Smartly Review: Ad Creation Simplified

February 18, 2024

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Nitin is the CEO of quickads.ai with 20+ years of experience in the field of marketing and advertising. Previously, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co and MD at Accenture, where he has led 20+ marketing transformations.

Finding an ad creation platform that simplifies the process without sacrificing power can be a challenge.

Smartly Review promises to revolutionize ad creation for non-technical users through its intuitive interface and robust feature set.

In this review, we'll explore how Smartly makes ad building accessible, from its easy-to-use visual editor to built-in support for multi-language campaigns. We'll also evaluate Smartly's AI optimization tools, pricing model, and integrations to help you determine if it's the right fit for your advertising needs.

Introduction to Smartly.io: Revolutionizing Ad Creation

Smartly.io is an AI-powered software platform that aims to simplify and streamline the ad creation process for businesses and marketers.

What is Smartly.io?

Smartly.io utilizes advanced artificial intelligence and automation to make creating high-quality, optimized ads quick and easy, even for non-technical users. Some key features include:

Intuitive ad builders for multiple formats (images, video, carousel, etc.) and platforms like Facebook and Google
AI-powered copywriting and creative generation in 35 languages
Advanced optimization based on past campaign performance and industry benchmarks
Collaborative workflows for teams with features like asset management

By leveraging the power of AI, Smartly.io can help businesses scale their advertising quickly and efficiently.

Exploring Smartly.io's User-Friendly Interface

One of the standout aspects of Smartly.io is its simple, user-friendly interface. Features like customizable templates, a visual editor, and multi-language support allow even non-technical users to create professional, high-converting ads.

Some key user experience highlights:

Drag-and-drop visual ad builder
Library of professionally designed templates
Support for 35 languages for global campaign expansion
Asset manager to organize creative elements
Real-time preview to visualize ads
Seamless integration with platforms like Facebook and Google Ads

Smartly.io focuses heavily on usability and intuitiveness so anyone can leverage the power of AI for better ads.

The Ad Creation Process Simplified for Non-Technical Users

For small businesses and marketers without big creative teams, making quality ads can pose a significant challenge. Smartly.io provides the solution by simplifying the process with AI:

Instantly generate on-brand creative concepts powered by AI
Customize ads in seconds thanks to easy editing tools
Produce 100+ ad variations from a single template for A/B testing
Leverage Smartly.io's creative and copywriting AI assistant for ideation and optimization
Analyze performance and iterate using data-backed recommendations

In essence, Smartly.io allows non-technical users to skip over the manual, creative heavy-lifting of ad-making. The sophisticated AI does the hard work while the intuitive editor makes customizing and iterating simple.

By leveraging artificial intelligence capabilities paired with an easy-to-use interface, Smartly.io enables any business to punch above their weight with high-quality, effective advertising.

Is Smartly a good company?

Based on 72 anonymous employee reviews on Glassdoor, Smartly.io employees in Helsinki have rated the company 4 out of 5 stars. In comparison, Smartly.io employees worldwide have an average rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars.

This indicates that those working at Smartly's headquarters in Helsinki view the company more positively than employees in other offices. A few key takeaways from the reviews:

Smart and driven coworkers: Many mention that their colleagues are talented, motivated, and pushing the company forward. There is a culture of learning and growing together.
Cutting-edge technology: Employees highlight working with innovative tech like AI and machine learning. The tools and infrastructure make their jobs easier.
Work-life balance: While some note occasional crunch times, most agree Smartly respects personal time and offers flexibility. Leadership encourages sustainability.
Career growth: Employees feel invested in and see paths to develop new skills. Managers support professional development through training and projects.

So based on anonymous insider perspectives, Smartly.io seems to foster a positive environment and culture focused on growth, work-life balance, and leveraging tech for efficiency. The slightly higher Helsinki office ratings suggest geographic/team variances in sentiment, but overall the employer brand remains strong.

What does smartly do?

Smartly is an AI-powered ad creation platform designed to simplify and streamline the ad making process for businesses and marketers. Here's an overview of some of its key capabilities:

Effortless Ad Creation

The platform makes it easy for even non-technical users to create high-quality, on-brand ads with just a few clicks. It provides pre-made ad templates and designs that you can customize with your images, logos, and text. No advanced design or coding skills required.

Smartly also offers AI-generated content like ad headlines and copy in 35 languages. This saves you time while ensuring your ads resonate across different markets.

Cross-Channel Campaign Management

With Smartly, you can manage ad campaigns across multiple platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more - all from one centralized dashboard. This gives you a unified view of campaign performance across channels.

The platform also makes it simple to tailor ads for different platforms while maintaining brand consistency. Re-use creatives easily with bulk editing tools.

Intelligent Optimization

Smartly provides real-time performance insights, allowing you to identify and double down on your best-performing ads. Its AI will even suggest improvements to underperforming ads.

You can also leverage its A/B testing capabilities to iterate on ad creative and copy, ensuring your ads keep improving over time.

In summary, Smartly aims to handle all complexities of the ad-making process for you with an easy-to-use platform. This way, you can focus on your ad strategy rather than getting bogged down in design and operations.

Why use smartly?

Smartly provides a versatile and easy-to-use platform for creating high-quality ads across multiple platforms and languages. Here are some of the key benefits:

Cross-Platform Flexibility

Easily create ads optimized for different platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc.
Smartly's AI resizes and converts creatives for any platform or format needed. No more manual work reformatting assets.
Traffic campaigns directly from Smartly or export creatives to run ads yourself.

Multi-Language Support

Generate ad copy and creatives in 35+ languages with a single click.
Expand campaigns to new global markets without translation costs or new creative assets.
Let Smartly's AI write culturally-relevant, on-brand copy tailored to each language.

Simplified Ad Creation

Smartly makes ad creation easy for non-technical users through an intuitive drag-and-drop workflow.
Built-in AI copywriting and image generation means no creative or writing skills needed.
Collaborate with teams and manage all campaigns in one place to improve efficiency.

In summary, Smartly removes the typical complexity of ad creation with versatile AI tools for cross-platform flexibility, multi-language reach, and simplified team workflows - all to help brands improve campaign performance.

Where is smartly based?

Smartly.io is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, with 8 office locations around the world. Specifically, their headquarters is located at:

Elielinaukio 2G - 4th Floor
00100 Helsinki, Finland

Beyond their Helsinki HQ, Smartly.io has offices in the following locations:

New York, USA
London, UK
Berlin, Germany
Singapore
Tokyo, Japan
Sydney, Australia
Stockholm, Sweden

Having offices distributed globally allows Smartly.io to provide localized services and support to customers in different regions. It also gives them access to various talent pools when hiring new employees.

Overall, Smartly.io's headquarters and office locations position them well to serve customers worldwide. The company continues expanding their global footprint to meet demand across key markets.

Smartly.io's Pricing and Plans: What to Expect

Smartly.io offers flexible pricing plans to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Here's an overview of what to expect:

Understanding Smartly.io Pricing Tiers

Smartly.io has three pricing tiers:

Starter - For small businesses just getting started with paid social. Includes core ad management features.
Growth - For growing businesses that need more advanced capabilities. Includes multi-channel ad management, creative automation, and expanded analytics.
Enterprise - For large or high-spend advertisers. Includes dedicated support, custom integrations, and premium features.

Pricing is customized based on monthly ad spend and team size. All plans include a free 14-day trial.

Comparing Costs: Smartly.io vs Competitors

Compared to tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social, Smartly.io is competitively priced, especially for mid-market and enterprise businesses. The advanced automation can lead to cost savings that offset the subscription fees.

For example, Smartly.io's creative automation can reduce the need for expensive creative resources. And the optimization engine can improve campaign performance to increase ROI.

Evaluating Return on Investment with Smartly.io

Studies show that businesses using Smartly.io see 2-3x higher ROAS compared to manual processes.

Reasons include:

Automated testing and optimization to improve ad relevance and cut waste
Expanded reach from easily managing multi-channel, multi-language campaigns
Reduced costs through creative automation

For many advertisers, the platform pays for itself through performance gains.

Free Trial and Demo: Testing Smartly.io

Smartly.io offers a free 14-day trial with full platform access. Users can run campaigns of up to $500 in ad spend to evaluate the capabilities.

For larger advertisers, custom pilots or demos can be arranged by contacting the sales team. This allows testing Smartly.io's performance at scale before committing.

The free trial and flexible pilots make it low risk for businesses to experience the platform firsthand.

