What are AI YouTube Ads & Which Tools Are Best?
AI YouTube ads refer to video advertisements created or optimized generative AI tools and generative tools.
These ads often incorporate AI-generated scripts, voiceovers, and visuals that can make the creation process easier and more affordable.
However, with so many new platforms and features claiming to use AI, it can be overwhelming to know which can deliver the goods — many are rushed to market and may not be worth your time.
Read on to learn more about:
- What AI YouTube ads are
- How AI is used in YouTube ads
- Top platforms and benefits
- 3 AI-powered ad strategies
- Best practices
- Try optimizing an ad with AI today
What Are AI YouTube Ads?
YouTube ads using AI appear within videos (think of the 5-second skippable ones), on the homepage, in the search results, and across partner sites. Any video or banner created with AI - or that uses AI algorithms and tools to improve performance - qualifies as an AI YouTube ad.
These AI-powered campaigns are performing well too. According to Google, they can deliver up to 271% higher return on ad spend (ROAS) (though they may be a bit biased).
Here are some top AI processes used to create online video ads:
- Natural language processing (NLP): Tools like ChatGPT can tap into their training data on huge volumes of existing examples to help write scripts and ad copy.
- Generative models: Visual tools like Midjourney and Sora can use machine learning to create thumbnails, photos, and video snippets for your ads.
- Computer vision: Analysis apps like Bestever.ai can use computer vision to look at ads frame-by-frame, analyze their visual appeal, learn what’s engaging viewers, and get suggestions for improvement.
- Predictive analytics tools: AI-powered tools in Google’s Ad Editor help you find a fair price to show your ad to the most interested viewers.
- Speech synthesis tools: Text-to-speech tools like Eleven Labs use deep learning to process speech in a human-like way and can create realistic-sounding voiceovers (even one with your own voice) for your videos.
If you’ve only thought of AI YouTube ads as using uncanny valley avatars and primitive, slightly R2D2-sounding voiceovers, then you’ll be surprised to learn that AI can be used by your ad team in much more sophisticated ways.
How To Use AI for YouTube Ads
Creating scripts and ad creatives with AI are the obvious use cases, but predictive analysis tools can sift through massive datasets to identify the most receptive viewers — a pretty easy way to boost your ROI. Let’s check out how it works:
User Behavior Analysis
YouTube Analytics and the Google Ads Platform don’t just count views or subscribers — they use proprietary AI algorithms that track metrics like watch time, keywords, and engagement (likes, comments, shares).
Every interaction is looked at and analyzed — whether a viewer speeds up a video, clicks an ad, or leaves the channel — to adjust ad placements and messaging.
However, these models can sometimes misinterpret brief interactions or random skips as genuine interest, so it’s important to use them only as one part of an overarching strategy.
Demographic and Interest Data
YouTube’s algorithm collects data on viewers’ ages, locations, and interests by analyzing on-site behavior such as browsing history and declared interests. This helps your ads reach those most likely to care about them — think of a hiker seeing ads for the newest REI gear or a makeup enthusiast receiving recommendations from Sephora.
You can also incorporate data from third-party integrations that overlay performance metrics on YouTube’s own analytics, enabling more detailed reporting.
A tool like VidIQ is a good example of this approach. It overlays additional performance metrics — such as views over the past 60 mins, SEO ratings, keyword rankings, and detailed engagement data — directly on your YouTube Studio dashboard. This gives marketers a more granular view of their ad performance, allowing for more specific optimizations.
Creative Development
AI also speeds up the process of generating initial ad scripts and visuals. Tools like ChatGPT and Copy.ai can produce engaging scripts that serve as a solid starting point. Eleven Labs or Speechify can share text-to-voice narrations that are getting pretty good — like an AI-generated Morgan Freeman voiceover.
Platforms like Bestever.ai can scrape your existing ad library to quickly share visual and text combos for ads in large volumes.
These are all powerful tools and great for defeating writer’s block; however, they can often produce generic ads — your creatives will still need a human touch.
11 Top AI Tools for YouTube Ads
AI tools now come baked into YouTube or can be easily integrated.
