From Idea
to Ad
Creating Ads with AI
Faster creative. Better results. No AI slop.
February 2026
Most Teams Are
Guessing at Ads
We push content because we have to, not because it's good. The result: wasted budget, low engagement, burned-out teams. In a world where every scroll is a battle for attention, mediocre creative is the most expensive kind.
Most teams don't lack talent or ambition. They lack time. And when time runs short, creative quality is the first thing sacrificed. The gap between what teams want to make and what they actually ship is growing wider every quarter.
If the media plan is the engine, creative is the fuel — and right now we're running on fumes.
Why This Matters for Ministry
For ministry teams, this challenge carries an added weight. Every dollar spent on ineffective advertising is a dollar diverted from reaching people who need to hear the gospel. Faithful stewardship of the resources entrusted to your church demands that creative actually connects — not just exists. The Great Commission calls us to go and make disciples; in the digital age, that means showing up where people are with content worthy of the message we carry.
Speed vs. Quality
Speed
- Quick turnaround
- Generic output
- "Good enough"
Quality
- Hours of work
- Brainstorming
- Polished results
A good ad used to take hours of brainstorming, writing, designing, and revising. Teams with limited time default to mediocre. But good enough doesn't stop a scroll.
What If You Didn't Have to Choose?
AI breaks the speed vs. quality tradeoff — if you use it right.
Principles
What makes great ads — the five fundamentals that separate scroll-stopping creative from noise.
Pitfalls
Avoiding AI slop — why bad prompting creates bad output, and how to recognize the signs.
Framework
Built for what we do — the Human + AI model that gets you 80% of the way in 5 minutes.
Five Principles of
Great Ads
Whether you're creating with AI or by hand, these five principles are non-negotiable. They're the difference between content that gets scrolled past and creative that earns attention.
The Hook: You Have 1–3 Seconds
Your visual and opening line are everything. The hook's job isn't to deliver your message — it's to earn the next 5 seconds.
In an endless scroll of content, the first frame determines whether anyone ever sees the rest. Every element of your creative must serve that split-second decision: stop or scroll. This isn't about clickbait or manipulation — it's about earning the right to be heard.
Remember
Your community is swimming in content. A compelling opening — an honest question, a striking visual, a relatable moment — is how you earn attention for a message that genuinely matters.
Ask yourself: Would you stop scrolling for this?
One Ad, One Action
Every ad needs a single, clear call to action. The temptation to pack every ad with multiple asks is strong, especially when you feel like you have limited opportunities to reach someone. But clarity beats comprehensiveness every time.
“Watch this video and visit our site and share with a friend”
One ad. One ask. One outcome.
If you're trying to do three things, you'll accomplish zero. A focused message with a single call to action will always outperform a cluttered one trying to do everything at once.
For Ministry Teams
Whether you're inviting someone to a worship gathering, a community meal, or a Bible study, clarity of invitation reflects the clarity of the gospel itself. A single, honest invitation will always outperform a cluttered bulletin of announcements trying to promote everything at once.
Feed-Native Creative
The best ads don't look like ads. They look like content that belongs in someone's feed. If your ad looks like a flyer from a bulletin board, people's brains filter it out before they even read it. Match the visual language of the platform.
This means understanding not just the technical requirements of each platform, but its visual culture. Instagram is curated and aspirational. TikTok is raw and authentic. Facebook is conversational and community-driven. Your creative should feel at home in whatever feed it appears in.
A Biblical Precedent
Meeting people where they are isn't a compromise — it's a biblical pattern. Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22, NIV).
A church ad that looks like a flyer stapled to a digital bulletin board ignores this principle. When your creative matches the visual language of the platform, it signals that your church understands and values the people you're trying to reach.
Emotion Over Information
You're not delivering a sermon in 15 seconds. You're starting a conversation. The ad's only job is to create enough curiosity or emotional resonance that someone takes the next step.
This doesn't mean being anti-intellectual or superficial. It means understanding that in a 3-second window, emotional connection is what creates the opening for deeper engagement. The information, the theology, the full message — that comes in the next step of the journey. Lead with feeling, follow up with information.
Planting Seeds
The gospel itself is communicated through narrative, through the lived experience of Christ. Our job in advertising is to create an on-ramp, not deliver the entire message. As Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6, NIV).
Your ad plants a seed. Trust the journey — and the Holy Spirit — to do the rest.
Platform-Specific Design
What works on Facebook doesn't work on Instagram Reels. Aspect ratios, text overlay limits, video length — these all differ. A great ad designed for the wrong format is a wasted ad.
Square format, longer captions, link previews
Community & conversation
Instagram Reels
Vertical video, text overlays, 90 seconds max
Visual & trending
Stories
9:16 ratio, swipe-up CTAs, 24-hour lifespan
Casual & ephemeral
Each platform has its own culture, not just its own specs. Understanding these differences isn't just a marketing tactic — it's wisdom in communication. The medium shapes the message, and ignoring the medium means your message gets lost.