Harnessing Smartly.io's AI for Enhanced Ad Performance

Smartly.io utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze historical ad performance data and optimize new ad creative. This allows users to improve campaign results without needing expertise in graphic design or copywriting.

Smartly.io's AI-Driven Historical Data Analysis

By studying over 100 million high-performing ads, Smartly.io has developed benchmark data on elements that tend to lead to better engagement and conversions. When users create new ads, Smartly.io provides tailored suggestions on things like:

Ideal image and text composition based on industry and objective
High-performing emotional appeals and calls-to-action
Color schemes and graphic styles aligned to campaign goals

This historical data analysis allows users of all skill levels to develop ads optimized for performance from the start.

Optimizing Ads with Smartly.io's A/B Testing

Smartly.io makes it simple to set up A/B tests of multiple ad variants. This allows systematic testing of different images, copy, layouts, etc. to determine which version delivers the best results based on specified success metrics.

The platform automatically distributes traffic between variants and measures the impact, eliminating guesswork. Users can instantly see which creative is optimal for their offer and audience.

Automated Iteration and Improvement of Ads

As ads run, Smartly.io uses real-time performance data to automatically iterate on them to increase relevance and engagement. It continually fine-tunes elements like imagery, color schemes, and messaging to align with response patterns.

This means ads stay fresh and optimized over time, without ongoing manual effort. Users can enable automated improvement to make the most of their campaign budgets.

Setting Customizable Goals for AI Optimization

Every business has unique objectives they want their advertising to achieve. With Smartly.io, users can define specific KPIs and benchmarks that the AI should optimize towards, whether that's click-through rate, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, or other metrics.

The platform tailors ad iteration and suggestions to user-specified goals for maximum relevance. This level of customization means users get AI-powered optimization focused on what matters most to their business.

Smartly.io Reviews: User Experiences and Feedback

Positive Experiences with Smartly.io's Platform

Smartly.io is praised by users for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows non-technical marketers to create high-quality ads quickly. Users highlight the platform's drag-and-drop builder and vast template library as standout features that simplify ad creation.

Many reviews also note Smartly.io's multi-language support and translation capabilities as major benefits, especially for brands aiming to scale internationally. Users are able to effortlessly optimize and localize creatives for different markets and languages.

Additionally, users commend Smartly.io's collaboration features like advanced permissions, workflow approvals, and project management functionalities that facilitate teamwork and oversight for larger organizations.

Challenges and Critiques from Smartly.io Users

Some users felt the platform had a steep learning curve, especially for those without a design background looking to create ads from scratch. While templates help accelerate the process, customizing brand assets and components can be an area of initial difficulty.

Others noted limitations in Smartly.io's asset library, wishing for a wider range of stock images and visuals to choose from. There were also requests for more advanced custom code editing functionalities beyond the constraints of the drag-and-drop builder.

A few mentioned the inability to connect certain social media platforms or integrate analytics providers beyond the default options offered. However, users recognized ongoing improvements in platform expansions over time.

Smartly.io Review Aggregation: What the Ratings Say

Analyzing data aggregated from review sites, Smartly.io maintains strong overall user satisfaction with average ratings between 4 to 5 stars. On platforms like G2 and Capterra, over 90% of reviewers rated 4 or 5 stars, praising the platform's usability and ad performance.

Specific functionalities like collaboration tools, multi-language support, and creative automation scored very highly among recurring positive feedback. This indicates Smartly.io's core differentiators resonate with most users.

The majority agreed it simplified their ad operations, reduced costs, and provided strong ROI. Negative critiques were relatively minor and often tied to niche use cases.

Case Studies: Success Stories Using Smartly.io

Brands like Daniel Wellington, MVMT Watches, and Princess Polly have leveraged Smartly.io to scale multi-channel campaigns while maintaining high quality creatives tailored to local audiences. Automated workflows facilitated by Smartly.io's AI copywriting and creative automation fueled their expansion.

Other customers like eBags and Current Mobile achieved over 20% lower CPA and greater than 30% higher ROAS using Smartly.io for platform-specific creatives. The ability to centralize cross-channel ad efforts with robust analytics unified their strategies.

For agencies like Outfit and Vertic, Smartly.io's white labeling, permissions settings, and collaboration tools allowed them to efficiently manage end-to-end ad operations across clients while maintaining custom branding.

