Make ads for a sale or promotion
Give Tolstoy the real offer and dates, and it makes sale banners and countdown-style videos for each funnel stage, without inventing a discount, deadline or low stock.
What you need
- The exact offer: discount, code or gift, and what it applies to
- The real start and end dates of the sale
- The products or collection on sale, from your connected catalog
What you get
- Sale banners for your products, using your exact offer
- Short countdown or urgency-style videos tied to the real end date
- Copy for each piece, grouped by awareness, consideration and conversion
How it runs
Tolstoy runs this playbook in 5 steps.
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State the real offer
You give the discount, any code, the products it covers and the dates. If a part is missing, the agent asks for it before it writes.
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Load the sale products
The agent reads the sale products from your catalog, so every banner and video shows an item that is actually on sale.
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Plan by funnel stage
Content splits into awareness, consideration and conversion, and the strongest urgency goes to conversion, close to the end date.
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Generate banners and videos
Sale banners and short countdown-style videos use your product images, your offer exactly as you wrote it and your real end date.
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Write copy per asset
Each piece gets its own copy and one clear call to action, grouped by funnel stage.
Check the result
- The discount, code and dates in every banner, video and line of copy match your offer word for word.
- Every product shown is one of the products or collections you named for the sale.
- Each countdown ends on your real end date, and every asset has one call to action, not several.
Know the limits
- It does not create the discount or code in Shopify. Set that up yourself before the sale starts.
- Nothing is published or scheduled. You place the ads in your ad account and on your site.
When to use this playbook
Use it a week or two before a planned sale, a holiday promotion or Black Friday, when the offer is decided and you need ads for different stages and sizes. Bring the number, the products and the dates, and the playbook turns them into banners, short videos and copy that all say the same thing. For the video ad formats that work in a promotion, read our guide to video ads for ecommerce.
Get better results
- Write the offer exactly as it should appear, for example “20% off all outerwear with code WINTER20, Nov 24–Dec 1”. The agent uses your wording as given.
- Select the collection or the exact products on sale, so no ad shows an item at full price next to a sale message.
- Ask for the last-day versions as a separate set. They need the real end date and should run only on that day.
The prompt
“Run this playbook” opens Tolstoy with this prompt as a draft. Pick your products, edit anything, then send it.
Create ads for my upcoming sale. Use only the offer I give you: the discount or promotion, any code, the products or collection it covers, and the start and end dates. If any of these is missing, ask me for it before writing copy. Never invent a discount, a deadline or limited stock. Read the sale products from my catalog. Make sale banners and short countdown or urgency-style videos, and use urgency only where it is real, such as the actual end date. Organize everything by funnel stage: awareness, consideration and conversion, with one clear CTA per asset. Do not publish or schedule anything. Keep the real product shape, proportions, construction, print, color, logos and readable labels intact. Do not invent product features, claims or reviews.
FAQ
Why does it ask for the offer instead of suggesting one?
A discount is a margin decision, and a wrong number in an ad is a real problem with customers. The agent uses only the offer you state, and asks when part of it is missing.
How does it handle urgency?
Only with real facts, such as your actual end date, or limited stock if you say stock is limited. A fake deadline can work once, but it teaches your audience to ignore the next one.
Why split the ads by funnel stage?
People who have never heard of you need a different ad from people who already know the product. Awareness pieces lead with the product and the event; conversion pieces lead with the offer, the deadline and one clear action.
Run it on your own catalog
Start free, connect your store, and Tolstoy opens this playbook for you. You review every result before anything goes live.