SAS and Coleman Parkes Research have released a new global study titled 'Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End'. The study reveals a significant gap in understanding of Generative AI (GenAI) among marketers, with 90% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) admitting they don't fully comprehend GenAI.

GenAI is already driving personalisation, customer satisfaction, and enhanced data capabilities. However, despite its potential, the study shows that marketers are primarily using GenAI for basic tasks such as copywriting, editing, and content creation. More sophisticated tasks like audience building, customer journey mapping, price optimisation, and audience targeting are being utilised by only a small percentage of marketers.

The study also indicates that 90% of organisations plan to invest in GenAI for marketing in 2025. Currently, 75% of marketers are using GenAI in their day-to-day work. Despite this, only a small fraction of organisations have a well-established and comprehensive governance framework for GenAI.

"A lack of understanding of GenAI at the CMO and senior management level is holding organisations back," says Jenn Chase, Chief Marketing Officer and EVP at SAS. She further elaborates, "It isn’t surprising that marketers lead the way in GenAI adoption, as it lends itself to experimentation and creativity – both hallmarks of the marketing profession.

However, it is disappointing that a lack of understanding of GenAI at the CMO and senior management level is holding organisations back from experiencing the full potential of this exciting new technology. Education and training are critical to overcome this obstacle as GenAI usage not only increases productivity, but it can also improve customer experience and drive business growth."

Jonathan Moran, Head of Martech Solutions Marketing at SAS, highlights the gap between the potential of GenAI and its current application. He says, "A significant gap exists between the art of what is possible with GenAI for MarTech, and what is being accomplished today. The research highlights that most organisations across industries have significant work to do around GenAI education and enablement as well as data governance and compliance - and performing that work will aid in fostering trust between brand and consumer when it comes to the application of AI for marketing and customer experience pursuits."

Marketers report strong returns on their investment in GenAI, particularly in terms of personalisation (92%), customer satisfaction and retention (89%), processing large data sets (88%), and accuracy in predictive analytics (88%). Despite these positive outcomes, the main concerns about GenAI usage are data security (61%) and data privacy (61%).