Becoming the AI-Enhanced Ad Strategist

You’re not getting replaced by AI. But you could get replaced by a strategist who knows how to use it.

In this episode of The Strategic Ad Manager’s Guide to AI and Staying in Demand (Part 3 of 4), Brandi lays out what’s actually changing in ad management and what’s not, plus how to evolve from button pusher to strategic partner, even in an AI-powered world.

Topics Covered In This Episode:

1. AI is evolving, but so is your opportunity.
2. Strategic thinkers will rise above button-pushers every time.
3. There’s room for you but only if you step into strategy.
4. Clients want results and leadership, not just implementation.
5. The future isn’t freelance vs. AI, it’s freelancers using AI strategically.

Find the full show notes at:  https://brandimowles.com/266

Want More Like This? ⬇️

🎧 Episode 264: How Smart Ad Managers Are Already Using AI (Without Getting Replaced)
 

🎧 Episode 265: The Dark Side of AI in Digital Marketing: What No One’s Warning You About

Additional Resources:

🎧 Next Steps

Want to stay in demand even as AI evolves?

👉 Apply now to work with Brandi inside The Strategist Society
 → www.thestrategistsociety.com

You’ll learn the exact skills that position you as the go-to strategic partner your clients can’t live without.

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Follow Brandi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brandiandcompany

Transcript

Becoming the AI-Enhanced Ad Strategist

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[00:00:00] 

Brandi: Today we're talking about the future of ad management in an AI powered world. This is part. Three of the Strategic Ad Managers guide to AI and Staying in Demand. This is a series, so if you haven't listened to part one and part two, I highly recommend after listening to this, you go check out those episodes.

We'll make sure they're linked in the show notes, listen to those because these each build on top of each other. So in episode one, I shared how the smartest ad managers are already using ai. In episode two, we got real about the dark side, the moment when AI sounds confident, but it's completely wrong, how AI is affecting how we work as ad managers, as strategists.

And today we're looking ahead because the truth is the future of ad management is changing. I'm not gonna deny that it's changing, but that doesn't mean that you have to get left behind. It doesn't mean that you're gonna be replaced. It does not [00:01:00] mean that you need to charge less. It just means that you need to evolve.

So if you're listening and you're wondering, is this still a viable business option for me? Is ad management something I should learn that skill? Or maybe you're already a ad manager and you're like, will clients still pay me when tools are doing more now than they've ever done? And is this still gonna be a in demand, high paying service?

This episode is your crystal ball. It is grounded in strategy, not fear, not sugarcoating things. I'm laying it all out for you on what the future looks like for ad managers and ai, so if you're brand new here, my name is Brandi Mowles I have been doing this for seven years, and I have watched. The ebbs and flows of ad management, and one thing I know is no matter what happens with meta, with Facebook, with Instagram, with any of that,

you will not be replaced and ad management will still be one of the [00:02:00] most sought after services. And we like, people were freaking out in 2021 when they rolled out the iOS 14 and they were like, oh my gosh, ads are gonna. Be the worst thing and all this stuff. And targeting's going away in the end of the world and after about eight months everything calmed down and now ad managers are even more in demand than they were then.

Just because Facebook met us says that things are gonna be easier to do, does not mean for the average person. They're easier to do. Business owners still don't even know how to log into Ad Manager. So whatever AI comes around, it doesn't mean there won't be people that still need you.

So let's talk about where we're headed and why it's not all bad. Yes, AI is getting more powerful. Yes. Platforms like Meta are heavily investing in AI tools like heavily, but that doesn't mean clients all of a sudden know how to log into their ad manager.

It [00:03:00] doesn't mean that they're staying up to date with every little change that's happening in meta. It doesn't mean that they know how to pick the right offer to promote. It doesn't mean that they know how to pull or interpret data. It doesn't mean that they know what funnel is right with ads.

It also doesn't mean that they know how to split up their 10 K budget and run it effectively across multiple campaigns. This is your reminder that tools don't replace trust or basic knowledge. People still hire people that they believe they can guide them. When someone hires an ad manager or specifically a strategist, they want guidance.

It's not about the button pushing. It's about they need guidance. What is the right strategy? Because you're the expert in your field. They're not an expert. When they hire you in advertising. They're not an expert in running ads. If they were, they wouldn't be coming to you. They wouldn't be coming to hire [00:04:00] you to do something that they don't know how to do or they don't want to do, and that cannot be replaced with ai.

However, it is more crucial that you know how to lead and guide now more than ever because general things like, which campaign objectives should I set up? They can throw that in chat GPT. But when it comes to, okay, I have this offer, this one, this one, this one, this one. You see what's working really well on ads now, how would you sort that budget?

