Recent studies by Gartner and Adobe show that generative AI is becoming a key tool in marketing.
Almost three-quarters of marketing teams now use GenAI, and most consumers are comfortable with AI in advertising.
AI Adoption In Marketing
A survey by Gartner of 418 marketing leaders found that 73% of marketing teams use generative AI.
However, 27% of CMOs say their organizations have limited or no use of GenAI in their marketing campaigns.
Correlation With Top Performers
Marketing teams that consistently exceed targets and meet customer acquisition goals are adopting AI faster than competitors.
Greg Carlucci, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice, states:
“The most successful marketing organizations are leading the way when it comes to GenAI adoption.”
Most marketers are using GenAI for:
- Creative development (77%)
- Strategy work (48%)
- Campaign evaluation (47% reporting benefits)
Challenges With Generative AI
Despite spending almost half their budgets on campaigns, 87% of CMOs faced performance problems last year, and nearly half had to end underperforming campaigns early.
The Gartner study found:
“On average, 87% of CMOs report they experienced campaign performance issues in the last 12 months, with 45% reporting that they sometimes, often, or always had occasion to terminate campaigns early in the last year due to poor performance.”
CMOs identified several departments as barriers to their success:
- Finance (31%)
- Executive leadership (26%)
- Sales (26%)
Opportunities With Generative AI
Adobe’s research highlights personalization as the primary AI opportunity for marketers.
Heather Freeland, Chief Brand Officer at Adobe, notes:
“Across all industries, there is an insatiable demand for content as customers expect every encounter with a brand to be personalized.”
She adds:
“Just when this challenge seemed insurmountable, the emergence of generative AI is presenting creative and marketing teams with a new way to keep pace with customer demands while also breaking through with their brands.”
The study finds that 97% of marketers believe mass personalization is achievable with AI, but most find it challenging without appropriate tools.
AI Acceptance Among Consumers
Consumers say that knowing content was created by AI either makes them more engaged or does not change their engagement at all.
Adobe’s study found:
Three in four consumers surveyed agree that knowing content was AI-produced would either improve or not impact their likelihood of engaging with it.
Consumers are even willing to share their data for a better AI-driven experience.
Adobe’s study finds the top data points consumers are willing to share include:
“… past purchases (56%), products they’ve viewed (52%), their gender (47%), age (41%), and language (35%).”
Generational Differences
Different age groups prefer personalization in different channels.
According to Adobe’s research:
“Gen Z respondents show a higher affinity for personalized content from the consumer electronics industry, particularly music (45%) and video games (43%)…
This contrasts with Baby Boomers, who prefer personalization in retail industry content, specifically from grocery stores (46%).”
The study also found:
“Millennials prefer personalized email campaigns (45%) and website content (40%), while Gen Z values social media personalization (51%).”
Measurable Results
Adobe reports that the implementation of GenAI tools delivered performance improvements.
Its report states:
“… in one of our first generative AI-powered email tests, we used the tool to quickly build and test five versions of an Adobe Photoshop email. It delivered a more than 10% increase in click-through rates, and a subsequent test reported a 57% increase in click rates for an Adobe Illustrator email.”
Additionally:
“Testing scale and speed transformed our approach to content optimization, significantly enhancing our marketing performance and efficiency.”
What This Means
Generative AI is shifting from a novel technology to a standard practice within marketing.
Marketing departments are facing tighter budgets while consumer demand for personalized content grows. Generative AI offers a potential solution to create personalized content at scale.
Further, using AI to personalize marketing messages will unlikely impact consumer perception of your brand. Some marketers believe it may even improve retention.
Adobe’s research suggests:
“Over one in four (26%) marketer respondents agree that AI-powered personalization will increase consumer brand loyalty.”
If you want to incorporate AI into your advertising strategy but are unsure where to start, data suggests that the best approach is to enhance personalization.
Featured Image: Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock
