Use Create variant in Content Studio to generate multiple creative options from one parent template. AI Studio rewrites the parts of the template marked with customization fields, guided by the outcome you want to optimize.

You generate variants in Content Studio. You assign them to journey arms later with a Decisioning node. See Assign variants for AI decisioning.

Prerequisites

• An email or SMS template in Content Studio
• At least one customization field in the template, such as {{gl_creative_headline}}
• A target outcome for the variants, such as increasing clicks, conversions, or revenue

Step-by-step guide

1. Navigate to Content Studio in the left sidebar.
2. Open the Templates tab.
3. Find the parent template and open its row actions.
4. Click Create variant.
5. In the Create variants dialog, set:
   • Target outcome - The business result AI Studio should optimize toward, such as increasing email clicks
   • Number of variants - A whole number from one to 10
   • Extra guidelines - Optional tone, brand, CTA length, compliance, or offer constraints

[Screenshot: Create variants modal with target outcome and variant count]

6. Under Customize this template, review each customization field and enter seed copy for generation and preview.
7. Optionally click Save customization to store those values on the parent template.
8. Use Preview to review how the template looks with the current values.
9. Click Create variants.
10. Confirm that you want AI Studio to generate draft variants from the template.

[Screenshot: Variant generation progress in Create variants modal]

When generation finishes, the new variants appear in Content Studio with a Variant badge and stay linked to the parent template. Open Preview on the parent row anytime to review the root content, then use the variant selector in the top menu to switch between variants.

Manage variants

Use the template preview to manage generated variants:

• Preview - Render the original template or a selected variant with temporary test data from the variant selector
• Save customization - Store customization values for the selected template or variant
• Archive - Hide a template or variant from active lists
• Unarchive - Restore archived content to the active list
• Delete variant - Permanently delete a variant when you no longer need it

For a full walkthrough of lifecycle statuses, saved customizations, archives, and deletes, see Manage templates and variants.

Tips for strong variants

• Put customization fields only on copy you want to test, such as the subject, headline, offer line, or CTA.
• Keep compliance and legal text static.
• Write a specific Target outcome tied to a metric you can measure in journeys.
• Use Extra guidelines for hard brand constraints AI Studio should follow.
• Generate enough variants to give decisioning meaningful arms, but keep the set reviewable for your team.

Congrats - you've generated AI variants!

Next, assign those variants in a journey with AI decisioning.