The AI Slop
Problem
We've all seen it. And we've all scrolled right past it.
- Generic images with too-smooth skin and plastic perfection
- Copy that sounds like a robot pretending to be inspirational
- Content that technically exists but connects with no one
This is what happens when you tell AI “make me an ad” and hit publish. The output is only as good as the strategy behind the input. Without clear audience, tone, objective, and cultural context baked in, AI defaults to generic.
AI slop isn't random — it's predictable. It happens every time someone skips the strategy step and goes straight to generation. The tool didn't fail. The process did.
For Churches, the Stakes Are Higher
When people encounter generic, soulless content from a church, it communicates something about how that church values them — as targets rather than people. Authenticity isn't just a marketing buzzword for ministry; it's a matter of integrity in representing Christ's church to the world. Your creative should reflect the care and intentionality of the community behind it.
AI slop isn't an AI problem —
it's a prompting problem.
Before & After
× Typical Ad
- Text-heavy layouts that overwhelm
- Generic stock imagery that feels impersonal
- Multiple competing calls to action
- No clear target audience
- Looks like an ad, gets filtered out
✓ Well-Crafted Version
- Strong visual hook that stops the scroll
- Single, clear call to action
- Emotionally resonant messaging
- Platform-native design and format
- Feels like content, earns attention
The Anatomy of a Great Social Ad
Single Message
Keep one clear idea at the centre of everything
Platform-Native
Fit the format and visual language of the feed
Strong Hook
Grab attention in the first second
One CTA
Direct the viewer to a single next step
Emotional Pull
Connect with feeling before information
Human + AI
AI Handles
- Speed — drafts in seconds, not hours
- Variation — multiple directions at once
- Iteration — rapid refinement cycles
- Formatting — platform specs handled automatically
- Scaling — one idea adapted across channels
Humans Handle
- Strategy — the why behind the what
- Cultural context — local nuance and relevance
- Theological sensitivity — doctrinal accuracy
- Audience understanding — who you're reaching
- Final judgement — the gut check before publish
AI Gets You Here
In 5 minutes. Draft copy, image variations, platform formatting, and initial creative directions — all handled.
Your Contribution
Makes it real. The local knowledge, the cultural nuance, the gut check — that's what only you can bring.
Your 20% — the local knowledge, the cultural nuance, the gut check — is what makes it real. The goal isn't to remove the human. It's to remove the hours of grunt work so you can focus on what only you can do.
A Note on Theological Sensitivity
AI doesn't understand doctrine. It can't discern whether a phrase aligns with Scripture or subtly distorts it. It doesn't know the difference between a statement that's theologically sound and one that inadvertently promotes an idea your church wouldn't endorse.
Every piece of content that represents your church must be reviewed by someone who understands your theological commitments and pastoral context. AI can draft — but only your team can ensure the message is doctrinally sound, pastorally appropriate, and true to what your church believes and teaches.
AI is the engine.
You're the driver.
Real Results
from the Field
Better Performance
Than manually created ads, measured across real campaigns with real teams.
Time to Create
Instead of 2 hours. From brief to polished creative, ready for review.
This isn't theoretical. It's already working in the field with real teams running real campaigns.
What This Means for Your Budget
Better Ads
Higher engagement rates from scroll-stopping creative
Better Performance
More conversions from every campaign you run
Lower Cost
Less spend per result — every pound works harder
Faithful Stewardship
Better creative isn't just about engagement — it directly impacts your media spend efficiency. Teams running modest daily budgets get more out of every dollar when the creative actually works. That's faithful stewardship of the resources your church has been given — making every investment count toward the mission.
Before You Publish
Before you publish any ad — AI-assisted or not — ask yourself these questions:
Does the hook stop a scroll?
If you wouldn't stop for it in your own feed, neither will they. Test it on yourself first.
Is there one clear CTA?
One action, clearly communicated. If someone has to think about what to do next, you've lost them.
Does it look native to the platform?
It should feel like it belongs in the feed — not like it was imported from a different medium.
Would someone from my audience feel something?
Curiosity, recognition, warmth, urgency — emotion creates the opening for action.
Did a human review it with local eyes?
AI doesn't know your community. Someone who does must sign off before it goes live.
Is it theologically accurate and pastorally appropriate?
Every piece of church content must be doctrinally sound. AI can't do this — your team must.
If yes to all six — publish.
If not — refine.
Now Let's Build
One Together
You've got the principles. You've seen the results. Now it's time to put them into practice.
We've built a tool specifically for our teams — designed around these principles and the way we actually work.
You're the first group outside our core team to use it. Your experience matters.
Your feedback will shape what this becomes for everyone. We're building this together.
Let's create some ads.