Video has become one of the most valuable assets in a Google Ads strategy, but for many advertisers, creating high-quality video content can be a significant challenge. Not every business has access to a production team, a large creative budget, or the time needed to develop video assets that can be quickly deployed across campaigns. That’s where tools like Google Vids and Veo 3.1 are starting to change the game.
Recently, I have been creating videos for several clients using both Google Vids and Veo 3.1. While these tools don’t replace human creativity, strategic thinking, or creative direction, they do make it much easier to transform existing messaging, campaign concepts, and approved imagery into usable video assets. We’ve been able to create videos faster, fill asset gaps when timelines are tight, and introduce fresh creative variations without the time and cost typically associated with traditional video production.
What Are Google Vids and Veo 3.1?
Google Vids is an AI-powered video creation and editing tool built within Google Workspace, making it easy to create and customize video content without needing advanced production skills. Powering many of its video generation capabilities is Veo 3.1, Google’s AI video model that helps turn prompts, ideas, and existing assets into dynamic video content. Together, Google Vids and Veo 3.1 provide advertisers with a faster, more accessible way to create short-form video assets.
Video assets play a critical role in modern Google Ads strategies, serving as key creative components across YouTube, Demand Gen, Performance Max, and other visually driven placements. Strong video creative doesn’t just capture attention; it helps drive engagement and performance when paired with Google’s creative best practices, such as the ABCD framework.
Here are four ways Google Vids and Veo 3.1 can help advertisers and businesses:
- Lowers the Creative Barrier: Helps businesses with limited video or image assets create usable content quickly.
- Speeds Up Creative Testing: Generate multiple video variations in hours instead of waiting weeks for a single production.
- Provides a Starting Point for Smaller Businesses: While it’s not a replacement for a professional commercial shoot, it gives businesses an accessible way to test messaging and establish a video presence.
- Repurposes Existing Assets: Turns approved images and other brand-safe creative assets into video content without starting from scratch.
How I Approach Creating Videos
Now, here is the actual process I use when creating videos with Veo 3.1 in Google Vids. While every project is different, this five-step framework has worked well for turning ideas and existing assets into usable video creative for Google Ads campaigns.
Define the Campaign Goal
Start by identifying what you want the video to accomplish. Are you trying to drive sales, generate leads, promote a specific offer, or build brand awareness? Having a clear objective will help guide the entire creative process.
Gather Your Best Existing Assets
Pull together your strongest creative assets, including logos, brand colors, product images, and top-performing messaging. The quality of your inputs often directly affects the quality of the video output.
Use Veo 3.1 to Generate or Animate Content
Once you have your assets and messaging ready, use Veo 3.1 to generate new video clips or animate existing images. The more specific your prompts are, the better your results will typically be. You can even include “ingredients” when generating a video via a prompt to provide visual cues.
Edit and Assemble in Google Vids
After generating your video clips, you can edit them directly in Google Vids. This is where you can arrange scenes, add text overlays, incorporate voiceovers or music, trim clips, and make other edits to create a cohesive final product.
Review Before Launching
Before uploading your video to a campaign, review everything carefully. AI can save time, but it still requires human oversight.
Best Practices & What to Watch Out For
Now that you have a basic understanding of Google Vids and Veo 3.1, it’s important to keep these seven best practices in mind when generating videos within the platform.
1. Have a Clear Call to Action
Every video should have one main point. If you’re trying to communicate too many things at once, viewers are more likely to miss the message entirely.
2. Make Sure the Video Makes Sense Without Sound
A lot of people scroll with the sound off. Add short text overlays to help reinforce your message, and make sure the visuals clearly communicate the intent behind the video.
3. Make the First Few Seconds Count
Attention spans are short. The viewer should immediately understand what the video is about and why they should care.
4. Keep Your Branding Visible
Whether it’s a logo, watermark, or other brand elements, viewers should never wonder who the video is for.
5. Use AI to Help You Prompt AI
One trick I’ve found helpful is asking other AI tools to help improve my prompts. More often than not, the final output ends up being better than my original idea.
6. Be Patient and Be Specific
AI-generated video is rarely perfect on the first try. Expect to go through multiple iterations, make adjustments, and refine your prompts along the way. The more specific you are about what you want, the better your results will be.
7. Human Editing is Still Essential
AI can save a tremendous amount of time, but it’s not a replacement for human judgment. Reviewing, editing, and fine-tuning the final product is still one of the most important parts of the process.
Why Advertisers Should Start Experimenting With AI Video Now
Video is only becoming more important within Google Ads, and tools like Google Vids and Veo 3.1 are making it easier than ever for advertisers to create and test video assets at scale.
The technology is still evolving, but the opportunity is here today. The sooner advertisers begin experimenting with AI-powered video creation, the better positioned they’ll be to take advantage of where digital advertising is headed.
