From big corporations to small creators, everyone uses AI in their daily work. And creative strategists are not the exception.
The right AI tools can help you research faster, write better briefs, create stunning visuals, and even produce high-quality videos in record time. The challenge? With so many options out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and miss the ones that can truly transform your workflow.
Today, we’re diving deep into how AI is reshaping the role of creative strategists by tackling five core aspects of the job: prompting, research, briefing and creating images and videos. Instead of just scratching the surface, we’ll walk through on how to use specific AI tools that will make your workflow faster, more optimized, and infinitely more creative.
Let’s go!
The Art of Prompting
AI is only as good as the instructions you give it. Mastering the art of prompting (knowing exactly what to ask, how to phrase it and how to iterate) is what separates the average results from the jaw-dropping ones. To make the most out of these tools, you need to start thinking like a prompt engineer. The better your prompts are, the better (and faster) your output will be.
Prompting is easy, but great prompting isn’t. For a great prompt, you need to follow these simple rules:
- Be specific. The more context you give, the more accurate the output. Include tone, audience, format and examples when possible. Every detail matters.
- Iterate. Don’t settle for the first draft. Tweak your prompt, re-run it and push the AI to improve its answer until you get what you want.
- Think in steps. Break complex tasks into smaller requests. This helps AI stay focused and reduces vague or messy results.
There’s more than one way to write an AI prompt, and each can lead to very different results.
In this image, you can see 12 prompt engineering techniques, from step-by-step reasoning to breaking tasks into smaller parts. You don’t need to master them all, but knowing that there are multiple approaches will help you experiment and find what works best. Different approaches may lead to better results depending on which vertical you’re writing for.
Now that you know that there is not just a single way to prompt, let’s dive into these 8 promising AI tools you need to start using ASAP.
Research
The research phase is where every strong creative strategy begins. Before you can write a single line of copy or design an ad, you need to know exactly who you’re talking to, what they care about and how your competitors are trying to win their attention. This is where AI can give you an edge.
Instead of spending hours digging through social media and landing pages, tools like Gemini and Perplexity can surface high-quality insights in minutes.
Gemini is Google’s AI, and it has a huge advantage: It has all the information from the world’s most popular search engine—i.e., the information from every website available. This includes powerful features like Google Shopping, which makes it easy to find and see real product reviews. Another strength is its ability to understand and use the latest industry terminology, so your research will feel more aligned with how professionals and consumers are actually talking today.
Let’s test it.
We asked Gemini to describe the target audience and pain points for a well known brand, The Ordinary.
Another AI tool that has been around for a while is Perplexity. This is another great one for research, as it analyzes large amounts of data and can pull up some interesting ideas.
What sets Perplexity apart is that it can provide broader answers. We ran the same test on Perplexity that we used on Gemini, Perplexity provided demographic data and it went further by identifying different audiences that could then be converted into different angles.
These are both great tools to save you time and energy in the research stage, helping you more efficiently lay a strong foundation for your ad.
While Gemini stands out for its integration with Google’s ecosystem, Perplexity shines with broader answers and angles. Using them together can give you both breadth and depth in your research.
Briefing
Once your research is done, the next step is turning all those insights into a creative brief. This is where many campaigns fall apart: Your brief needs to be as clear and easy to follow as possible. Trust us—the design team will thank you for it!
As mentioned before, before you start writing you need to do good research. But once you’ve defined your audience, pain points, dream outcomes and more, you’re finally ready to start writing.
ChatGPT has been in the game for a while now, and it was probably the first AI tool you ever tried. What makes it so effective at writing briefs is its knowledge of different creative frameworks and its ability to adapt each one to your brand. You can ask it to iterate the same idea with a different framework every time, and it will generate countless versions you can use.
Its weakness? It’s not always updated with the latest hooks, which is why we rely on our own list of 101 proven hook ideas.
Let’s test!
We asked ChatGPT to create a UGC brief targeting informed consumers looking for affordable, effective, and transparent skincare solutions. We’re using their star product, the Niacinamide Serum. We ask her to speak as a 25 years old, young woman who is struggling with stress and skin issues.