Here are some top options to create better YouTube ads:
- Google Performance Max: Uses machine learning within Google’s Ad Editor to automatically generate, test, and optimize ad creatives across Google’s channels from YouTube to Maps. Apply the suggestions from Creative guidance to aim for the best ad practices, such as showing your logo in the first 5 seconds and using proper aspect ratios.
- YouTube Studio: Compiles detailed channel data and can be used with Google’s Ad analytics. The Inspiration tab uses AI to give ideas for new videos that your current audience would probably like. There are more experimental features too, like Dream Screen, a way to add fantastical backgrounds to your videos.
- Bestever: Provides a frame-by-frame ad analysis dashboard to help optimize call-to-action placement, share what’s engaging your viewers, and offer suggestions to fix issues.
- ChatGPT: Generates ad scripts and creative copy with natural language processing for engaging ad messaging.
- Midjourney: Create compelling thumbnails and scene visuals from text and image prompts, helping you create eye-catching imagery.
- VidIQ: Adds additional performance metrics like SEO scores, keyword rankings, and engagement data directly on YouTube Studio for a quick view of how your channel’s doing.
- Copy.ai: Offers script writing options, generating multiple copy variations to test and optimize your messaging.
- Eleven Labs: Delivers lifelike voiceovers through advanced text-to-speech and voice cloning technology, great for narration.
- Sora: Converts text or image prompts into video snippets, streamlining the creation of dynamic video content from written ideas and powered by OpenAI.
- Canva AI Tools: Features like Magic Write, Magic Design, and Bulk Create help automate design tasks and produce polished visual assets at scale.
- Plainly Videos: Uses computer vision to identify key scenes and output many ad variations in large quantities with minimal human intervention.
Benefits of YouTube Ads with AI
If you’re skeptical that these fancy algorithms and tools can’t beat your own skilled marketing team, well… you’re probably still right.
However, AI tools can save your team tons of time and money, and remove boring work (like watching video ads frame by frame) so they can focus on designing better ads. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Here are the most important benefits:
Higher Ad Efficiency
Google’s Performance Max offers features like Smart Bidding and automated ad creation to optimize ad placements and maximize ROI.
Smart Bidding uses machine learning to adjust bids in real time based on engagement data (you’ll bid more on the ads with viewers who are buying and less with more casual viewers), then you can automatically generate multiple creative variations to target the right audience.
Take eBay as an example. By using Google’s various tools from initial awareness to the moment the user clicks “Buy,” they saw a 34% increase in conversion rates. It’s a typical scenario now — the system recognized who was most likely to purchase, displayed ads in relevant videos, and let the algorithm do the rest.
Cost Savings and Faster A/B Testing
Google’s Performance Max Experiments allow you to run multiple variations of your video ads without expensive third-party software. Here’s what you can do with AI:
- Automate the A/B testing process. Now, you’ll have even more data to accurately decide which thumbnail is best or which intro hooks the viewer.
- Optimize which version gets shown to which audience segment. You can use AI to get ideas from other ads that are converting. Or your creative strategist can ask Bestever’s AI tool what’s wrong and how to fix it. Instead of looking at each video frame, your team can create more effective ads.
- Reduce your budget and reliance on guesswork. You don’t have to spend a million dollars to get enough data to hone in on what works for your audience. With a couple hundred dollars of ad spend, tools like Bestever have enough data to develop successful campaigns.
Imagine running three versions of a product demo, from fast-paced to testimonials to humorous. AI can determine the humorous version resonates most with younger audiences, while testimonials work best with older demographics, allowing you to allocate your budget effectively.
More Ad Creativity
You might think AI means dull, cookie-cutter ads. But ironically, it can help your team be more creative with its unlimited well of ideas and insights. Plus, your team can use your data to make choices based on what your users like, whether that’s color palettes or video length.
Google’s creative guidance provides actionable AI insights to refine your ad copy, visuals, and formatting — evaluating elements like logo visibility and video length.
Tools like Bestever can also generate plenty of designs and clips just by inputting your website’s URL. Then you can change the assets just by typing in new prompts, so even the most uncreative sales guy can whip up a batch of designs for clients while on a call.
