When the internet boomed in the mid-90s, businesses faced a challenging predicament. If they failed to embrace it, they’d miss its competitive advantage. Yet, it was a risk and no profitable returns were guaranteed.
However, with time, the daily applications of the internet grew making it an indispensable tool for businesses.
Today, we face the same puzzle with artificial intelligence. AI has greatly impacted almost every industry there is today and most certainly marketing.
It transformed every aspect of marketing, from lead generation, customer engagement, content optimizations, and more. It made both B2C and B2B more efficient, personalized, and streamlined. It also changed how customers buy products and services.
The applications of AI continue to grow and many businesses are already adopting AI. It’s no longer a question of whether you should apply, but when.
In this article, we’ll go over the latest AI in marketing statistics to help you decide whether artificial intelligence is right for your business’s future.
AI in marketing Statistics
1. Customer Experience
According to a report by Gartner, 40% of businesses say that customer experience is their top motivator for using artificial intelligence.
When asked which technologies most improve customer experience, 34% of sales and marketing leaders believe AI is the biggest game-changer.
In 2020, chatbots responded to 85% of customer service interactions.
80% of marketers in 2020 already had chatbots as part of their customer experience strategy.
48% of marketing leaders agree that digital and mobile technologies (such as chatbots) have caused the most significant difference in how their customers and prospects interact with them
51% of e-commerce players have implemented automation technologies across sales, marketing, and customer service teams to ensure a seamless user experience for customers.
Only 27% of consumers think that AI can deliver equal or better customer service than humans. On the other hand, 43% of people think AI will harm customer satisfaction and cause more complaints
71% of customers expect companies to communicate in real-time, which has accelerated the use of AI conversational marketing solutions to engage with customers and prospects.
84% of digital marketing leaders believe using AI/ML enhances the marketing function’s ability to deliver real-time, personalized experiences to customers.
47% of B2C consumers say brands could better align their engagement activities with their preferences and 56% of customers expect each interaction with a brand or vendor to be tailored.
2. Business Adoption
Marketers’ use of AI soared between 2018 and 2020, jumping from 29% in 2018 to 84% in 2020, according to Salesforce Research’s most recent State of Marketing Study.
According to Everstring, 71% of marketers are interested in using artificial intelligence for personalization and 68% of marketers believe that predictive techniques will be critical to digital marketing.
50 percent of marketers identify as beginners when it comes to AI terminology and capabilities, while another 37 percent consider themselves intermediate. 40 percent of respondents ranked their confidence in evaluating marketing AI technologies as a medium, 24 percent as low, and 5 percent as none.
21% of sales leaders rely on AI-powered applications, and most of them share these applications with their marketing departments.
61% of marketers say artificial intelligence is the most important aspect of their data strategy while 64% of B2B marketers consider AI valuable for their sales and marketing strategy. 61% of marketers are also planning to use artificial intelligence in sales forecasting.
71% of B2B marketers are interested in using AI for personalization, 63% in using AI to identify trends, and 59% to help identify prospective customers. 53% of B2B marketers expect AI to improve marketing effectiveness in driving revenue.
70 percent high performing marketers claimed they have a fully defined AI strategy.
According to Salesforce, marketing teams with high performance are averaging seven different uses of AI and machine learning today and 52% are planning to increase their adoption in 2020.
63% of Digital Marketing Leaders Still Struggle with Personalization, Yet Only 17% Use AI and Machine Learning Across the Function
A study by Deloitte shows that 73% of AI adopters believe AI is “very” or “critically” important to their business today and 64% said AI technologies enable them to establish a lead over competitors.
According to Gartner, 56% of organizations today use AI internally to support decision-making and give recommendations to employees.
26% of all AI adopters and 45% of seasoned AI adopters say artificial intelligence has enabled them to establish a significant competitive advantage over their competitors.
Just 19% of enterprises have adopted AI and machine learning for B2C personalization today. The IBM-commissioned Forrester study also found that 55% of enterprises believe that technology constraints limit their ability to implement personalization strategies.
87% of companies that have adopted AI were using it to improve email marketing.
According to EY’s survey of 570 companies survey, accelerating AI to drive growth is one common practice that helps companies respond to disruption and improve their financial performance.
17 percent of marketers reported they are in the Scaling phase of marketing AI adoption, which means wide adoption of AI that consistently delivers results. 19 percent have entered the Humanizing phase, where AI and humans are merged and resources are redirected towards listening, relationship building, creativity, culture, and communities.
3. Benefits of AI Usage
A Harvard Business Review study found that companies using AI for sales were able to increase their leads by more than 50%, reduce call time by 60-70%, and realize cost reductions of 40-60%
83% of early AI adopters have already achieved substantial (30%) or moderate (53%) economic benefits
McKinsey & Company 2020 Global Survey on artificial intelligence (AI) indicates that organizations are using AI to generate value in the form of revenue. Some respondents noted an increase in over 20% of their organizations’ earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to artificial intelligence. 10% said their revenue increased by more than 10%, 26% said it increased by 6% to 10%, and 43% said it increased by <5%.
Marketers say the top success story they are seeing with AI is getting a better understanding of the customer (31%)
A study found that AI enables marketers to increase sales (52%), increase customer retention (51%), and succeed at new product launches (49%).
According to a report from Return Path and The Relevancy Group, AI email senders report a 41% higher monthly revenue from email marketing and higher Average Order Value of $145.08 vs $138 for senders not using AI
4. AI Market Predictions
According to the Drift leadership report, 79 percent said AI is one of the technologies that will impact marketing in the future.
McKinsey Global Institute estimates an impact of $1.4 Trillion to $2.6 Trillion in the Marketing and sales functions across all industries.
46 percent of 400 marketers surveyed by Drift and Marketing Artificial Intelligence said their marketing team is trying to both increase revenue and cut costs. 43 percent said they’re focused on accelerating revenue. Eight percent said they’re exclusively focused on cutting costs.
41% of marketing executives say improving their ability to innovate is a marketing priority for 2022.
AI embedded in analytics and other marketing software will free up more than one-third of data analysts in marketing organizations by 2022.
Conclusion
The future is bright for AI adopters, just like it was for embracers of digital transformation in the internet boom.
Many marketers have realized the great benefits of AI and are employing it in research, decision making, service provision, and customer experiences.
These AI in marketing statistics provide food for thought.
At least, you should question whether you’re okay settling while other businesses embrace AI and enjoy a competitive edge over you.
At most, find out how fast you can start employing AI in your business and start preparing for a future where AI is critical for every business.