Integrating Smartly.io with Analytics and Reporting Tools

Smartly.io offers seamless integration with popular analytics and reporting tools like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and Google Data Studio. This allows advertisers to gain deeper insights into campaign performance from multiple angles.

Linking Smartly.io with Google Analytics for In-Depth Insights

Integrating Smartly.io with Google Analytics provides granular data on user engagement and behavior. You can analyze metrics like:

Click-through rates on ads
Bounce rates and time spent on site
Conversion funnels and goals
Demographic data

With Google Analytics' advanced segmentation, you can break down the data to see which campaigns, ads, keywords, etc. are driving the most valuable users.

The integration happens automatically when you connect your Google Analytics account in Smartly.io. All campaign data flows into your Analytics property for unified reporting.

Utilizing Adobe Analytics with Smartly.io

Similarly, Smartly.io can be linked to Adobe Analytics to combine its proprietary platform data with Adobe's rich analytics capabilities like:

Cohort analysis
Customer journey mapping
Attribution modeling
Predictive analytics

This empowers you to optimize budgets, creative, targeting, and more based on hard data-driven insights.

The integration allows the passing of cost data, impressions, clicks, conversions, and other KPIs from Smartly.io campaigns into Adobe Analytics automatically.

Reporting and Visualization with Google Data Studio

For customizable reporting dashboards and data visualizations, Smartly.io integrates with Google Data Studio.

You can build interactive reports to:

Track campaign KPIs over time
Compare performance across campaigns, platforms, creatives, etc.
Display metrics with charts, graphs, and maps
Schedule and share reports with stakeholders

This enables data-driven optimization of ad campaigns as well as clear presentations of analytics insights.

Combining Smartly.io with CRM Tools for Holistic Analysis

To connect marketing efforts to business impact, Smartly.io integrates with CRM platforms like Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

This links campaign performance data to lead generation and sales processes. You can see which campaigns and creatives are driving the most high-quality leads and conversions in your CRM system.

The unified customer view improves targeting and personalization while also demonstrating true ROI from advertising spend.

With Smartly.io's wide range of analytics integrations, advertisers get complete visibility into campaign effectiveness across every touchpoint. This enables optimization based on actionable data.

Smartly.io is an AI-powered social media advertising platform designed to optimize and automate ad campaigns across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others. With its robust feature set tailored for social platforms, Smartly.io aims to enhance ROI while saving time and effort.

Optimizing Facebook for Business with Smartly.io

Smartly.io integrates directly with Facebook for Business to enable advertisers to:

Create multiple high-performing ad variations using AI copywriting and creative automation
Continuously optimize budgets, placements, audiences, and creatives based on campaign performance
Automate repetitive tasks like image cropping and text localization
Analyze campaign data and uncover insights to inform strategy

By leveraging Smartly.io's AI and automation, brands can drive better results from their Facebook ad spend with less manual work.

Beyond just Facebook, Smartly.io also provides features to easily manage ad campaigns across multiple social platforms like:

Instagram
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Twitter
Snapchat

Key benefits include:

Centralized campaign dashboard to monitor performance across all connected platforms
Ability to tailor ad creative for each platform while keeping branding consistent
Cross-channel audience insights to inform targeting and creative decisions
Automated rules to shift budget to better performing platforms and campaigns

This simplifies optimization of multi-platform social strategies.

Comparing Smartly.io to Quickads

Smartly.io and Quickads are two platforms designed to streamline the ad creation and management process. Here’s a quick comparison to help you understand their unique offerings:

Smartly.io:

Advanced Automation: Known for its powerful automation capabilities, Smartly.io allows large-scale ad creation, testing, and optimization across multiple social media platforms.
Creative Automation: It offers dynamic creative templates and robust A/B testing features, making it ideal for brands looking to personalize ads at scale.
Data-Driven Decisions: Integrates deeply with data sources, enabling advanced targeting and real-time performance insights.
Collaborative Workflow: Supports complex team workflows and collaboration, making it suitable for large marketing teams and agencies.

Quickads:

AI-Driven Ad Creation: Utilizes AI to generate engaging ad concepts quickly, significantly speeding up the ad creation process.
User-Friendly Interface: Features an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and customizable templates, making it accessible to non-technical users.
Cost-Effective Solutions: Offers affordable ad creation without the need for extensive design expertise, ideal for small businesses and startups.
Focus on Speed and Simplicity: Designed to produce scroll-stopping content rapidly, making it perfect for businesses needing to deploy ads swiftly and efficiently.