3 Popular AI-Powered Ad Strategies To Try
Now let’s apply the above principles and use these tools to create a few strategies to test in your business. Here are three strategies:
1. Dynamic Video Ad Generation
With all the social media networks and available data, it’s no longer about creating that one perfect ad. You can now run more personalized ad variations for each segment of your audience.
For example, tools like Canva Bulk Create let you quickly generate large volumes of visual assets, while platforms such as Plainly Videos (which integrates with Adobe After Effects) enable you to automatically render a core video ad and then produce several versions by tweaking the intro, transitions, or call-to-action.
2. UGC-Style AI Ads
User-generated content (UGC) has proven that authentic endorsements convert better than slick brand-produced content or fake influencer ads. By combining UGC with AI, you leverage the trust factor of real customers alongside laser-focused audience targeting.
Tools like Creatify.ai will sift through your best customer reviews and testimonials, and generate ad variations tailored to specific audience segments, ensuring your ad spend isn’t wasted on disinterested viewers.
However, UGC ads work best because they’re from real people that your customers trust so don’t fully automate this yet.
3. AI-Powered Storytelling
Consumers connect with stories, not just facts. Tools like ChatGPT can quickly write up drafts of scripts that apply the best storytelling practices. The wording will still need help from your copywriting team, but this can save time and help you generate more scripts and create more ads to test.
You can also build personalized scripts and concepts based on analytics data from Google or third-party tools. Look through for topic ideas that your audience is searching or what they’re watching on competitors’ channels. Then send it to ChatGPT to generate more scripts — then rinse and repeat.
Best Practices for Better AI YouTube Ads
Use these tips to make your campaigns more engaging and efficient, and ultimately more profitable. Here they are:
- Measure viewer engagement: Use Google Performance Max and Google Ads Editor to review viewer engagement across all your ads and look for patterns. Look closely at the top-performing ads. Note specific-drop off points and identify which segments (such as 30-35 year old males in the USA) are watching longer.
- Analyze ads frame-by-frame: Use AI-powered analysis tools like Bestever to go through each frame of your ad to learn more where viewers are engaged and when they’re leaving. Try new clips and CTAs, then look at the data again. Double down on what resonates and replace underperforming elements asap.
- Customize ads for different audience segments: Use repurposing tools like Plainly Video to take winning ads and generate many variations for every audience group. For example, build separate intros if you’re targeting runners versus yoga enthusiasts.
- Use Smart Bidding to save on your top ads: Use Google’s Smart Bidding to adjust your bids based on real‑time viewer behavior. For example, if your current target CPA is $10 but the cost of conversion is $12, try increasing your bids by 10%.
How Bestever Optimizes AI YouTube Ads
Knowing how to fix underperforming ads is a top benefit of AI tools for YouTube Ads, and this is where Bestever’s platform can help.
We make designing ad campaigns almost as easy as one-click photo editing and use data from your audience to ensure those campaigns work. Here’s how we can help your YouTube ad campaigns:
- Analyze your ads' effectiveness: Bestever’s Ad Analysis Dashboard gives you instant feedback on an ad's Visual Impact, Brand Alignment, Sales Orientation, and Audience Engagement. It’ll even break down each element in detail.
- Get suggestions to improve every frame: If an ad isn’t hitting the mark, ask Bestever to tell you what’s wrong and get instant suggestions from its computer vision algorithm. No more guessing or wasting time — your team can start fixing those issues asap.
- Know your target audience: Bestever’s audience analysis tools go beyond sharing standard demographics and offer insights that help you refine both targeting and messaging. You can share your website URL, and it’ll quickly let you know who wants to hear more from you.
- Rapid asset generation: Fetch AI-generated images, stock photos, and video clips that all fit your brand voice. Then you can share with your design team to create multiple YouTube ad variations faster — no large creative team required.
- Instant feedback loop: Know immediately if an ad variant underperforms, then pivot before wasting your budget.
- Actionable recommendations: Get concrete suggestions — like which visuals to swap or calls-to-action to refine — based on real-time data comparisons
Ready to optimize your top ads? Let our team walk you through a frame-by-frame video analysis so you can focus more on what’s working starting today.