learning phase.
Budget changes over 20% in one edit restart learning on both platforms. Growth Plays respects that limit.
Let Growth Plays and the AI Strategist tell you when to change something.

Questions? hello@agencyai.app.