Fears that AI tools will take over the creative process appear wide of the mark with most marketing chiefs (84%) hoping the real benefit will be to free up space for them to use their own brains – rather than an artificial one – to be more innovative and creative, while others (42%) are aiming to use the tech to help them be more productive.
So says a LinkedIn global study of 1,500+ marketing professionals which shows 6 in 10 marketers are already using artificial intelligence, with around half (49%) experimenting with tools such as ChatGPT.
The B2B Marketing Benchmark report also finds that three-quarters (75%) of B2B marketing leaders globally plan to increase their use of generative AI in the next year.
As companies look to stay top of mind and leverage creativity to build memorability among audiences, marketers maintain that AI will enable them to spend more time on higher value work such as engaging customers, and less time trying to find potential buyers.
Rather than take over their main creative roles, marketers plan to use AI for day-to-day tasks, such as summarising lengthy articles and videos (77%), creating first drafts of written content and presentations (74%), and helping them problem solve (75%).
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions senior director for the EMEA and LATAM regions Tom Pepper explains that with the majority of CMOs saying they feel under pressure to deliver results, AI will support their work and give them time to focus on what truly matters – building deeper relationships with customers.
He added: It’s never been more important to build memorable campaigns that increase brand value, but with fewer resources, marketers are often made to prioritise short-term business needs that hamper strategic work.
“As B2B marketing continues to evolve, AI tools will give marketers the time to build creative campaigns that drive action, connect with customers, and unlock long-term growth opportunities.”
The study coincides with the launch of a new LinkedIn AI-powered automated B2B marketing campaign creation tool, dubbed Accelerate.
It is claimed that in as little as five minutes, Accelerate will recommend an end-to-end campaign and automatic optimisations to reach the right B2B audience with engaging creatives, which marketers can adjust and fine-tune before they launch the campaign.
Accelerate builds on LinkedIn’s other AI features, including automated placement, which the firm maintains is delivering a 47% improvement in cost-per conversion, and Predictive Audiences, which is improving cost per lead by 21%.
LinkedIn plans to make Accelerate available globally in 2024.
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