Ad Campaigns Guide: Planning and Execution

You have a product. You have a brand. Now you need people to see it, click it, and buy it. But launching ads without a plan is like throwing darts blindfolded—expensive and rarely effective.

This guide walks you through campaign planning and execution using Marketing Studio's AI-powered tools. You'll learn how to set clear objectives, define audiences, choose platforms strategically, generate targeted creatives, and iterate toward better performance.

Before You Start

Campaigns in Marketing Studio build on two foundations:

1. Brand DNA — Your brand's visual identity, tone, and values
2. Products — The items you're promoting, with selling points and images

If you haven't set these up yet, start with:

• Marketing Studio Tutorial — Full walkthrough of Brand DNA, Products, and Campaigns
• Brand Ads Mastery — Deep dive on Brand DNA analysis

Once your brand and products are ready, you're set to plan your first campaign.

Step 1: Define Your Campaign Objective

Every campaign needs a clear purpose. Marketing Studio offers six campaign types, each optimized for different goals:

Choosing the Right Objective

Ask yourself:

• What action do I want? Direct purchase → Promotional. Brand recall → Awareness.
• What's the timeline? Short window → Promotional or Clearance. Ongoing → Daily Promotion.
• Where is the audience in the funnel? New to your brand → Awareness. Already familiar → Promotional.

Your objective shapes everything downstream—the marketing angles AI generates, the tone of copy, and the visual direction of creatives.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Generic targeting produces generic results. The more specific your audience definition, the sharper your AI-generated marketing angles.

Demographics

Start with the basics:

• Age range — Narrow is better. "25-35" outperforms "18-65."
• Gender — Specify if your product skews, otherwise select "All."

Audience Tags

This is where specificity matters most. Tags describe your ideal customer's identity, interests, and behaviors:

Weak tags:

consumers
people who shop online
adults

Strong tags:

specialty coffee enthusiasts
work-from-home professionals
eco-conscious millennials
home brewing hobbyists

Strong tags give AI the context to craft angles that resonate. "Eco-conscious millennials" triggers sustainability messaging. "Home brewing hobbyists" triggers technique-focused content.

Building Audience Personas

For complex campaigns, think in personas:

Persona A: The Quality Seeker

• Age: 30-45
• Tags: premium buyers, quality over quantity, brand loyal
• Responds to: craftsmanship, origin stories, expert endorsements

Persona B: The Deal Hunter

• Age: 25-40
• Tags: value-conscious, comparison shoppers, deal seekers
• Responds to: savings, value propositions, limited-time offers

Run separate campaigns for each persona. Same product, different angles—that's how you maximize reach without diluting your message.

Step 3: Choose Platforms Strategically

Don't select every platform. Choose based on where your audience actually spends time and what content format suits your product.

Platform Strengths

Platform Selection Strategy

Product-led selection:

• Physical products with strong visuals → Instagram, Pinterest
• Software or services → LinkedIn, Twitter/X
• Food and lifestyle → Instagram, Xiaohongshu, Pinterest
• B2B tools → LinkedIn, Facebook

Budget-led selection:

• Start with 2-3 platforms max
• Generate creatives for each, compare results
• Double down on what works, drop what doesn't

Each platform you select generates separate creatives with platform-optimized copy, hashtags, and image dimensions.

Step 4: Generate Marketing Angles

With objective, audience, and platforms defined, click Generate Angles in your campaign. AI analyzes everything you've provided and suggests 3-5 strategic approaches.

Understanding Marketing Angles

A marketing angle is a specific perspective for positioning your product. Same product, different stories:

• Quality angle: "Crafted with precision, savored with passion"
• Price angle: "Premium taste, accessible price"
• Emotion angle: "Your morning ritual, elevated"
• Problem-solving angle: "Never settle for bad coffee again"

The 8 Angle Categories

AI draws from these strategic frameworks:

1. Quality — Craftsmanship, premium materials, attention to detail
2. Price — Value proposition, savings, cost-per-use
3. Emotion — Feelings, lifestyle, aspiration
4. Problem-solving — Pain points addressed, frustrations eliminated
5. Social Proof — Popularity, testimonials, community
6. Urgency — Limited time, scarcity, seasonal
7. Authority — Expert endorsement, certifications, awards
8. Scenario — Specific use cases, situational benefits

Evaluating Angles

Each generated angle includes:

AI marks one angle as Recommended based on your campaign objective and audience. This is a good starting point, but trust your judgment—you know your audience better than any algorithm.

How Many Angles to Select

• A/B testing: Select 2-3 angles to compare performance
• Single focus: Select 1 strong angle for a concentrated campaign
• Full coverage: Select 3-4 angles for broad audience campaigns

More angles means more creatives to review, but also more opportunities to find what resonates.

Step 5: Generate and Review Creatives

After selecting angles, AI generates complete ad creatives for each angle-platform combination.

What You Get

For every combination (e.g., "Quality Craftsmanship" + "Instagram Feed"), you receive:

• Headline — The attention-grabbing hook
• Subheadline — Supporting context
• Body Text — Detailed messaging (where applicable)
• CTA — Call-to-action text
• Visual Direction — Guidance for image generation
• Caption — Platform-optimized social copy
• Hashtags — Discovery and reach tags

Reviewing Creatives Effectively

Don't accept everything AI generates. Review with these criteria:

Does it match your brand voice? If your brand is playful but the copy reads corporate, edit it.

