Nearly half of AI marketing efforts fail to meet goals

New research suggests that despite widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing, nearly half of these initiatives are failing to deliver expected business value.

The Infosys CMO Radar 2024 report highlights that although 73% of enterprises have integrated AI technologies, only 52% are achieving the desired business outcomes. This discrepancy underscores a significant challenge in effectively harnessing AI's potential within marketing strategies.

AI-fluency amongst Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) is correlated with improved business outcomes. The report indicates that 62% of AI-fluent CMOs anticipate increased influence across corporate decision-making processes as they exploit AI tools to boost personalisation, optimise marketing campaigns, and enhance efficiency.

However, CMOs continue to face obstacles in fully aligning AI strategies with wider business objectives and processes. The Infosys report categorises CMOs into three groups based on their AI fluency: Leaders (13%), Learners (60%), and Laggards (27%). This categorisation is based on their ability to derive business value from AI across varied marketing activities.

The research outlines four primary tactics that AI-fluent CMOs employ to generate business value from AI: embedding AI into business processes, aligning AI with broader business strategies, integrating risk management in AI-powered marketing solutions, and ensuring that MarTech infrastructures are scalable for AI applications.

Satish H C, Executive Vice President and Chief Delivery Officer at Infosys, commented, "Very early on, at Infosys, we saw how AI promises to disrupt the way B2B and B2C players think about customer experience, marketing productivity, and growth. The findings of the Infosys CMO Radar 2024 report point to how forward-thinking marketing leaders are adjusting to this new landscape.

"Central to this transformation is the reimagining of marketing end to end, embracing a holistic approach to innovation. By focusing on disintermediation for agility, businesses can swiftly adapt to changes and enhance their competitive edge.

"The report underscores the vital role of leadership in harnessing AI capabilities to drive marketing innovation and customer engagement. With Infosys Aster, we are already bringing the digital capabilities for marketing leaders to maximise operations, while taking advantage of advances in marketing effectiveness and personalisation in an AI-first future."

Sumit Virmani, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Infosys, added, "CMOs face the dual challenge of fueling growth in the short-term while articulating the value of their brand investments in the medium term. They recognise AI's, especially generative AI's, potential to help them rewire marketing for greater effectiveness.

"They know it can also be a key amplifier of marketing impact to the business and its influence within the C-Suite. The Infosys CMO Radar 2024 unpacks the tactics that CMOs can embrace to get and stay ahead in these times of AI-powered transformation."

The research was conducted through an anonymous survey involving 2,600 marketing executives from various sectors including automotive, financial services, and healthcare across multiple regions such as Australia, Germany, the Nordics, the UK, and the US. It examined AI adoption across the marketing lifecycle, focusing on activities such as content creation, campaign management, and analytics.

The findings underscore the critical need for companies to not only adopt AI but to strategically align AI initiatives with overarching business goals to realise substantial business value.