How would you split it up? Which of these offers that I have, do you think would perform best? Chat. GBT could give them some generic things, but the thing is, a lot of times those are not actually the most effective strategy because chat GBT is pulling general information, you know, the ins and outs of, Hey, for e-commerce.

Yeah, what chat GBT said may be right, but for your business, an online course [00:05:00] creator or a local business, that's actually not the strategy. That I would suggest instead, I would suggest this strategy. You have to be able to shine brighter than a robot, and each and every single one of you can do that.

When you have the right tools, the right knowledge, the right strategic thinking, which none of that has to come naturally. It's not a gift. It's a learned skill. So the three types of ad managers that will exist in the next 12 to 24 months. When I was thinking about this is one the button pusher. You are the task taker. You set up the ads, you follow instructions. You're replaceable by AI or cheap labor. Like I am just gonna point blank if you cannot create strategy.

You are replaceable by AI or cheap labor. 'cause what's gonna happen is they're gonna know, they're gonna go in your client, maybe they use chat GBT and they're gonna be like, oh, here's the strategy I wanna implement. And then they're just gonna want you to take that [00:06:00] and run with it. And you're gonna be like, okay, I can do that.

And then that's replaceable. They can get anyone to do that. Follow like click a few buttons. And so if you are just a button pusher, you will still have a job. You will probably work for a thousand to 1500 a month for a while. I think at some point that may lower. If you're just pressing buttons, um, and you're not creating budgets or anything like that, you're just implementing what someone has already given you.

That's the button pusher. Then the second one is the AI enhanced specialist. You use AI to increase speed and accuracy, so maybe use it to help with creative, with copy, with hooks, with pulling reports and analyzing data. They know their strengths and they pair them with smart tools. They know what they're good at.

Maybe they're really good at coming out with a budgeting strategy. Maybe they're really good with honing in on the emotional pain points of an [00:07:00] audience, but they still use AI to streamline the systems and be able to work faster. You're still needed, but as we move forward, you are gonna be competing for results.

So if you can't get results, then you will be replaced with someone who can. That's no different than now. And you have to be able to communicate. And usually the AI enhanced specialists, they're not always able to communicate why the results are what they are. And so communication is gonna become more important now than ever.

And three, the strategic partner, if you wanna stay, highly sought after, highly paid, highly in demand. Moving into the next 12, 24 months, you need to become a strategic partner. And we don't get there overnight. You start with the button pusher and you move up as you learn skills. So if you're like, Brandy, this is a boat has sailed for me.

I can't do this. That's not true. Start now. So in the [00:08:00] next 12 months, you can be a strategic partner. And I'm not saying it takes 12 months. It can happen so much quicker than that. But start now. Don't wait till everyone is a button pusher and then you're competing. Start now, and then as AI grows, you're already gonna be moving into the strategic partner.

So the strategic partner, they direct the entire marketing strategy for the paid advertising. So if they know that we're running ads and someone wants to fill their book, a call funnel. They're not only gonna be looking at the ads, the traffic component, they're also gonna be looking at the conversion event, which is the funnel, the conversion events, where the book, the call happens, the sales call, they're gonna be looking at what happens after that.

They're gonna be looking at the full sales process and journey, and that doesn't mean they're building it. They're looking at the full blueprint. They become a funnel architect as well as a master of traffic. [00:09:00] They use AI tools, but they build the plan and the why themselves, and then the AI assists them with the copy, the creative, getting into the nitty gritty of reports and things like that that can save them time.

They know how to deliver results. They deliver our. Roas. They deliver ROI. They deliver insights. They deliver decision making. They step into that leadership role of directing and orchestrating the whole process. They are booked. They're making bank. Period. This is where the people, if you wanna make 250,000 a year and you wanna work with champagne clients, this is where you'll wanna be, because this is where people are gonna be paying in a world of sameness.

Right now with ai, you have to be able to stand out. If you wanna stand out, strategic partnership is right where you wanna be. People will always, always pay. To have someone in their corner who [00:10:00] knows what they're talking about when it comes to paid traffic and funnels. But it doesn't happen overnight. So tell me right now, in the next 12 months to 24 months, where do you wanna be?

I truly believe that AI enhanced specialists will still get paid. You can still make 2000, $3,000 a month per client there. I do think at some point in the next 12 to 24 months, the button pusher, like if you don't know how to really hone in on. Budgeting and strategy, you are gonna be competing with lower wage people.

And so if you know that your goal should be to be an AI enhanced specialist or a strategic partner, but out of any of these, no matter what, you're still gonna be being the highest paid freelancing gig. Because here's the thing, freelancing is the number one fastest career growing in the us. And so when we know that people are going to move to hiring freelancers over in-house, [00:11:00] when we also know that if you're gonna do a freelancing career, you might as well do the highest paid.

