In this digital era, many marketers have already started to explore the benefits of Artificial Intelligence and how advanced solutions can be used within a workplace.
A recent research study from Drift and Marketing AI Institute suggests that most marketers still consider themselves as beginners in this space.
The report titled “2021 State of Marketing AI” showed that a vast majority of marketers (50%) believe themselves ‘beginners’ in terms of understanding of AI capabilities and terminology. In fact, nearly 37% of marketers said they were ‘intermediate’, and only 13% said they have an ‘advanced’ level of understanding around AI.
Even though marketers realize the significance of artificial intelligence, the lack of training and knowledge is holding businesses back. Around 70% of marketing leaders are identifying this factor as a critical barrier to implement AI in their marketing model. Unsurprisingly, forward-thinking organizations, as well as marketers, are using AI and advanced technology to reduce costs and accelerate revenue.
The marketplace is undergoing a once-in-a-generation revolution that will have a long-term impact on brands. In this process, they build sustainable competitive advantages for their offerings and their users. Unfortunately, the lack of AI training and confidence to pilot and scale AI technologies leading marketers to hold many of their digital transformation projects.
When it comes to the confidence level around evaluating AI-powered marketing technology, many marketers (40%) ranked themselves as ‘medium’ and around 24% of marketing professionals leveled themselves as ‘low’. Indeed, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done around AI as only 23% of marketers ranked themselves with “high” assurance.
Looking into the areas of marketing, most marketers are involved in content marketing (69%), marketing analytics (60%), e-mail marketing (58%), and they represent a diverse set of roles. The list includes CEO and President (22%), Chief Marketing Officer (12%), senior manager (10%), director (10%), and manager (10%).
Also Read: Leveraging Technology to Overcome Challenges in Client Engagement
Despite the challenges linked with AI and martech, the investment in advanced technology is ramping up across industries. According to the “Marketing Technology Report” by TOPO, marketers (27%) intend to increase their investment in technology by almost 21% in the next 12 months.
Again, about 26% of companies are aiming to boost their investment in martech solutions between 11% and 20%. And among the available advanced solutions, CRM (100%), marketing automation (98%), and webinar (88%) – are the most preferred forms of martech that brands cite utilizing on a regular basis.
As mentioned in the 2021 State of Marketing AI study – “The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is comprised of many disciplines, technologies, and subfields. There are dozens of terms that are used to describe AI technologies, and the definitions can be complex and confusing. The age of intelligent automation has begun in marketing – and most marketers know it. But the industry has a lot of work ahead.”
