How to Use AI to Set Up and Analyze Ads—Step by Step
- Ryan Tungseth
- Oct 17
- 3 min read
The Glory Days Are Gone (and That’s Okay)
There was a time when running an ad on Google or Facebook felt like magic. You’d write a few lines, pick an audience, and boom—clicks, customers, cash.
But those days are long gone.
Between privacy changes, cookie limits, and a flood of new advertisers, your targeting has shrunk and your costs have climbed.
If you’re running ads today, you’ve probably noticed two numbers that matter most:
CPC (Cost Per Click) keeps rising.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) can feel out of control.
That’s where AI comes in—not as a magic fix, but as a strategic copilot that helps you spend smarter, move faster, and learn what’s actually working.
Step 1: Use AI to Plan Your Campaign
Before you ever log into Google Ads or Meta Business Suite, you can have AI help you build a complete ad plan. Here’s a simple prompt that works great:
Prompt:“Act as a digital ad strategist. Create a Google Ads plan for [your business]. Include campaign goals, target audience, keywords, headlines, and ad copy. Assume a $300 monthly budget.”
What you’ll get:
✅ Clear campaign structure (Search, Display, or Video)
✅ Keyword list matched to intent
✅ Several headline and copy options
✅ Suggestions for calls to action
You can refine the response by adding your target customer or product type (“boutique gift shop,” “local restaurant,” “insurance agency,” etc.) to make it more precise.
Step 2: Build It Inside Google or Meta
Once your plan is ready, it’s time to build.
This week we released a 42-minute step-by-step video that walks you through every screen of Google Ads setup—from keywords to targeting to ad extensions.
AI can still help during this step:
Use ChatGPT or Claude to rewrite your ad copy for clarity or tone.
Ask it to summarize your offer in 30, 60, and 90 characters for different ad formats.
If you’re using Canva for visuals, try the “Magic Write” feature to generate quick headlines or overlay text ideas.
Step 3: Use AI to Analyze Ad Performance
Once your ad is running for a few days, export your performance data:
Clicks
Impressions
CPC
Conversions (or leads/sales)
Now give that data to ChatGPT and ask:
Prompt:“Analyze this ad performance data and tell me what’s working, what’s not, and what to change to improve ROI. Include which metric matters most and why.”
AI will surface patterns that are easy to miss—like certain keywords driving clicks but not conversions, or times of day when engagement spikes.
You can even paste data from multiple campaigns to compare audiences or creatives side by side.
Step 4: Adjust Fast (and Keep Learning)
This is where AI really shines. When you use it to generate multiple versions of ad copy and creative ideas, you can pivot instantly when performance drops.
Prompt:“Rewrite this ad copy in 3 styles: emotional, data-driven, and friendly neighbor. Each under 90 characters.”
Then drop the best ones into your next test.
AI helps you go from guessing to adapting—without wasting a week “thinking about what to try next.”
Step 5: Track What Matters
There’s no point in chasing metrics that don’t move your business. AI can help summarize and visualize your reports, but you still need to know what’s worth tracking:
Metric | What It Means | Why It Matters |
CPC | What each click costs | Helps you understand efficiency |
CTR (Click-Through Rate) | % of people who clicked | Tells you how compelling your message is |
Conversion Rate | % of clicks that became leads/sales | Tells you if your ad and landing page match intent |
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) | Total cost per customer | The number that truly defines ROI |
If you only track one thing—track CAC.
AI can help you lower it by identifying weak links between your ad, landing page, and offer.
The Big Picture
AI won’t magically make bad ads good.
But it will make you a faster, smarter advertiser.
Instead of guessing, you’ll test. Instead of wasting budget, you’ll adapt. Instead of hoping, you’ll know.
Watch the Cinematic Vlogcast
We’ve been testing these ad workflows inside our own business—and showing the process in our new Cinematic Vlogcast.
This week’s episode dives into how we’re using AI not just for ads, but to run the entire business more efficiently (even our finances).
It’s part business, part creativity, and all fun.