All of these will still be highly, highly paid, highly needed. But if you wanna make the real money, if you wanna stick around with your clients long term, if you wanna work with the champaign clients and not be replaced fully by ai, you wanna step into that strategic partner role, or at least the AI enhanced specialist.

This is not stuff you learn on YouTube. This is really putting in the fueling our brain and learning and mastering our craft. So what's changing in ad management and what's not? What is changing? Its clients expect faster deliverables. They know that now. It used to take like. 14 days to get a sales page done.

Now they're expecting it much, much quicker, like half the time. Same thing with ad creative ad copy. 'cause they know that we're using ai. AI first. Tools are lowering the barrier of entry. It does make it easier for people to come into the ad world when it comes to copy [00:12:00] messaging, stuff like that. AI is not gonna help you learn what buttons to press though.

And meta AI is not at the point of clicking a few buttons and they're setting it up. That's what they say they're moving towards, but you still have to actually be able to click the buttons and know which ones to click, which ones to turn off, which ones to leave, and that is not gonna be replaced by AI right now.

Maybe in the next 24 months, but not right now. The setup and walkaway ad manager is fading out. People want communication, and I don't know if this is an AI thing or a thing that people have been burned so many times by agencies that just don't care. They want to be informed of the data and they want someone who knows how to communicate the data well, and they don't want someone who's just like, oh, I'm gonna throw all this stuff into Facebook, let their AI do it, and then not do anything else.

You can use ai, but you also have to use your brain. We need to set up effective campaigns for our clients, not just let the algorithm do all the [00:13:00] work, and just being a tech executor won't cut it anymore. You need to know how to be more than just a button pusher. What's not changing though is clients still want someone who gets their business.

They want someone who they feel like understands what they're doing. They're passionate about what this client's doing. They wanna help that client. They still need insights, not just implementation. They want people who can tell them why this is happening. Oh, I didn't get any sales today.

What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean that you turn off your ads. It means that like there's stuff going on in the world right now and that affects ads, and they need someone who can explain that to 'em. They want real data interpreted through strategic lens. They want reports that aren't just a bunch of spreadsheets.

They want ones that someone tells them, here's what you're looking at. The need for results is bigger than ever. People expect results and if you can't get people results, you need to work on your craft because people are not paying you [00:14:00] not to get them results. So you need to be working with clients who, one you can get results for, who have the budgets you wanna work with, those champagne clients who have the assets so you can get results.

And the five skills that will keep you in demand. One strategic decision making, knowing what clients should do based on the goals. And what's going on in their business along with their budgets. Two, messaging mastery, helping clients stand out in a sea of AI written copy, you have to make sure that you know the frameworks that are tried and true and direct response marketing, persuasive messaging.

Those rules aren't something that are new or trendy or fads. That is buyer psychology. And when you know how to write copy using AI's help with those rules, your clients will stand out. But here's what everyone's doing is just popping something into AI and getting this generic copy.

No, [00:15:00] you have to know the rules of messaging. Three is offer evolution.

Knowing when to fix ads, when to fix the offer, when to fix the conversion event. You have to know conversion rate optimization. Four, client communication. If you can master client communication. Communication, you will stay in demand and you will keep clients longer. Explaining the why behind your strategy builds trust.

Knowing how to communicate bad results with the client. Knowing how to communicate good results with the client. Knowing how to communicate with clients period will make you so much more money, and it's something that will make you stand out so much more because nine out of 10 times people don't know how to communicate.

With their clients or the results that they're getting. It's a soft skill that people don't focus on, and if you're not focused on it, you are missing the boat. And five is AI integration. Using tools to enhance, not replace your processes. So the five skills that will keep you in demand. [00:16:00] Strategic decision making, messaging mastery, offer evolution, client communication, and AI integration.

You are not the tool, you are the strategist. AI will keep evolving, but clients will still pay for clarity, confidence, and conversions. If you can offer those three things, you'll be the most in demand person in the room, AI or not.

If this episode gave you clarity about the type of strategist you want to become and the skills that you wanna lean into, go on and head to the strategist society.com. And apply to work with me one-on-one inside a strategist society, where we're gonna tap into each and every single one of these in demand skills to help you stand out in a crowd of sameness.

And make sure to subscribe and join me next week for episode four of this AI series where I'm gonna be talking about becoming the AI enhanced strategist. Clients can't replace. [00:17:00] Until next week, y'all go out, serve your clients, scale your business, and soar into the success you deserve.