Generating Images and Video with AI

Advantages for Businesses

Whether for images or videos, the benefits of generative AI for visual content are multifold. Speed is perhaps the biggest win. What used to require weeks of planning and execution – hiring photographers, coordinating shoots, editing in post – can sometimes be done in an afternoon with AI. This means marketing teams can respond faster to trends, creating topical visuals in real time. It also means more frequent refreshes of creative assets. For example, an e-commerce business can quickly generate new product lifestyle images each season, keeping their website and ads feeling fresh, without a big photoshoot budget.

Cost savings are the next obvious benefit. While high-end AI tools aren’t free, they are typically far cheaper than the cumulative costs of traditional production (equipment, personnel, studios, etc.). A small business that couldn’t afford a professional videographer can now produce a decent promotional video in-house using AI. Even larger companies are saving money – as mentioned, one brand saved up to $1 million on a single video ad campaign by using AI-generated content . Those savings can be redirected to other marketing initiatives or passed along as better value to customers.

Another advantage is scalability and personalization. If you want 100 variations of an image (perhaps to A/B test which background or color theme converts best), an AI can generate those variations in bulk. If you want to localize a video ad for different regions – say, changing the text on screen to different languages and swapping the background to a local landmark – AI can do that without reshooting. We’re moving toward an era of hyper-personalized visual content, where each viewer could theoretically see a version of an ad that’s tailor-made for them. AI will be the enabler of that, generating countless variants on the fly.

Creative exploration is yet another benefit. With AI, you can push creative boundaries without risk. Maybe you’re unsure if a certain visual style or campaign idea will resonate. You can mock it up with AI, see how it looks, and even do some test marketing, all before committing major resources. This lowers the risk of innovative marketing experiments. It encourages a culture where teams ask, “Why not try it?” because the cost and time to try is so low now.

Keeping Your Brand Identity Intact

With great power comes great responsibility – and a need for discernment. Just because AI can create visuals quickly doesn’t mean you should bypass the normal creative review process. It’s crucial to maintain brand consistency and quality control. AI models learn from vast datasets of images, which means they might produce something that inadvertently mimics an existing artwork or uses an aesthetic that doesn’t match your brand. Always review AI-generated imagery or footage with a critical eye: does it fit our brand guidelines (colors, style, tone)? Does it look professional and on-message?

One best practice many companies are adopting is to train custom AI models on their own brand assets. For example, you can fine-tune certain image generation models on a set of your past marketing images, logos, and product photos. The AI then gets a sense of your style and can produce more on-brand visuals. This kind of custom model ensures that when you prompt it for an image, it might use your actual product shapes or your signature color palette rather than something generic. If you’re not training models yourself, you can still guide the outputs by including style keywords (e.g., “in the style of our minimalist branding, with lots of white space”) when prompting, or by providing reference images that embody your look.

Human oversight remains non-negotiable. Before any AI-generated visual goes public, have a human check it. Look for weird artifacts (AI sometimes produces subtle distortions or mistakes that a human eye can catch and fix). Make sure any text in the image (like a store sign in a generated photo) doesn’t unintentionally spell something awkward – yes, AI has been known to produce jumbled text that can occasionally look like other words. For videos, ensure the pacing, music, and overall impression align with the emotion you want to convey. You might use AI to create the first draft of a video and then have an editor refine the timing or add real footage where needed.

It’s also wise to be transparent when appropriate. Audience attitudes about AI-generated content are still evolving. In some contexts (especially in deepfake-like scenarios), being upfront that “this spokesperson is an AI avatar” is important to maintain trust. For most marketing uses, consumers care less how an image was made than whether it looks good and represents the product honestly. But keep ethical considerations in mind – for instance, avoid using AI to fabricate realistic people who don’t exist in a way that could deceive or mislead.

Lastly, remember that AI is a tool for your creative toolbox, not a replacement for creative professionals. The best outcomes often come when designers, photographers, and videographers incorporate AI into their workflow. A photographer might use AI to generate a backdrop instead of finding an expensive location, but the lighting and composition of the subject still benefit from her expertise. A video editor might use AI to automatically edit a rough cut of footage, then fine-tune the transitions and add human touches to give it heart. The human touch is what turns an output into a compelling story. As one creative consultant aptly said, “AI doesn’t have the human touch, so use it to do what it’s best at, so your team can focus on what they are best at.” In practice, that means letting AI churn out the raw visuals, then having your team infuse them with the narrative and personality that make your brand unique.

Embrace the Visual AI Revolution

The ability to generate images and videos with AI is one of the most exciting developments in marketing and design in recent years. We’re already seeing it lower barriers to entry – a small startup can produce campaign visuals that look as slick as those from a big-budget brand. We’re seeing it accelerate content cycles – seasonal promotions can be spun up on demand. And we’re seeing it enable entirely new kinds of visuals that blend fantasy and reality in captivating ways. As the tech continues to advance, the line between AI-generated and human-produced content will blur even further.

Businesses that embrace these AI visual tools thoughtfully stand to gain a significant competitive edge. They can do more with less, respond faster to the market, and delight customers with a constant stream of fresh, engaging content. Those that ignore it risk falling behind as others crank up the volume and creativity of their marketing.

If you’re new to AI image or video generation, a great way to start is simply to play around with one of the popular tools. Type a few ideas and see what pops out. You’ll likely be surprised – and it might trigger ideas for how you could use this in your business. Could you create a unique visual style on your website through AI illustrations? Could you animate customer testimonials into short social videos? The possibilities are expanding by the day.

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