As Salesforce prepares to kick off its annual Connections marketing and commerce conference tomorrow in Chicago – this year billed as a gathering about AI, marketing and commerce, of course – the company has kicked off the ninth edition of his State of Marketing study as a useful decor for the event.
Inevitably, AI dominates the study’s findings, based on data from more than 4,800 marketers across 29 countries, with respondents citing the technology as their top implementation priority, but also their biggest challenge for the coming year.
Some 63% of all marketers surveyed say they are currently using generative AI, while a further 35% are testing/planning to use the technology within 18 months. The main use cases of marketing AI are cited as automating customer interactions, generating content, analyzing performance, automating data integration and generating best offers in real time.
But…
This is the largest response across all countries and sectors surveyed, although it is worth noting that there are significant regional variations. For example, US respondents cite implementing AI as the second priority after improving ROI/attribution, while for their UK counterparts AI is not cited in the top five. main priorities, which are dominated by establishing/maintaining trust with customers. That said, both groups of respondents cited difficulties in implementing/operating AI as their third biggest challenge.
So which countries TO DO make AI implementation their current top priority? Well, it’s a mix of the usual suspects and a few outliers: South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
India and Singapore, who might have been expected to put AI at the top of their priorities, are not doing so – it is not even among India’s top five priorities either . China is unfortunately not included in the survey.
What is clear however is that the challenge of implementing AI technology is recognized everywhere, and cited to one degree or another by respondents in every country surveyed. As Steve Hammond, executive vice president and general manager of Marketing Cloud at Salesforce, observes:
We are all in an advanced and accelerating AI revolution. It really started with predictive AI and we’ve been doing it for over a decade. Last year, we also helped connect businesses to the next wave of AI through generative capabilities. And now we are excited to contribute to the arrival of the next wave which is autonomous and agent AI. But marketers and commerce leaders need help riding this wave in order to effectively leverage AI. It is important to put the right foundations in place. And it’s a priority for these leaders… even the highest performers in the industry see opportunities for improvement.
Challenges
So, what are these challenges in practice? The biggest concern with generative AI across the board is data exposure or leakage, followed by lack of necessary data. Next comes the lack of strategies or use cases for generative AI in action, followed by fear of inaccurate results and – a welcome recognition of a complex problem – concerns about copyright/intellectual property .
The ranking of these concerns varies by industry sector. Although both data concerns are among the top five concerns in most industries, there are some variations. For example, government respondents are most concerned about AI stealing their jobs, as are those who work in media/entertainment. Other concerns cited in specific industries include biased results, adherence to brand guidelines, and just a basic distrust of generative AI in general.
But these two data-specific concerns dominate. The State of Marketing report states that marketers will use an average of nine different tactics throughout the customer journey to capture data. Sources range from customer service data (cited by 88% of respondents), transaction data (82%), mobile apps (82%), web registration/account creation (82%) and loyalty programs (80%), among others.
The main challenge that emerges is not the lack of data; it’s about integrating it into a unified foundation so that it can then be leveraged for the benefit of the company. Hammond notes:
Less than half (of marketers) are fully satisfied with their attempts to unify customer data to create relevant experiences. This can be a real challenge.
In fact, the study presents the problem as worse than Hammond claims, citing that less than a third (31%) of marketers are fully satisfied with their ability to unify customer data sources. And marketing teams still rely on their IT counterparts to help them with basic marketing tasks, such as segmenting an audience (only 40% of respondents said they could accomplish this without help from a technician) or run a campaign, which only 41% believe they can do. can fend for itself.
All of this has a significant impact on the pursuit of the Holy Grail: personalization. The State of Marketing notes:
The battle to win over audiences becomes increasingly difficult as customer expectations continue to rise. Seventy-three percent of customers expect greater personalization as technology advances. Yet fewer than six in ten marketers are able to fully personalize familiar channels like email and mobile messaging.
Or as Hammond says:
Customers want to feel like they are more than just a number. They want relevant experiences that build relationships. But personalization remains a challenge, especially at scale.
My opinion
Lots to say over the next few days at Connections. What’s clear from this year’s State of Marketing report is that yes, the AI hype cycle is real and marketers are eager to explore its potential. But as we’ve seen in other industries, the lack of a solid database remains a major problem for many businesses. Jon Reed is on the field in Chicago this week. Check back for diginomica’s coverage of what’s being said on stage and in the hallways of the McCormick Place West building.
