Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming nearly every corner of marketing, and paid advertising is no exception. In 2025, we’ve seen an explosion in AI-powered tools that don’t just analyse campaign data but act on it, automatically optimising ads in real-time to deliver better results.
For housebuilders, this represents an exciting opportunity to reach the right buyers with the right message, without constant manual tweaking.
What does AI automation mean for online advertising and paid social?
Simply put, it’s the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to manage and optimise your campaigns for you.
Meta and Google have developed their own AI-powered automation tools called Meta Advantage+ and Google Performance Max that have changed digital marketing. Instead of testing audiences, creatives, and bids manually, these AI marketing tools continuously learn from your data to drive more leads, boost engagement, and increase conversions.
We will now dive deeper into how each tool works and how using both can help housebuilders get the most out of every stage of the buyer journey.
Meta Advantage+
Meta’s Advantage+ suite is a great example of AI in action. It’s designed to make advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network as effortless and effective as possible. With just a few inputs, such as your campaign goal, creative assets, and budget, Meta’s artificial intelligence does the rest. It builds, targets, and optimises your social media ads automatically to reach the people most likely to engage or convert.
For housebuilders, this means you can upload professional imagery of your latest development, set your lead generation goal, and let Meta’s AI do the rest. It analyses billions of user data points, from location and demographics to online behaviours, to serve hyper-personalised ads that resonate with potential homebuyers.
If you want to keep control over your copy but need AI’s assistance with optimising your creative, Meta has a range of functionalities available, including using your provided copy in the image, adding music and even turning still images into video.
Why housebuilders need Advantage+:
- Smart targeting: AI finds your most relevant audiences faster, cutting wasted spend.
- Dynamic creative: The platform automatically adjusts visuals, captions, and formats to suit each user.
- Real-time optimisation: If an ad underperforms, AIcanreallocatebudget or swap creatives instantly.
- Optimised copy: Enter your Primary Text and Meta’s AI will create several other versions for you.
- End-to-end automation: Perfect for smaller marketing teams managing multiple developments.
Google Performance Max
While Meta is great for sparking awareness and interest, Google Performance Max is designed to turn intent into action. Performance Max runs your ads across Google Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, and Discovery, all from a single campaign.
This conversion-based ad allows you to set your own demographic targeting. But the ad creative is where AI comes to life, using data from your website and social channels, Google’s AI can create ads for you, including headlines, descriptions and images. You can also upload video content directly from YouTube, if you don’t have any, the AI will create some using your uploaded assets and branding. Google’s AI finds the best placements, combinations, and bids to maximise conversions.
To complete your Performance Max campaign, you input search themes and audience signals.
For a housebuilder, this could mean targeting users who have searched for “new homes near Nottingham” or “new build homes for sale in Yorkshire”. Google’s AI identifies those high-intent buyers and delivers tailored ads across all platforms, whether they’re watching a YouTube video, browsing Google, or checking their email.
Why housebuilders need Google Performance Max:
- Massive reach: Access all of Google’s channels through one campaign.
- Predictive optimisation: AI sets bids and placements automatically to meet yourROIgoals.
- High-intent targeting: Perfect for buyers ready to enquire or book a viewing.
- Dynamic creative testing: Google learns which headlines, images, and videos perform best.
Using both Advantage+ and Performance Max
When considering integrating Meta Advantage+ and Google Performance Max into your marketing strategy, it should be noted that one is not better than the other, nor should you prioritise one over the other. This is because both can be used together effectively so that your marketing covers the entire buyer journey.
For example, a housebuilder could use Meta Advantage+ to showcase lifestyle-focused videos of a new development on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, building awareness among local audiences. Later, those same prospects might later search for “3-bedroom homes in Manchester,” where a Performance Max campaign captures their intent with targeted ads leading to your website and enquiry page.
Looking to integrate AI in your digital marketing?
As we move into 2026, AI marketing automation will become the new standard for high-performing digital campaigns.
To make the most of these AI tools and take your paid campaigns to the next level, you can get in touch with our paid digital marketing experts here.
