Marketers ‘putting quantity over quality’ with AI content

The rise of AI in marketing is triggering “trust issues” among UK consumers, with nearly two-thirds (62%) of Brits saying they have lost faith in marketing content, amid growing concerns that the race to produce more is coming at the expense of quality.

That is according to the latest tranche of findings from Optimizely’s Marketer’s Survival Guide, which surveyed 100 marketers and 1,000 consumers in the UK, and found growing dissatisfaction with the content that brands produce.

Worryingly, two-thirds (66%) of consumers believe brands are prioritising volume over quality, and 59% say the quality of marketing content has declined in recent years.

The findings also point to consumer scepticism around AI-generated content. More than half (57%) of consumers say they can usually tell when content has been generated by AI, while 67% find AI-generated images of people in marketing materials and ads creepy.

At the same time, nearly three-quarters of Brits (72%) are more likely to engage with content if it feels human rather than automated.

The findings suggest the issue is not AI adoption itself, but how the technology is being used. While consumers are becoming more critical of generic, low-quality content, marketers see an opportunity to use AI to refine how they create and deliver campaigns.

Some 84% say AI helps reduce manual work during major campaigns, and 43% see better integration of AI with marketing tools as the biggest opportunity for improved efficiency and optimisation.

Marketers are also investing in the skills needed to get better results from the technology. Over the past 12 months, 42% have invested in training to improve AI outputs, and 44% plan to do so over the next 12 months.

Optimizely SVP of marketing Tara Corey said: “AI has made it incredibly easy to produce more content quickly, and I think as marketers we’ve all been a little guilty of getting caught up in that.

“When you’re under pressure to keep up, it’s tempting to see more as ‘good’, but these findings are a reminder that customers don’t necessarily see it that way.

“Instead of using AI to simply churn out content, we need to be more thoughtful about what we’re using it for. AI can take manual work off marketers’ plates and give them more time to understand their customers and do their best thinking.

“But marketers still need to make the call on where AI adds value and where the human touch matters. Consumers aren’t looking for more marketing, they’re after marketing that’s worth their time.”

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