Generative AI hasn't lived up to marketers' expectations for content creation, YET!

Generative AI has yet to make a significant impact on media strategies and marketing workflows. According to analyst Max Willens on the "Behind the Numbers" podcast, the vision for generative AI in advertising is to achieve a digital advertising utopia where the perfect message reaches the ideal consumer on the appropriate platform at just the right moment. However, the current costs associated with such technological capabilities remain prohibitive, and the return on investment (ROI) hasn't been fully realized.

There's a notable gap between expectations and reality regarding generative AI. A report by Mediaocean in January 2024 revealed that while 59% of marketing professionals worldwide believed that generative AI's primary potential lay in copywriting back in April 2023, only 26% reported actually using it for that purpose seven months later. This divergence may stem from various limitations of the technology, including its tendency to produce inaccurate or inappropriate content, unresolved issues regarding copyright infringement, and concerns about brand suitability.

To be sure, the power of generative AI to create text and images that can almost instantly be customized to your customers’ wants and needs is amazing. It has also already caused junior copywriters to fret about job security, even as concerns over accuracy due to generative AI’s tendency to “hallucinate” (make things up) have dogged the technology.

While these examples may inspire awe, they really shouldn’t cause that junior copywriter angst. HBR article cited a study that found the quality and originality of ideas increased by 18% when AI was used as a tool to augment the creative thinking process, not a vehicle for creation itself. Furthermore, AI helped the least creative thinkers the most with a 26% improvement.

Generative AI's role in content creation has yet to fully materialize. Determining how many marketers are utilizing generative AI's outputs as the final creative asset is challenging, as major advertising platforms incorporate generative AI-powered features that generate creative variations.

Additionally, there's a distinction in how small, independent, or direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands versus larger, more traditional brands utilize generative AI. Legacy brands, with their extensive brand guidelines and multiple creative agencies, are less inclined to adopt generative AI content as is.

Data from a January 2024 Mediaocean report indicates that 39% of marketing professionals worldwide use generative AI for data analysis, making it the most popular application, followed by market research.        

This content was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter.