AI Changes Everything About Ad Production

Over the last few weeks, we have been laying out the various ways that AI is transforming political advocacy. You can read our summary here. Below we dig deeper into how AI is radically upending ad production, and how you can turn these changes to your advantage now.

The Unique Needs Of Political Ad Production

Political clients have different creative needs than other advertisers.

First, production speed takes on a new meaning in politics. If you're selling commercial products, you might have months or even years to perfect your advertising campaign. But in politics, we must produce high-quality ads at a rapid pace to meet the demands of campaign and legislative developments, incoming from the other side, changes in fundraising cash flow, and other developments that often happen with little notice.

Second, effective political advertising requires micro-targeting multiple audiences with distinct creative content. Many campaigns miss this step. They rightly create several, surgically targeted audiences, but leave little budget room for producing the differentiated content necessary to connect with each group of voters. It makes little sense to target five distinct audiences with only two ads.  

Third, political ads must reflect subtle, yet critical nuances in messaging, style, and imagery. Every word and visual matters when communicating about a campaign issue, candidate, bill, or policymaker.  

AI is already transforming political ad production to assist with each of these unique needs. Our studio delivers top-quality, scalable ad production built on the latest AI tools to assist with image generation, voice-over work, project management, and numerous other aspects of the creative process. These tools let our political professionals focus on the messaging nuances, while increasing production speed and reducing costs for our clients.

The result is we are now able to offer the highest quality ad production at 4-5x lower prices than competitors. You can see examples of our AI-assisted ad production here (click to play):

Even Bigger Changes Are On The Way 

AI already allows our clients to run micro-targeted campaigns along with the differentiated creative content necessary to maximize results. But we're positioning our clients for even bigger changes that are already in the works. The future of where ad production is headed will make current creative practices virtually unrecognizable.

Personalized Content Creation

Have you shopped for something lately and immediately noticed a digital ad for that exact product? Not for the brand you were shopping at—but for the precise product? For example, if you're shopping for pants you might quickly see an ad with a model wearing those exact pants in the same color. This is an example of what's known as personalized content creation. And the possibilities for its application to political advertising will change everything we know about political ad production.

There are two key aspects of personalized content creation:

🔱  Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)

Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO): AI-driven DCO tools automatically generate multiple ad variations based on user data. These tools adjust elements such as images, headlines, and calls to action in real-time to match the viewer's preferences, creating a personalized ad experience for each viewer.

🔱  Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Natural Language Processing (NLP): AI uses NLP to create personalized ad copy that resonates with the target audience. By understanding the language and tone preferred by different user groups, AI can instantaneously craft messages that engage and convert multiple audiences.

The Next Generation Of Political Ads

Imagine these scenarios:

🔱  Voter Persuasion: A targeted voter reads a story regarding education. Through DCO and NLP, the system immediately generates and serves the voter several tailored ads about the candidate's education plan and recent statements the candidate has made on the topic. The system then automatically measures which of the ads the voter views the longest, and repeatedly serves them that ad.

🔱  Voter Turnout: An infrequent voter purchases a home. The system automatically generates an ad about the candidate's public safety policies, using imagery from the town where the voter just moved to. 

... these voter scenarios could be repeated to numerous audiences across countless issues, online behaviors, demographic data, and consumer purchases, with each voter getting a custom ad that best connects with them on a personal level.

🔱  Policymaker Messaging: An elected official sees two different video ads about a bill they will soon be voting on. The official watches one ad longer than the other. Through DCO and NLP, the system immediately generates and delivers the elected official multiple ads based off the better performing language and imagery. 

🔱  Influencer Targeting: An influencer of an elected official sees multiple ads about an issue that the official will soon vote on. The influencer engages with one version of the ad better than another version. Through DCO and NLP, the system immediately generates and delivers the influencer multiple ads based off the best performing content.

... if these scenarios seem far-fetched, you should know two things: (1) some of this can be done already, and (2) many of the smartest minds in tech and advertising are perfecting these tools right now. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements regarding these tools.

Start Adapting Now To The New World Of Ad Production

At Neptune, our thesis is that the most impactful tools in ad tech typically come first to the commercial sector, and there is often a lag in these tools coming to politics. We close that gap for our clients.

With ad production, the chasm will be wider than ever. Now is the time to start adapting to the latest in AI-driven ad production. This starts with dramatically lower prices that allow you to bring tailored content to your audiences, while meeting the unique needs of political ad production. 

By adapting these best practices now, you will be in a position to take advantage of the even more radical changes that are just around the corner.

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🔱  If you'd like to learn more about how AI can impact your campaign, contact us today to chat.