While Smartly.io excels in advanced automation and data-driven ad optimization for large-scale operations, Quickads stands out with its AI-driven, user-friendly approach tailored for rapid and cost-effective ad creation. Depending on your needs—whether it’s sophisticated automation and analytics or quick, easy, and affordable ad production—each platform offers distinct advantages.

Unlike more generalized marketing tools, Smartly.io specializes specifically in social advertising. Key advantages over tools like Sprout Social and HubSpot include:

More robust ad creation and management capabilities catered to social platforms
Advanced AI and automation to optimize campaigns hands-free
Specialized analytics focused on social ad performance
Tighter platform integrations for unified data and workflows

For brands investing heavily in social advertising, Smartly.io is designed to provide more tailored capabilities versus general marketing tools.

While Smartly.io focuses specifically on ad management, it can integrate with social listening tools like Sprout Social and Brandwatch. This allows advertisers to:

Monitor relevant conversations happening on social media
Identify potential customers and what resonates with them
Inform messaging strategy and creative based on consumer sentiment
Retarget engaged audiences from organic social posts

Bringing together paid advertising and organic listening provides a powerful combination for optimizing social campaigns.

Conclusion: Smartly.io as a Game-Changer for Ad Creation

Smartly.io offers a revolutionary approach to ad creation that makes the process intuitive even for non-technical users. Its user-friendly interface and AI-powered tools simplify every step, from designing ads to writing copy in 35 languages. This allows businesses to create high-performing, on-brand campaigns in a fraction of the time.

Key benefits offered by Smartly.io include:

Intuitive drag-and-drop builder to easily create ads without design skills
AI-generated ad copy in multiple languages to expand global reach
Real-time performance analytics to optimize campaigns and boost ROI
Collaboration features to manage team workflow

For non-technical entrepreneurs and marketers, Smartly.io levels the playing field. Its focus on usability empowers anyone to craft effective ads that drive results.

Overall, Smartly.io has transformed ad creation from a complex, resource-heavy process into something efficient, accessible and even enjoyable. This innovative platform is a game-changer for businesses aiming to improve their marketing ROI.

Final Thoughts on Smartly.io's Simplified Ad Creation

Smartly.io makes ad creation simple through an intuitive interface and powerful AI tools. Without needing professional design or coding skills, users can quickly build customized, high-quality ads. Key features like multi-language ad copywriting also empower expansion into global markets.

For time-strapped business owners and marketers focused on results, Smartly.io's user-friendly approach to ad creation is a game changer. The platform simplifies every step while still producing brand-aligned, visually stunning ads optimized for performance.

The Competitive Edge Offered by Smartly.io

Unlike platforms like Semrush or Meta's business tools, Smartly.io specializes in ad creation. Its AI focuses squarely on building well-designed, effective ads to maximize ROI. With innovations like AI product photography and multi-lingual ad copywriting, Smartly.io saves users time and money.

The intuitive interface also makes Smartly.io stand out from competitor platforms that still require technical skills. This empowers all users, regardless of background, to create successful ad campaigns.

Smartly.io's Commitment to Non-Technical Users

Smartly.io democratizes ad creation by making it accessible even to non-technical users. No design experience is needed to quickly build customized, on-brand ads.

Key features tailored for non-technical users include:

Intuitive drag-and-drop designer
Curated templates for inspiration
Customizable brand styles for visual consistency
Multi-language ad copywriting
Real-time performance analytics

By simplifying ad creation and providing guidance, Smartly.io levels the playing field so any business can improve their marketing results.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Ad Creation with Smartly.io

As Smartly.io continues innovating in AI, even more possibilities will open up for simplified ad creation. Users may be able to instantly generate optimized ad creative based on campaign goals, instead of starting from scratch. Personalization could also reach new heights with adaptive ads that respond to individual viewer interests.

Whatever developments emerge, Smartly.io's ultimate focus will remain making ad creation efficient, accessible and effective for every business seeking to grow. The platform has already transformed the process for non-technical users leveraging its intuitive tools. As Smartly.io builds on its capabilities, simplified ad creation has an even brighter future ahead.

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Smartly Review: Ad Creation Simplified

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