Honest Review of the Icon AI Ad Maker at Icon

Summary

In this review, the speaker tests Icon AI, an AI-powered ad creation platform designed to generate static ads, clone competitor visuals, produce scripts, and create AI voiceovers for video content. While impressed by the high-quality avatars and creative features, they highlight significant limitations, including software bugs, slow processing, and incomplete editing options. Video and UGC functionalities are locked behind a $400/month plan, restricting full evaluation. The reviewer concludes that Icon AI is promising, consolidating multiple ad tools into one dashboard, but currently only about 80% functional. It's recommended for experimentation, especially for agencies with pre-existing assets, with patience for workarounds.

Takeaways

• 🛠️ Icon AI is an ad creation software offering both static and UGC video ads, with the video features requiring a $400/month plan.
• 💻 The software is currently buggy and feels like early access, with slow editing and occasional glitches in the app and web version.
• 🎨 AI avatars and image generation are impressive, including customizable features like tattoos, but editing certain elements, like QR codes, is limited.
• 📊 The platform allows ad spying by cloning competitor images and analyzing ad performance, but it does not provide full ad copy.
• ✍️ Users can generate scripts for ad copy, which can act as primary text, but it requires manual adjustments to fully utilize.
• 🎥 Video ad creation is constrained by the need for pre-uploaded assets, and AI-generated clips can be slow to produce.
• ⚡ The software integrates multiple functions of popular ad tools (e.g., Canva, ad spy) into one platform, aiming to streamline ad creation.
• 📈 Audience research and insights are available in-dashboard, including psychographics and purchase motivations, helping tailor ads effectively.
• ⏳ While the software is promising, it’s roughly 80% functional and requires workarounds and manual tweaking to achieve desired results.
• 💡 Overall, Icon AI has strong potential for advertisers with multiple clients, but improvements in usability, editing flexibility, and full ad generation are needed.

Q & A

What is Icon AI and why did the reviewer decide to test it?

Icon AI is an AI-powered advertising software that offers features like ad creation, AI avatars, and competitor ad cloning. The reviewer decided to test it because they frequently run ads, saw a Twitter thread about it, and wanted to evaluate its effectiveness and usability.

What pricing plans does Icon AI offer and how do they differ?

Icon AI offers a $39/month plan for static ads and a $400/month plan for UGC video ads. The $39 plan allows creating static images, while the $400 plan unlocks video functionality and premium features.

How does the AI avatar feature perform according to the reviewer?

The reviewer found the AI avatars impressive, noting realistic details such as tattoos. However, they mentioned that some features are buggy and not all avatars are fully editable.

What issues did the reviewer encounter with editing ads?

The reviewer reported slow processing times, glitches, and limited editing options. Certain elements like QR codes and background phone numbers cannot be removed, requiring workarounds such as covering them with boxes.

How effective is Icon AI's competitor ad cloning feature?

Icon AI allows users to clone competitor images and view landing pages, but it does not provide full ad copy, such as primary text or body copy. This limits its effectiveness for fully replicating successful ads.

What did the reviewer think about the UGC video functionality?

The reviewer could not fully test the UGC video feature because it requires the $400/month plan. They acknowledged its potential but noted it is slow and requires pre-uploaded assets to function effectively.

Does Icon AI provide primary text for ads automatically?

Not directly. Icon AI can generate ad scripts that can serve as a starting point for primary text, but users may need to manually adjust or copy this text into the ads.

What are the main bugs and limitations identified in the review?

Main issues include buggy software, slow processing, inability to edit certain elements (like QR codes), incomplete ad information (missing body copy), and glitches in the AI avatar and video generation features.

What potential does the reviewer see in Icon AI?

The reviewer sees potential in Icon AI for saving time in ad creation, especially for agencies with pre-existing assets. Features like ad spying, AI-generated scripts, and audience research could be valuable once bugs are fixed.

What overall recommendation does the reviewer give about Icon AI?

The reviewer considers Icon AI around 80% ready. They recommend trying it if you’re curious or want to experiment with AI-generated ads but caution that workarounds may be needed due to bugs and incomplete functionality.

How does the reviewer suggest using the software effectively despite its limitations?

They suggest generating multiple images or scripts, selecting the best ones, and using workarounds like covering uneditable elements. The reviewer also notes that having pre-uploaded assets and detailed brand information improves results.

What features did the reviewer find most promising?

The most promising features include AI-generated ad concepts, competitor ad cloning, audience research with psychographics and pain points, and text-to-speech AI voiceovers for ad scripts.