How to find clients for AI video ads: 3 channels, one worked

If you can make good AI video ads, the hard part is finding someone who pays for them. A creator we followed tried three ways to find clients for AI video ads over 14 days: Instagram, Behance and cold email. Two brought views and nothing else. One brought replies and a project. Here is the method, step by step, with the numbers from that test and what we corrected along the way.

Why agencies pay for test ads

Before an ad agency wins a brand, it often pitches with test ads called spec spots: short sample commercials that show what the campaign could look like. With a film crew, a spec spot takes weeks and a budget. With AI video tools, one person can make a rough one in a day. That gap is the opportunity.

You need two things: Claude (the free plan works) and an AI video tool. The video uses Higgsfield, whose Starter plan costs $19 a month for 270 credits. Its free plan comes with 0 credits, so in practice you pay.

Step 1: copy the camera, not the ad

Pick a real ad you like as a reference. Keep its camera moves, its pacing and its light, and swap in a new product of your own.

To let Claude work with Higgsfield, add Higgsfield as a connector: in Claude, open Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, and use the address from Higgsfield's MCP help page. Higgsfield says its connector needs an active paid subscription. On Claude's side, custom connectors work on every plan, with one connector on Free.

Make three short ads in different categories, for example one car, one food and one sportswear ad, a few seconds each. Never use the real brand's name or logo. The video says it copied exact ads; we would not. A test ad shows your skill, and a fake ad for a real brand can get you into legal trouble.

Days 1 to 14: views, but no client

The same three ads went out on two platforms from brand-new accounts.

On Instagram, three reels got a few hundred views and fewer than 30 followers, with no messages. On Behance, the ads got about 200 views and 26 likes, some from people working in studios, and again no messages.

Behance still has a use: when a studio clicks your name in an email, a portfolio there makes you look like a professional rather than a stranger.

Step 2: pitch studios, not brands

Big brands rarely hire a single person for ads; they hire agencies. Agencies and production studios are the ones who need test ads fast. So the pitch list should be studios.

• Find 40 ad agencies and production studios on Google Maps.
• For each, find the right person on LinkedIn: a creative director or an executive producer.
• Put your three ads on one simple portfolio page.

Step 3: send it, then follow up

On day 1, 40 short emails went out, each with a link to the page. By day 5, 16 had been opened and nobody had replied. Then came one short follow-up line to the same people. After it, 2 of the 40 replied and one became a paid project.

The lesson is the follow-up. Most of the result came after the first email had already "failed". Keep both emails short, and make the follow-up one line, not a second pitch.

These numbers come from one creator's single test, so treat them as an example, not a promise. What people really earn from small digital products and services, with sources, is in the free first chapter of our guide.

FAQ

How do I find clients for AI video ads?

In this test, cold email to ad agencies and production studios worked better than posting on Instagram or Behance. A short one-line follow-up brought the replies.

What is a spec ad?

A spec ad, or spec spot, is a sample commercial made before a brand pays, to show what a campaign could look like. Agencies use them to pitch.

Can I use a real brand's logo in a test ad?

We advise against it. Copy the camera style and pacing of an ad you like, but use your own product and brand name.

Sources

• Higgsfield pricing
• Higgsfield Help Center: MCP connector for Claude
• Claude Help Center: custom connectors