AI video ads: how they are made and when they actually work

An AI video ad is an ad whose shots are created by generative AI instead of being filmed with a camera.

It starts from your material: photos of your products, your space or your team, or screens from your app. These become moving shots, scenes and even characters, which are cut together with text, music and captions. The result can be a short social ad or a short brand film for your website.

Unlike ordinary animation, the shots look filmed, with real light, materials and camera movement. Unlike a traditional shoot, there is no shoot day, and any shot can be redone until it is right.

The process looks a lot like a real ad shoot, except the set is generative AI.

Selection is the step that matters most. Generative AI produces plenty of options, not all of them usable, and direction is what separates a good ad from a lucky one. If a shot still doesn't work after a few attempts, it is replaced with a different idea rather than going in half-finished.

• Idea and script: what we are selling, to whom, and with what message.
• Shot list: every shot is described on its own, with angle, movement and mood.
• Generation: several versions of each shot are created from your photos.
• Selection: a person reviews the versions and throws out anything that looks wrong, unnatural or unlike your product.
• Edit: the shots are assembled with text, music, voice and captions in Bulgarian and English.

AI video ads work best where people watch short videos on their phones: Instagram and Facebook Reels, TikTok and YouTube.

On these platforms the video is vertical, short and opens with something worth stopping for in the first seconds, because people scroll fast. For YouTube and your website, a horizontal version can be made too. One ad can be cut into several versions for different platforms instead of building each from scratch.

Captions earn their place, since plenty of people watch with the sound off. That is why our ads come with captions in Bulgarian and English.

It can be, when someone directs every shot and throws out what doesn't work.

Generative AI still has weak spots. Hands, on-screen text, logos and small product details sometimes come out warped. Movement can look unnatural, and the same character can drift from shot to shot. Honest judgement is part of the job: if a shot doesn't look right, it doesn't go into the ad.

The best advice is simple: ask for samples and judge for yourself. If the ads you are shown don't convince you, they won't convince your customers either.

Because the ad makes a promise, and when the customer opens your product it has to look exactly like that.

Generative AI happily invents screens: buttons that don't exist, wrong labels, scrambled numbers. In an ad for an app or a website, that misleads people. So every app or website screen in our ads is shown correctly, exactly as it really is. The same goes for physical products: packaging, colour and shape must match what the customer will receive.

We did the same with the ads for our own apps. The 30-second ad for Gozba, an app for what's in your fridge, expiry dates, what to cook and your food budget, is made entirely with AI, featuring Chushko the talking pepper and the real app on screen. The 38-second ad for Ikonom, an expense tracker you fill in by voice, by tap or by scanning the receipt's QR code, also shows its real screens. Both apps are coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.

The sensible way to start is a single pilot ad that lets you judge the quality before committing to more.

If you like the pilot, a monthly plan of 10–15 videos follows, so your profiles get fresh content regularly. On social media, showing up consistently usually matters more than one perfect ad a year. We make the videos and you or your team post them, as we don't manage social media.

If you would rather make videos in-house, we can also build a ready-made AI video production system for your team.

Nothing has to be perfect. Show us what you have and we will tell you honestly what can be made from it.

The better your source photos, the more accurately your product will look in the ad. If you don't have suitable photos, we will tell you what to shoot on your phone.

• Photos of your products, your space or your team. The clearer, the better.
• Your logo, colours and fonts, if you have them.
• One main message: what you want people to do after seeing the ad.
• Screens from your app or website, if we are going to show them.