AI playbook · Marketing

Create images for posts and ads

Use AI design tools to make clean social graphics, banners and ad images, without pretending AI images are real photos of your work.

Setup: 30 minutesBeginner Get the prompt

The problem

Good images make posts and ads work, but hiring a designer for every promotion is not realistic for most small businesses.

Step by step

  1. Set up a brand kit once: logo, two or three colours, one or two fonts.
  2. Start from a template sized for the place you are posting.
  3. Use your own photos of real products, people and premises wherever you can.
  4. Use AI image tools for backgrounds, illustrations and ideas, not to fake your product.
  5. Check text spelling on the image, then export.

The prompt

I need an image for {where it will be posted} for {business name}.
Message: {main message}
Brand colours: {colours}
Style: {style, e.g. clean, playful, premium}
Describe 3 layout ideas, the short headline for each (under 8 words) and what kind of image or illustration would suit.

Replace the {highlighted} parts with your details, or fill them in with the prompt builder.

Check before you use it

  • Spelling on the image is right.
  • The image does not show products, results or people you cannot deliver.
  • Text is readable on a phone.

Privacy

  • Do not upload photos of customers or staff without permission.

Do’s and don’ts

Do

  • Use a brand kit so everything looks like it comes from you.
  • Prefer real photos for anything customers will judge you on.
  • Check the image tool’s terms for commercial use.

Don’t

  • Generate images in the style of a named living artist or another brand.
  • Use AI faces as fake staff or customers.
  • Put more than a few words of text on an ad image.

When not to use AI for this

Do not use AI-generated images of food, rooms, hair or finished jobs as if they were real examples of your work.

Tools that can help

CanvaDesign tool with AI features for images, layouts, resizing and short copy.
Adobe FireflyAdobe’s image generator, designed for commercial use.
ChatGPTOpenAI’s general assistant for drafting, summarising, analysing files and brainstorming.

We are not paid by any of these companies, and we list well-known options, not a ranking. Features and plans change; check the provider’s site and its data terms before you sign up. See all AI tools by category.

Useful for

Salons, barbers and beautyArchitects and interior designers

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