Meta has been steadily integrating AI into its advertising platforms for years, but the latest wave of updates marks a step change. Its Advantage+ creative features, rolled out widely over the last quarter, promise to automate ad variations, learn from audience behaviour and serve the highest‑performing combinations in real time. For brands looking to do more with fewer resources, these tools are attracting serious attention and early adopters are already seeing the impact.
What makes Advantage+ different
Traditional ad campaigns on Meta often require marketers to manually create multiple variations of copy, visuals and calls to action, then monitor performance and adjust accordingly. Advantage+ uses AI to do this heavy lifting automatically. By feeding the system a bank of assets — headlines, images, videos, product descriptions — marketers allow the platform to generate and test combinations at scale.
The AI continuously learns which variations resonate with different audience segments, optimising placements without waiting for human intervention. This not only saves time but also uncovers winning combinations that might not have been obvious in the planning phase.
How early adopters are using it
Unilever’s consumer campaigns
Unilever has been testing Advantage+ on a number of product lines, particularly in fast‑moving consumer goods where seasonal campaigns need rapid execution. By uploading a library of brand‑approved visuals and taglines, the marketing team allowed the system to automatically create variants tailored to different markets. Within weeks, they reported improved return on ad spend as the AI found combinations that performed better in specific regions, without manual tweaking.
HubSpot’s B2B lead generation
HubSpot’s team applied Advantage+ to promote its webinars and free resources aimed at small business audiences. Instead of running a single set of creative, they uploaded multiple images, audience segments and benefit statements. The AI quickly identified which combinations drove the most registrations and adjusted spend accordingly. This approach allowed the team to test messaging at scale and double down on what worked, all while freeing up time for strategic planning.
Benefits marketers are reporting
Faster optimisation
Campaigns no longer rely on manual reviews. The AI updates creative selections in real time based on performance data, ensuring budgets are spent where they deliver the most impact.
Resource efficiency
Instead of investing hours in designing and trafficking multiple ads, teams can focus on creating a bank of high‑quality assets and let the system handle the variation work.
Deeper insights
Advantage+ provides reporting on which creative elements resonate with which audiences. These insights feed back into broader brand strategy, informing everything from future messaging to product positioning.
Global scalability
For multinational brands, the ability to test variations across markets simultaneously is a huge advantage. Local nuances can be discovered quickly, without launching separate, siloed campaigns.
Considerations and best practice
Advantage+ does not replace the need for strong creative foundations. Marketers still need to supply high‑quality assets and clear messaging for the AI to work effectively. It is also important to monitor performance regularly, ensuring the system aligns with brand guidelines and tone of voice.
Testing on a smaller campaign first can help teams understand how the tool behaves before rolling it out across larger budgets. Many early adopters are pairing automated campaigns with more traditional, manually managed ones to compare results and build confidence.
What this means for the future
The early results from brands like Unilever and HubSpot suggest that AI‑driven ad tools are not just a novelty but a practical way to scale campaigns without sacrificing quality. As platforms like Meta continue to evolve their AI offerings, marketers can expect even greater levels of automation, from audience targeting to budget allocation.
For now, Advantage+ offers a glimpse of what the future of paid media looks like: a partnership between human creativity and machine learning, where marketers focus on strategic direction and let AI handle the heavy lifting. Those who start experimenting early are likely to build a competitive edge, discovering insights and efficiencies that others will take months or even years to catch up on.