After reviewing ChatGPT outputs, we received both frameworks along with their corresponding visuals. The copy itself is clear and coherent, and it makes effective use of powerful words that are commonly used in creative briefs.
Let’s move to another AI tool that has been a game-changer for writing scripts: Motion. Here, you will not only find tons of creatives from your competitors, but also Motion’s so-called “AI Agents.”
The Agents were created by some of the most recognized creative strategists in the industry, and each one can help with a different task: Motion Agent will help you with hooks and wild ad ideas, UGC Buddy can help you generate UGC scripts, Barry can draft a brief in 15 minutes, and more.
Let’s try asking UGC Buddy to write a script for The Ordinary. We gave it the same prompt and here’s what we got.
The best thing about Motion is its deep understanding of the creative world. As a platform specializing in creative research, it goes beyond surface-level trends and shows you exactly what’s performing across different verticals.
When it comes to writing briefs, Motion really stands out because it knows the latest trends, the industry jargon and what actually works, thanks to being powered by renowned creative strategists.
In the end… it’s amazing how artificial intelligences can learn different frameworks and apply them in unique ways. This gives you endless iterations to test and scale much faster.
Images
We’ve tested asking for a before/after image of someone with a little of redness and skin texture for the before and the after would be a clear skin. This is what it delivered after asking twice:
Generally, between 25%-50% of the generated images may work. In this case, we have three options that look real and can be totally used for new creatives.
Another option is Sora. Sora is powered by ChatGPT and it’s ideal for campaigns that demand visual storytelling. A perk is that you can actually make an entire ad using Sora. The more accurate your prompt is, the better result you’ll get.
We used the same prompt to test Sora. In this case, the output included the logo and their most famous product (without even mentioning it), but the image of the person doesn’t look real.
Another great aspect of Sora is that it also allows you to remix existing visuals. We’ve asked to remix one of the images and this was the outcome.
It is impressive how far image generation has come and the endless possibilities it offers. Haven’t tested them yet? You need to do it now.
Videos
And finally, video generation.
Every day, video generation evolves—so much so that sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish a fake video from a real one. We’ve talked about AI-generated, emotion-baiting content previously, but let’s keep going. With the latest tools, realism and emotional resonance are blending seamlessly. Today’s AI-generated videos can mimic human expressions, voice tones and even subtle gestures.
When it comes to generating videos that look real and allow you to have an avatar with your own voice and face, the undoubted winner is HeyGen.
Not going to lie about this: We were skeptical of this AI tool until we tried it, but it surpassed our expectations.
You can use previous creators or even test it yourself. You need to upload a video and write down the script. This is very effective when you need to test different personas and want to give your ad a complete makeover in a rush.
Another good tool for video generation is Veo3, which is powered by Google. Its biggest difference from HeyGen is that Veo3 is better for use on products than on people, as it does not yet have the same level of realism. However, it works very well and is improving every day.
Become an AI-First Creative Strategist
With all the tools available today, roles like the creative strategist are evolving faster than ever. Creativity remains at the core of what we do, but the real advantage now comes from knowing how to combine that creativity with powerful AI tools to work smarter, faster and more effectively.
Platforms like ChatGPT, Sora and HeyGen are not just “nice-to-have” additions. They are transforming how ideas are generated, scripts are written and videos are produced. They allow strategists to test concepts quickly and iterate on content faster than before.
But the future of creative work isn’t just about using those tools. It’s about mixing them with the human eye to create high-performing campaigns in terms of ad creative. In an environment where speed, relevance and emotional impact matter more than ever, embracing these tools isn’t optional—it’s essential.
Partner with Growth Experts
Creating video ads shouldn’t be a difficult and time-consuming task—and that’s exactly why we’re here. At Primer, we specialize in crafting videos, images, landing pages and UGC that actually convert, delivering real, measurable results by using the latest tools in the market. We have partners with big brands like Jocko Fuel, Sunday and more.
Your Growth Marketing Team: Partnering with Primer means we take care of everything—strategy and planning, production, reporting and optional media buying—to achieve your growth objectives. You can focus on your business while we deliver the results.
Creative On Demand: Access a subscription-based marketing creative platform to request UGC, videos, images and landing pages crafted by top marketing creative strategists and designers who understand what drives conversions.
