Know This About AI in Marketing in 2024
Shubhangi Mittal
LinkedIn Marketer for Senior Executives | LinkedIn Executive Communication | Founder, Blackboard-Digital | Creator & Editor, The AI in Marketing newsletter | B2B Content Creator
AI awareness, adoption, and implementation are improving. A majority of the marketing teams are either piloting or implementing AI mostly for repetitive, data-driven tasks.
However, organisations need to implement AI in a structured manner by rolling out AI-usage policies, and guidelines and having AI councils to lead these decisions.
Upskilling is another critical focus area. Upper-level management and entry-to-mid-level management have differing views on AI's impact on jobs. While more than 50% of the higher level management believes that more jobs will be eliminated by AI, only about 40% of entry and mid-level executives share this sentiment.
The Findings
A staggering 99% of respondents report using AI in some capacity, with 36% now integrating it into their daily workflows - a 7% increase from last year. The number of professionals who "couldn't live without AI" has more than doubled to 15%.
51% of marketing teams are now piloting or scaling AI initiatives. This indicates a significant shift from exploration to implementation.
An overwhelming 80% of respondents cite reducing time spent on repetitive, data-driven tasks as their top AI objective. This highlights the potential for AI to streamline operations and boost productivity.
55% of organizations provide licenses for ChatGPT Team or Enterprise, making it the most popular AI platform. This suggests a growing recognition of generative AI's potential in marketing contexts.
Despite increasing adoption, 67% of respondents identified a lack of AI education and training as the top barrier to implementation. Only 25% of organizations offer comprehensive AI training for marketing teams, leaving a significant skills gap.
While only 34% of companies currently have generative AI policies in place, this represents a 55% increase from 2023. This trend indicates a growing awareness of the need for ethical AI guidelines.
Only 29% of organizations have AI councils, and a mere 19% of marketing teams have AI roadmaps or strategies. This suggests a need for more structured approaches to AI integration.
47% of respondents believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates in the next three years, up 7% from last year. This highlights the urgency for upskilling and rethinking roles in marketing.
78% of respondents anticipate that AI will automate over a quarter of their marketing tasks within three years. 34% expect automation of half to two-thirds of their tasks, emphasizing the need for adaptability.
68% of respondents feel positive about AI's impact on marketing, business, and society. However, many express concerns about keeping pace with AI advancements and potential misuse of the technology.
Why It Matters
AI is disrupting how we work, live, and see the world.
But, organizations are lagging behind and struggling to come up to speed with this new technology. While employees are proactively adopting AI to improve productivity and deliver better results, they feel a lack of organizational support in terms of AI education and upskilling, policies and roadmaps, and strategic planning.
There is an urgent need for upskilling and preparing the workforce for the human+AI collaboration. For an ethical and safe world around us.
All You Need To Know About Answer Engines
Answer engines represent a fundamental shift from the link-based results of traditional search engines to direct, concise answers. This evolution from "search" to "answer" has profound implications for how our target audiences access information and, consequently, how we reach them.
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What This Matters
Marketers will be required to modify, update, and reskill when it comes to content strategies.
Initiate a comprehensive audit of your content strategy. Pivot towards creating content that directly answers specific questions in your industry niche.
Balance between depth of information and concise, answer-friendly content.
Reassess your SEO strategy. Keywords are evolving into key phrases and questions.
Develop a question-based content architecture that aligns with your audience's search behaviors.
Revise your analytics framework to account for reduced direct site traffic.
Develop new KPIs that measure brand visibility and impact in an answer engine ecosystem.
Position your brand as the go-to source for authoritative answers in your industry.
Cultivate partnerships with answer engine platforms to ensure your brand's insights are prominently featured.
Diversify content formats (video, audio, text) to maximize discoverability by answer engines.
Develop a multi-channel distribution strategy that ensures your content is accessible across various answer engine platforms.
Reevaluate your paid search strategies in light of changing user behaviors.
Explore new advertising models that align with answer engine platforms.
Redesign customer journey maps to account for answer engine touchpoints. S
Develop strategies to guide users from quick answers to deeper engagement with your brand.
Review and update your data practices to align with the evolving landscape of answer engines.
Position your brand as a leader in ethical data use and transparency.
The rise of answer engines isn't just a technological shift. It's a fundamental change in how consumers interact with information.
As marketers, we must ensure that our brands remain visible, relevant, and engaging in a world where direct answers trump traditional search results.
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