Marketers worldwide are prioritising the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) over other initiatives, according to Salesforce’s ninth State of Marketing report.
As customer demands for personalisation continue to soar and marketing technologies evolve rapidly, the report highlights AI as a critical tool for marketers to enhance personalisation, efficiency, and creativity at scale.
The comprehensive report, based on insights from over 4,800 marketers across 29 countries, reveals that top-performing marketers are leveraging AI to outpace their competition while navigating data unification, integration, and security challenges.
Embracing AI for Enhanced Personalisation
Marketers are increasingly striving to deliver customised experiences based on detailed data, including individual behaviours, preferences, and interactions. AI is being used to gain deeper insights, make predictions, automate workflows, and generate content. The report underscores the importance of a robust data and AI strategy, with high-performing marketers personalising across six channels compared to underperformers managing just three.
Channels like mobile messaging, email marketing, and social media, where content can be quickly tested and iterated, see the most advanced personalisation efforts. In contrast, channels requiring more production time, such as audio, organic search, and TV/OTT, have lower personalisation rates, with 43%, 42%, and 41% respectively achieving full personalisation.
Accelerating AI Adoption
Despite the enthusiasm for AI, marketers face challenges in its implementation and in creating cohesive customer journeys. Salesforce Chief Marketing Officer Ariel Kelman notes that marketers are “leading the charge by embracing rapid advancements in technology to better connect with customers and prospects.” Currently, 75% of marketers are experimenting with or have fully implemented AI in their operations. However, the report indicates a performance gap, with high-performing teams 2.5 times more likely than underperformers to have fully integrated AI into their processes.
Harnessing AI for Creativity and Productivity
The report highlights that 63% of marketers using AI leverage generative AI, while 54% use predictive AI. Both types are critical for automating customer interactions and generating content, thereby boosting creativity and productivity.
Concerns Over Trusted Data
Marketers express significant concerns about data and job security in the context of generative AI. Eighty-eight percent worry about missing out on AI benefits, more than their counterparts in sales (78%) and service (73%). Senior marketers, particularly CMOs, are most concerned about data leaks, with 41% citing this as their top worry. On-the-ground team leads are more anxious about job security, with one in four fearing AI could replace their roles.
Data unification remains a significant challenge, with only 31% of marketers fully satisfied with their ability to unify customer data sources. This lack of integrated data hampers the ability to derive sharp insights, affecting core activities like performance analysis, audience suppression, and campaign building.
The Path Forward
The report suggests that a strong data foundation is essential for AI success. Fully integrated data systems are more common among high-performing marketing teams, indicating that investment in data unification can provide a competitive edge. Kelman emphasises, “A strong data foundation will be critical to AI success for marketers as they work to bring together and unify customer data for real-time activation.”
