Generative AI (GenAI) has quickly moved from a buzzword to an everyday marketing reality. What once took weeks of designing, filming, or drafting can now be done in minutes with the right AI tool.
New AI platforms seem to launch almost every week, but this list highlights the ones that stand out for marketers today. They cover everything from idea generation to visuals, video, and even voice content.
Whether you are launching a product, refreshing ad creatives, or managing a multichannel campaign, these nine tools can save time, cut costs, and unlock new creative possibilities.
1. ChatGPT – Research & Content Creation
What it is: A generative text model that helps with research, brainstorming, and writing.
Why marketers love it: Perfect for blog drafts, ad copy variations, or creative prompts in seconds.
Example use: A coffee chain asks ChatGPT for 10 fun, Instagram-ready headlines for a pumpkin spice latte campaign.
2. NotebookLM – Brand-Aligned Copywriting
What it is: Google’s NotebookLM is an AI assistant that uses your own materials, like PDFs, Google Docs, a website URL, or even videos, to generate copy in your brand’s style.
Why marketers love it: Ensures ad copy stays accurate, compliant, and aligned with brand voice.
Example use: A content team uploads past blog posts and their homepage URL, and then uses NotebookLM to generate outlines for new articles in the same tone and style.
3. Canva AI – Visual Content Made Easy
What it is: A design platform with AI features like Magic Write, background removal, and instant resizing.
Why marketers love it: Makes professional design accessible for social posts, ads, and email banners.
Example use: A retailer quickly generates branded “New Arrival” social posts that look polished and ready to publish in minutes.
4. Adobe Firefly – Commercial-Ready Design
What it is: Adobe’s GenAI suite built into Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro.
Why marketers love it: Firefly is trained on Adobe Stock, openly licensed, and public domain content. The outputs are commercially ready and safe to use, giving marketers peace of mind while creating directly inside the Adobe tools they already rely on.
Example use: A creative agency generates imaginative visuals, such as a woman with floral headpieces, in Photoshop and uses them in paid campaigns.
5. Midjourney – Artistic Image Generation
What it is: A text-to-image generator that creates highly stylized, detailed artwork.
Why marketers love it: Ideal for producing campaign imagery, mood boards, or product visuals without expensive photo shoots.
Example use: A children’s brand prompts Midjourney for “a whimsical ladybug with an umbrella in the rain” and turns the image into creative assets for social media and packaging.
6. Runway – AI Video Creation & Editing
What it is: A platform for generating and editing AI-based images and videos.
Why marketers love it: Turns simple prompts into polished creative assets without the need for a full production setup.
Example use: A café brand prompts Runway with “steam rising from a coffee cup” and produces a realistic product shot for social ads and campaigns.
7. Veo 3 – Cinematic Video Generation
What it is: Google DeepMind’s latest model that creates cinematic-quality clips from text prompts.
Why marketers love it: Delivers quick-turn ad spots and teasers without the need for a production crew.
Example use: A sports brand generates a dynamic 8-second Formula 1 promo to test audience response before investing in a full shoot.
8. Gemini Nano Banana – Fast Image Generation
What it is: Google’s lightweight GenAI image tool, part of Gemini 2.5 Flash.
Why marketers love it: Great for quick edits, mockups, and playful campaign tweaks.
Example use: A marketer replaces all the fruit in a product photo with bananas to create a fun visual refresh for digital ads.
9. ElevenLabs – AI Voiceovers
What it is: A platform for natural-sounding, multilingual voice generation.
Why marketers love it: Adds professional narration to videos, podcasts, or ads in seconds.
Example use: A fitness brand creates English and Spanish voiceovers for its video ads without hiring actors.
What’s Coming Next
These are the latest updates pointing to what’s ahead for these GenAI tools:
- Adobe Firefly: Firefly Boards bring collaborative planning to teams, with new image models offering better realism and deeper video and audio integrations on the horizon.
- Midjourney: Video V1 adds motion to stills, and upcoming updates promise more control over style, movement, and upscaling.
- Runway: Gen-4 delivers more consistent results and stronger storytelling, with further refinements expected for professional ad workflows.
- Veo 3: Advancing toward longer, more realistic clips that push beyond teasers into higher-end commercial video production.
- Cross-tool trend: Marketers are increasingly blending tools like Midjourney, Runway, and Veo 3 in a single campaign, showing that the future is about orchestration rather than relying on a single tool to do it all.
Final Takeaway
Together, these tools highlight how much creative power is now available to marketers. From writing and visuals to video and voice, GenAI is opening new possibilities and making it faster than ever to move from idea to execution.
GenAI is not here to replace marketers; it is here to support them. Those who adopt these tools early will not only stay ahead but also help define the future of digital marketing.
