Studies show that marketers are cautiously investing in generative AI (GenAI) to enhance their marketing technology (martech) stacks. However, a gap between investment and understanding continues to hinder the adoption of GenAI as a tool for improving marketing efficiency and effectiveness.
According to research released at the end of last year, 90% of organizations planned to invest in GenAI for marketing this year. However, 90% of CMOs admitted they do not fully understand GenAI or its potential impact on their business.
Researchers found that three-quarters of marketers currently use GenAI in their day-to-day work. This widespread usage makes marketing the leading business function for GenAI adoption, ahead of areas like IT. They utilize GenAI for simple tasks such as copywriting, editing, and content creation.
For more sophisticated tasks, only 19% use GenAI for audience targeting, 18% to build audiences, 16% for customer journey mapping, and 14% for price optimization, according to Jon Moran, head of martech solutions marketing at SAS. A major culprit in the widening gap is the lack of GenAI education and training.
“For many organizations, senior management’s lack of GenAI understanding is restraining them from experiencing its full potential. So too is concern over privacy and trust,” he told CRM Buyer.