Is the headline specific? "Great Coffee Awaits" is forgettable. "Single-Origin Ethiopian, Roasted This Morning" is specific.

Does the CTA drive action? Match CTA to your objective. Awareness campaign → "Learn More." Promotional → "Shop Now, Save 20%."

Editing Creatives

Click any creative to edit:

• Rewrite headlines to match your voice
• Adjust captions for platform norms
• Add or remove hashtags
• Refine visual direction before image generation

Step 6: Generate Ad Images

With creatives approved, generate the visual assets.

Image Generation Process

1. Click Generate Image on any creative
2. Review the AI-enhanced prompt (built from visual direction + Brand DNA)
3. Add reference images (product photos, style references)
4. Set brand influence level:
   • Strong — Heavy brand presence (hero images, brand campaigns)
   • Medium — Balanced blend (most use cases)
   • Subtle — Light touch (lifestyle, editorial content)
5. Select quality tier:
   • 1K — 25 credits, quick drafts and testing
   • 2K — 30 credits, standard quality for most platforms
   • 4K — 40 credits, print-ready, maximum detail
6. Click Generate

Image Tips

• Use product photos as references — They anchor the generation to your actual product
• Start at 1K for drafts — Test the visual direction cheaply before committing to 4K
• Generate multiple variants — Same prompt, different results. Pick the strongest.
• Use "Continue Editing" — Iterate on generated images with incremental edits

Campaign Execution Strategies

Strategy 1: The Focused Launch

Best for new products or limited budgets.

1 Product → 1 Objective → 1 Audience → 2 Platforms → 2 Angles
= 4 creatives, 4 images

• Total cost: ~10 (angles) + 10 (creatives) + 100 (4 images at 1K) = 120 credits
• Focused, fast, and affordable

Strategy 2: The A/B Test

Best for optimizing messaging on proven products.

1 Product → 1 Objective → 1 Audience → 1 Platform → 3 Angles
= 3 creatives, 3 images

• Test three different angles on the same platform
• Track which messaging gets the most engagement
• Scale the winner across platforms

Strategy 3: The Multi-Platform Blitz

Best for maximum reach campaigns.

1 Product → 1 Objective → 2 Audiences → 4 Platforms → 2 Angles
= 8 creatives, 8 images per audience

• Wider reach but requires more budget
• Platform-specific creatives ensure native feel on each channel

Strategy 4: The Product Portfolio

Best for brands with multiple products.

3 Products → 1 Objective → 1 Audience → 2 Platforms → 1 Angle each
= 6 creatives, 6 images

• Showcase your range with consistent messaging
• Same audience sees different products with the same brand feel

Iterating on Results

The first version is never the final version. Use these iteration techniques:

Refining Angles

If generated angles miss the mark:

1. Check your selling points — Vague points produce vague angles
2. Refine audience tags — More specific tags yield more targeted angles
3. Try a different campaign objective — Switching from "Brand Awareness" to "Daily Promotion" changes the AI's approach
4. Regenerate with updated inputs

Refining Images

If visuals don't match your vision:

1. Edit the visual direction in the creative before generating
2. Adjust brand influence — Try Strong if images feel generic, Subtle if they feel forced
3. Add better reference images — Product in context > product on white
4. Use Continue Editing — Describe what to change rather than starting over

Scaling What Works

When you find a winning combination:

1. Note which angle and visual direction performed best
2. Apply that angle to other products
3. Adapt for additional platforms
4. Create seasonal variations of the same concept

Campaign Budget Planning

Credit Cost Breakdown

Sample Budgets

Starter campaign (1 product, 2 platforms, 2 angles):

• Angles + Creatives: 20 credits
• 4 images at 2K: 120 credits
• Total: 140 credits

Standard campaign (1 product, 3 platforms, 3 angles):

• Angles + Creatives: 20 credits
• 9 images at 2K: 270 credits
• Total: 290 credits

Premium campaign (2 products, 4 platforms, 3 angles):

• Angles + Creatives: 40 credits (2 campaigns)
• 24 images at 2K: 720 credits
• Total: 760 credits

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping audience definition. "Everyone" is not an audience. The more specific your targeting, the more effective your angles.

Selecting too many platforms. Three focused platforms beat six scattered ones. Start narrow, expand based on results.

Not editing AI output. AI generates strong starting points, not finished products. Always review and refine copy to match your brand voice.

Using the same angle for every campaign. Different audiences respond to different messages. Test multiple angles and let performance guide your decisions.

Generating 4K images before validating the concept. Start with 1K drafts, refine the visual direction, then invest in high-quality finals.

Next Steps

Ready to launch your first campaign?

1. Set up your Brand DNA → (if you haven't already)
2. Add your products →
3. Create your campaign →

Related Tutorials

• Marketing Studio Tutorial — Complete workflow walkthrough
• Brand Ads Mastery — Brand DNA deep dive
• Advanced Prompt Engineering — Writing better prompts for image generation
• AI Studio Guide — General-purpose image generation

Campaigns are about finding the right message for the right audience on the right platform. Marketing Studio handles the creative heavy lifting—your job is the strategy. Define clear objectives, know your audience, pick your platforms, and let AI generate the angles and creatives. Then iterate until you find what works.

Start planning your first campaign today.