Marketers in the UK are prioritising AI, but many marketing departments lack the necessary skill sets to effectively implement this much-hyped technology, a new report has found.
The report by customer engagement specialist Braze, which surveyed over 1,900 senior marketers (VP or above) globally on issues around AI, showed that 92% are eagerly embracing AI, one of the most talked about new technologies in years.
But it revealed that 52% of marketers surveyed identified a lack of data skills among marketing talent as a top-three issue when using data for customer engagement, hindering the use of AI.
Braze said marketers were facing an AI skills “crisis”.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest agency-related news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Further findings include that UK marketers are leveraging—or planning to leverage— artificial intelligence for crucial tasks.
This includes optimising strategies in real-time (53%), generating creative ideas (50%), automating repetitive tasks (49%), enhancing data analysis (49%), personalising campaign messaging (46%) and utilising predictive analytics (43%).
However, 57% of those surveyed cite working with internal data scientists or business intelligence teams who lack an understanding of marketing priorities as a main challenge in leveraging data for customer engagement, a major obstacle to integrating the technology effectively into their practices.
James Manderson, SVP, customer success, at Braze, said: “With artificial intelligence at the forefront of the agenda across markets, it is essential brands are utilising it in the right way, or risk being left behind.To capitalise on the potential, we must boost the education of data skills, both in our marketing education at university, and in the workplace.”
“The problem is going to get worse in the future if marketers are not built to understand and manage data correctly.”
“This is not just important for marketers but should also be built into the skill set of CEOs and CMOs. A lack of crucial AI skills means businesses are missing out on the key opportunity to not only harness these skills, but ensure they are being used correctly.”
Last year a survery found 70% of marketers plan to “unlock potential” of generative AI in 2024.
But earlier this year, marketers expressed concerns about the potentail of AI and what is real and fake.
