Amazon’s Ads Generative AI: Should Digital Marketers Care?

Amazon has introduced an AI-powered image generation tool to help businesses produce engaging ad content without creative expertise. Although Amazon’s generative AI tool is still in beta, it has created quite a buzz in the advertisement industry.

Without further ado, let’s learn what Amazon’s generative AI tool can do and what it means for creative professionals.

What Does Amazon’s Generative AI Tool Do for Marketers?

Amazon beta launched a generative AI tool in late October 2023 to help marketers generate ad images on the online marketplace. The image generation artificial intelligence tool has the capability of creating backgrounds that fit the lifestyle of a product image.?

Let’s look at a real-life scenario to understand the need for Amazon’s latest generative AI tool and how it can be used.

The Use Case?

Ryan wants to make extra money selling products on Amazon. He studies the market and learns that computer monitors are in demand as more people work from home. He also sees the upcoming release of the Sony Playstation 6 as a potential catalyst for a greater need for gaming monitors.

So Ryan buys 100 high-quality monitors from a wholesaler at a discount and now proceeds to list his product on Amazon. However, Ryan does not have the skills or the equipment to shoot product photos for ads. He takes pictures of the monitor on a white background with his iPhone.

Targeting the Market

Ryan’s friend Amy is a marketing expert. She disapproves of Ryan’s product images and tells him the pictures must be more eye-catching to stand out among hundreds of other computer monitors listed on Amazon.?

Amy also advises Ryan to ensure product images fit a particular lifestyle that appeals to the target customer.

The Solution

Ryan does not want to spend time and money to hire a professional product photographer and a graphic designer to recreate his ad creative.

Instead, he uploads his self-shot product photo to Amazon Ad Console.?

Ryan writes a prompt to direct Amazon’s generative AI tool to create a specific type of background to match the product.?

“Computer monitor placed on an office table.”

Amazon’s generative AI tool will give Ryan multiple image options to choose from. Ryan also has the “enhance with a theme” option to add extra features to the image. In this case, Ryan can enhance the “computer monitor placed on an office table” image with keyboards, mouse, or speakers on the desk.

Ryan publishes the ad with AI-generated images.

Who Can Use Amazon’s Generative AI Ad Tool?

Amazon’s image generation AI tool beta launched on 25 October 2023. At the time of writing, the generative AI tool is only available to Amazon-registered sellers and vendors based in North America.

Users can access the Amazon generative AI tool on the platform’s advertising console free of cost. So, if you are an Amazon seller in the U.S., you can create your ads with the help of your handy AI assistant.

Democratizing Advertising Tools

Amazon’s beta launch of its generative AI tool is a harbinger of technological disruption in the advertisement industry. One of the value propositions of productive AI tools is that they are simple to learn and use.

Based on the YouTube preview and company blogs, Amazon’s image generation AI tool seems easy to use, helping hobbyists and professionals. Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president at Amazon Ads Products and Technology, put it aptly by saying:?

“It’s a perfect use for generative AI: less effort and better outcomes.”

“Less effort” seems to be the mantra for generative AI tools. An upgraded version of Amazon’s image generation AI tool is expected to help advertisers do even more — write ad titles, catchphrases, and product descriptions — for less effort.?

It would also be an excellent wager to bet on the release of an end-to-end advertisement AI tool shortly. A complete advertisement AI tool that not only produces ad creatives but also optimizes ad budgets, suggests geographical placements, selects target customer demographics, and analyzes campaign performance would be the ultimate marketing tool.

The Debate: Will Amazon’s Image Generation Tool Hurt Photographers and Graphic Designers?

Product photographers and graphic designers are the two professions that come to mind that image generation AI tools could affect. The reality of the ongoing AI disruption is that the revenue pie of specific jobs will get smaller.?

Solo entrepreneurs and small businesses that do not have the expertise in creative production will see the emergence of generative AI as a way to sidestep hiring creative talent.

When Amazon introduced its AI-powered image generation tool, the company highlighted a March 2023 survey that revealed that nearly 75% of survey respondents cited “building ad creative and choosing a creative format” as their biggest challenge in creating successful ad campaigns.

Colleen Aubrey added:

“Producing engaging and differentiated creative can increase cost and often requires introducing additional expertise to the advertising process.

 

“At Amazon Ads, we’re always thinking about ways we can reduce friction for our advertisers, provide them with tools that deliver more impact while minimizing effort, and ultimately deliver a better advertising experience for our customers.”

Despite the gloomy predictions for creative professionals, it should be mentioned that there are vital areas where AI cannot compete with humans: originality and creative thinking

Any keen observer of media platforms like Instagram and YouTube can tell you how high the bar is for content generation. The glut of content on the internet is making human attention a scarce commodity. Now, as more marketers begin using the same generative AI tools that thousands of others are using, AI-generated content becomes repetitive, boring, and predictable.

Only with human ingenuity does one have a chance to stand out in this hyper-competitive internet age. Brands and businesses that want to stand out from the crowd recognize the importance of creative professionals. With that in mind, complacency is probably a more significant threat to your creative job than generative AI.

The Bottom Line

The emergence of generative AI tools is a sign of the times. Amazon’s AI-powered image generation tool is going to help thousands of sellers on its platform to create more engaging and visually rich customer experiences.

In my mind, the solo entrepreneur or the dropshipper – who doesn’t have the time or resources to create attractive ad creatives – is the one who is likely to benefit most from Amazon’s generative AI tool.?

As for the creative professional, upgrading your skill set will be vital to staying relevant in this changing job market. AI tools are constantly improving through machine learning and natural language processing technologies.?