Meta’s AI Advertising Plans: What To Expect in 2026 and How To Prepare
Digital Marketing
Dec 09
Meta is always making big moves, and 2026 is not going to be any different. The company is currently planning to roll out a major expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) tools across its advertising business, and by the end of 2026, you can expect AI to help create your ads with significantly less effort than you put into them today. Meta’s goal? To fully automate the process, generating the ad, image, video, and text, and then target users on Instagram and Facebook with specific budget recommendations.
Working in marketing, you may not be sure what that means for you, and you’re right to wonder. Here’s more on what Meta has done this year in preparation for the AI launch, what’s expected in Meta’s future, what you can expect from AI-generated ads, and how you can prepare.
Meta in 2025
Meta introduced 11 new AI advertising tools at Cannes Lions 2025 and confirmed a $14-15 billion investment in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% stake to boost its global AI infrastructure.
The updated Advantage+ ad suite now includes features such as automated brand consistency (including logos, fonts, and colors), AI-generated product highlights, and voice-activated responses. A new image-to-video tool for Facebook and Instagram allows advertisers to turn up to 20 product photos into polished, multi-scene video ads, eliminating the need for external production teams. These innovations are designed to help marketers quickly transform static assets into dynamic, high-quality video ads, making professional-grade content creation more accessible. Meta’s Advantage+ Sales Campaigns are designed to boost return on ad spend, while its generative recommendation model, Meta GEM, helps improve conversions.
AI and Meta: How Will Advertising Change?
In 2026, Meta is set to enhance its AI and automation features, aiming to transform the advertising landscape. These advancements are expected to:
-Expand access to smaller advertisers who have fewer in-house resources.
-Capture a larger portion of the value chain (going from creative to targeting and budgeting all in one automated process)
-Increase efficiency and the scale of its own advertising system
It’s believed that Meta’s AI will also produce ads that can be personalized in real-time; as a result, users could see slightly (or very) different versions of the same ads depending on where they are, the kind of device they’re using, and their behaviors when using Meta’s services.
AI Ads: What To Expect
Now that you know more about the purpose of Meta’s AI and automation tools, you may be wondering what an AI ad will look like. Currently, Meta’s AI can:
-Create image and text combinations from prompts you input into the system
-Generate short-form videos from templates that have been preset
-Adjust ads to suit users based on the season, location, or weather conditions
It’s expected that future ads will be generated per user automatically, allowing for real-time adjustments to improve the chances of gaining leads and conversions.
Challenges With Fully Automated Ads
With any major change in how ads are created, there are some potential challenges. For example, there is no way to guarantee that AI won’t choose an audience that you would have avoided. AI-generated ads also need to be labeled to meet regulations, and that could put off some consumers.
There is also a high risk of creative fatigue, which occurs when AI ads all start to look similar; you can see this now with AI-generated art and content of some types. Blending AI with human-led storytelling is a possible solution.
How These Ads Compare to TikTok and Google
Meta is just one of the companies you can work with to promote your ads; Google and TikTok are two others that are popular among marketers. How do they differ?
Google has Performance Max (PMax), which has partial asset assembly and cross-platform machine learning. It can be used for Search, YouTube, and Gmail advertising.
TikTok has Smart+ campaigns, but it only allows for human assets. It has on-platform machine learning and only runs ads on its own platform.
Meta’s 2026 plan includes full AI generation and fully automated targeting through Lattice. It can be used on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
How Marketers Can Prepare for Meta’s AI Ads
Now is the time to get prepared for the coming changes. AI can make your life easier, but you need to know how to use it to make the most of your marketing budget and time spent learning new tools and techniques.
To get ready for 2026:
Audit your creative assets. Select the highest-quality visuals and content that best represent your brand, as these will serve as the foundation for what the AI can generate in the future.
Maintain a human-led strategy. Be sure of your brand voice and have human oversight, even when execution is led by AI.
Consider keeping a multi-channel strategy. While Meta will offer a powerful option, you may want to keep human-led options (like TikTok Smart+ Campaigns) as well.
Test current AI tools on Meta’s platforms. Experiment with the tools available today to gain a clear understanding of how the AI operates and its capabilities, so you’re well-prepared to integrate it into your advertising strategy.
Stay informed about the ever-evolving digital landscape. AI tools and advertising platforms are constantly updating, so it’s crucial to regularly review industry news and explore platform updates to ensure your strategies remain effective and aligned with the latest advancements.
As Meta continues to advance its AI capabilities in advertising, the opportunities for marketers are significant — but there are also potential challenges to navigate. With 2026 approaching quickly, now is the time to start preparing. By staying proactive, experimenting with current tools, and maintaining a balance between AI-driven efficiency and human creativity, you can position your brand to thrive in this new era of advertising.
Ready to update your digital marketing strategy and build your business?
Our experts are here to help.
