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Create a similar ad from a reference ad
Create similar ad takes an ad you like and builds new images for your product. Nexus recreates the style of the reference and adapts the rest to your brand and your product. The flow runs in the Similar Ad Wizard.
Problem and intended user
The creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) often sees an ad that works well, such as a competitor ad or one of the store's own ads. Making a new ad in the same style for another product takes design work. Meanwhile the media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) keeps running older creatives.
Current workflow
Without Nexus, the creative strategist saves a screenshot of the reference ad. The strategist then briefs an agency, or rebuilds the layout in a design tool with the product photo. The result goes into Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads as a new ad.
Prerequisites
- A reference that is an image ad. Nexus cannot work from video ads or text-only ads.
- A product that has a usable photo.
- Enough credits. See Credits and top-ups.
How Nexus works
An AI image model reads the reference ad and your product photos, then makes new images. For a competitor ad, the page says: "We recreate the style and adapt everything else to your brand and product."
You approve two points. You choose the reference and the product, and you select Generate. Later you decide which images to use, and Nexus sends nothing to Studio until you do. Generate depends on your product photos. Nexus prepares them when you pick a product, and Generate stays off until they are ready.
Start from a reference ad
Select Create similar ad on any of these:
| Reference | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| A competitor ad | Insights > Competitors > Competitor Library, on a card or in its viewer. See Competitor Library. |
| One of your ads | Performance > Ad performance, on a row, in the ad's detail dialog, or on its Ad detail page. See Ad performance. |
| A Library image | Create > Library, on an image card. See Library. |
| A Studio ad | Create > Ads, on a card or in its detail drawer. See Review and deploy ads. |
On a tight card the button reads Create similar. A video ad or a text-only ad shows no button. If you reach the page for one anyway, it says "Similar ads can’t be made from video ads" or "Similar ads can’t be made from text-only ads".
For a carousel, the reference is one card. The page shows which one, for example "Carousel · 2/5".
Set up the batch
The page is titled Similar Ad Wizard. It has two sections.
Reference shows the ad you chose, with its source, such as Competitor ad or Your ad. Use the zoom button to enlarge it, or select View details.
Your product shows the product your ad will feature.
- Look at the product Nexus may have selected for you. For a competitor ad, Nexus suggests a top seller. For your ad, a Library image or a Studio ad, it suggests the linked product, or a top seller when none is linked. The suggestion stays unselected until its photos are ready.
- To change it, search with Search products and select another tile. Select the chosen tile again to clear it. Use Load more to see more products.
- If a tile says No usable photo, you cannot select it. Select Add photo. The product page opens in a new tab with the Set creative references dialog open. Add an image there, then come back. The list refreshes. You can also open the same dialog from the Set Creative References card on the product page.
When you pick a product, Nexus prepares its photos. A notice says so. Generate turns on by itself when the photos are ready, so you can keep the page open. If Generate is off, the bar says why, for example "Choose a product for your ad." or "Pick a product with a usable photo to continue."
Choose variations and generate
WARNING
Generate spends credits. Check the price badge before you select it.
In the bar at the bottom, set Variations with the plus and minus buttons. Each variation is one image. The button reads Generate and the count, for example Generate 3 images. A price badge beside it shows the credit cost. The Billing page lists the current price of each action. If you do not have enough credits, Nexus opens the top-up dialog.
An hourly limit applies to similar-ad batches. See Limitations and exceptions.
Review the batch
Nexus opens the batch page. The images appear under Your ads as they finish. You can leave the page. The batch keeps going.
Work with the images as you do in any batch:
- Select Adjust to change one image, or Undo to go back a step.
- Tick images, or select Select all, then Use selected. This opens the Choose campaign types dialog.
- Select Add missing aspects to make more sizes.
- Select View in Studio to open your used images.
A similar-ad batch has no Discard button. Leave an image unticked to skip it. Details for each action are in Review and use batch results.
Exact output
You get one image for each variation, on the batch page.
The page shows the Reference card, Your product and the Your ads gallery. While the batch runs, the floating bar shows a progress bar and a status such as "Generating 2 of 4 images…". The bar also holds Select all and Use selected. View in Studio appears once you use an image. When the batch finishes, New batch opens the setup page again for the same reference, in a new tab.
Find the batch later
Open Create > Creative Batches and set Type to Similar ads. See Creative Batches.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| An image in Your ads you want to run | Tick it, select Use selected, then choose platforms and campaign types | creative strategist |
| An image that is close but not right | Select Adjust, or Undo to go back a step | creative strategist |
| An image you do not want | Leave it unticked. This batch has no Discard button | creative strategist |
| A used image with a View in Studio link | Open the Set in Studio and turn it into an ad. See Review and deploy ads | media buyer |
| A competitor ad you used as a reference | Check that the claims, prices and offers in the image are true for your store before you run it. This check happens outside Nexus | ecommerce manager (the person who runs the store) |
Expected value and measurement
This flow can help you test a style you have seen elsewhere, with your own product, without a design brief for each ad.
To check the batch, open Create > Creative Batches, set Type to Similar ads and read the Images column. To check the ads, open Performance > Ad performance, find the new ads and compare their Spend and ROAS with the reference ad when it is one of yours. Use the same dates and platform. A competitor ad has no results there, so compare with your own earlier ads. Other changes at the same time can hide the effect.
Limitations and exceptions
- Not supported. Video ads, text-only ads and products without a usable photo.
- AI output can be wrong. A generated image can differ from your product or contain flaws. Review each image before you use it.
- Source problems. "This ad can't be opened" means the ad may have been removed, or the link cannot be opened directly. Go back and choose Create similar ad again. For "This ad could not be loaded", reload the page.
- Photos take longer. "Still preparing photos — longer than usual." means the photos are still in progress. Generate turns on when they finish.
- Hourly limit. Your store can start only a limited number of similar-ad batches per hour. When you reach it, Nexus says "You've reached the limit of 15 similar ads per hour — try again later." Wait, then select Generate again.
- Start failures. "Something changed — start again" shows a Reset button. "The run could not be started. Nothing was generated." means no image was made. Try again.
- Batch problems. A banner says how many images could not be generated. "This batch hasn’t started yet" means the batch may be queued behind other work. Leave and come back. If it still has not started after a while, contact support and quote the batch number. See Contact support.
- Missing batch. "This batch could not be found" means it may be deleted. Select Back to Creative Batches. For "The batch could not be loaded", reload.
- Demo Mode. Demo Mode does not generate similar ads. You can open the setup page, but the Generate button stays off and the bar says "Feature not available in demo mode."