# How to build an AI creative workflow

> Build an AI creative workflow in six steps: research, brief, generate, check, launch and learn. Where people stay in charge, plus a worked time example.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-11-15
- **Category**: AI
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-build-an-ai-creative-workflow

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An AI creative workflow is a repeatable loop of six steps: research, brief, generate, check, launch and learn. AI speeds up the generate step, while people own the brief and the check. Start with one ad concept and one tool per format, and add tools only when a step slows you down.

## The six steps

1. **Research.** Collect what already works in your market: competitor ads, customer reviews and comments. Write down three to five [ad angles](/guides/how-to-come-up-with-ad-angles).
2. **Brief.** Write one page per concept: angle, hook, offer, format and the claim you can prove. Use the [one-page strategy template](/templates/creative-strategy-one-pager-template). A person decides here what is true.
3. **Generate.** Make images, video, voice and copy from the brief. Choose the tool per format. See [how to make ads with AI](/guides/how-to-make-ads-with-ai).
4. **Check.** A person reviews every asset. Is the product shown correctly? Is the text spelled right? Do hands and faces look real? Can you prove every claim? Are price and offer right? See [how to avoid AI-looking ads](/guides/how-to-avoid-ai-looking-ads).
5. **Launch.** Name each ad by concept, hook and format so you can compare later. Check which Advantage+ creative enhancements are on. Meta says some are on by default and you can turn them off at any time ([Meta Help Centre](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/297506218282224), checked 2026-10-20).
6. **Learn.** After a week, tag each ad by hook, angle, format and offer. Note what won and write the next brief from it.

## Decide on labels at step 4

Meta can add an AI label to ad images made with its own tools, and India's ASCI has issued guidelines on AI-made ad content. Decide whether an ad needs a label before you launch, not after. See [how to label AI-generated ads on Meta](/guides/how-to-label-ai-generated-ads-on-meta).

## A worked example

Say you make 10 ad concepts a week. The times are made up.

- **By hand:** 6 hours a concept, so 10 x 6 = 60 hours.
- **With the workflow:** research is shared and takes 3 hours a week. Each concept takes 30 minutes to brief, 1 hour to generate and 30 minutes to check, which is 2 hours. So 3 + (10 x 2) = 23 hours.

You save 60 − 23 = 37 hours. Put some of that saving into the check step. Cheap generation also makes bad ads cheap.

## Mistakes to avoid

- Skipping the brief and prompting from scratch every time
- Using one tool for every format
- Launching without a human check
- Not recording what each ad taught you

We make Marxx. It has a production canvas that publishes to Meta. See [the production canvas](/features/production-canvas).

## FAQ

### Which AI tool should I start with?

Start with the format you make most often, such as static images. Add video once the loop runs smoothly.

### How many people does it need?

One person can run it. Two is better, because the person who checks should not be the person who generated.

### Does the workflow replace a creative strategist?

No. Strategy sits in the research and brief steps. AI changes how fast you can make the ads, not which ads are worth making.

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