Marketers estimate that generative AI will save them over five hours of work per week – the equivalent of over a month per year, according to a Salesforce survey. 

 

Yet, while they see the technology as transformative to their role, marketers also note the need for human monitoring, trusted customer data, and training as critical to successfully use it, the survey of over 1,000 marketers said. 

 

Salesforce Generative AI Snapshot Series found that 51% of marketers are currently using generative AI. An additional 22% plan to use it very soon, totalling nearly three-quarters of marketers. 

 

Concerns raised

However, over a third (39%) also say they don’t know how to safely use generative AI. They raise concerns about its accuracy and report a need for human oversight, as well as proper training and trusted customer data, to leverage the technology effectively at work.

 

Marketers using generative AI are already targeting the basics, like content creation (76%) and writing copy (76%). But many see a wholesale overhaul of their work on the horizon, with 53% saying generative AI is a ‘game changer.’ Respondents cite reasons for this that include its ability to transform the way they analyse data, personalise messaging content, build marketing campaigns, and build/optimise SEO strategy.

 

With generative AI, marketers also say they expect to save time and be able to focus on more strategic work:

 

•71% say generative AI will eliminate busy work. 

•71% say generative AI will allow them to focus on more strategic work.

•In fact, they estimate generative AI will save them over five hours per week – the equivalent of over a month per year at work.

 

Accuracy and quality

Marketers report accuracy and quality as top concerns — say trusted customer data and human monitoring are required to use generative AI successfully at work.

 

Accuracy and quality depend on data. However, 67% of marketers say their company’s data is not properly set up for generative AI — despite a similar number (63%) saying trusted customer data is important for the successful use of generative AI at work. 

 

This is a sentiment echoed by experts. According to Clara Shih, Salesforce’s CEO of AI: “Data is fuel for AI — without high-quality, trusted data, it becomes ‘garbage in, garbage out.’ AI pulling from data sources that are irrelevant, unrepresentative, or incomplete, can create bias, hallucinations, and toxic outputs.”

 

Potential barrier

Many (71%) marketers also believe generative AI’s lack of human creativity and contextual knowledge is a potential barrier to successfully using generative AI in the workplace. As a result, 66% of marketers say human monitoring is needed to successfully use generative AI in their role.

 

While marketers are excited about the opportunities of generative AI to transform their work, many feel unprepared to take full advantage of it, with 43% saying they don’t know how to get the most value out of the technology.

 

And while 54% of marketers believe generative AI training programs are important for them to successfully use generative AI in their role, 70% say their employer does not yet provide generative AI training.

 

Effective campaigns

“Generative AI has the potential to transform how marketers connect with their customers by powering more personalised, automated and effective campaigns — quickly and at scale,” said Stephen Hammond, EVP and GM, Marketing Cloud at Salesforce. 

 

“But as companies look to adopt the technology, they need to unify their first-party data and leverage trusted AI innovations to ensure safety and accuracy.”-- TradeArabia News Service