Resource-constrained marketers are using AI to help increase productivity by helping with the whole lot from ideation and faster workflows to data analytics. But there’s one caveat when using AI in marketing: Don’t let consumers know, because they hate it.
Nearly nine in 10 marketers say they’ve to deliver more in less time, according to a report by GrowthLoop. Also, 91% have ramped up content output this yr — with many producing three to five times greater than in 2024, according to a 10Fold survey. Yet budgets often remain flat.
Dig deeper: Closing the gap between creative and marketing performance
To close that gap, marketers are leaning hard on AI, with 67% globally — and 78% in California — now using AI tools for content creation repeatedly, the 10Fold survey found. Teams that after spent 10 hours per week on manual campaign optimization now see cycles under 30 days, according to research from DoubleVerify.
Marketers are using AI to adjust in real time and respond faster to shifting customer behavior. One of those behaviors will not be liking AI, and it doesn’t appear to be shifting.
The AI trust gap
While 70% of consumers recognize AI in marketing emails, ads and customer support, only 25% prefer it, according to GrowthLoop. An overwhelming 82% still want to talk to a human agent — even when the AI option is quicker. And concerns are mounting: 78% worry about data security, 60% doubt the accuracy of AI outputs, and 84% say brands should disclose when AI is in use.
How much do consumers dislike AI?
Last yr, Coca-Cola used AI to make a Christmas ad. The company called the campaign “a collaboration of human storytellers and the facility of generative AI.” Consumers called it mediocre — more of a shortcut than creativity — and felt it was just Coca-Cola’s way of dodging paying real artists.
Alex Hirsch, creator of “Gravity Falls,” said Coca-Cola’s iconic red got here from “the blood of out-of-work artists.”
Coca-Cola has not repeated its AI experiment.
Inside the ‘AI paradox’
Marketers, like consumers, have their doubts about AI.
While 71% consider AI makes them higher at their jobs, 61% worry it could replace them, according to a HubSpot report. Junior staff (22%) are greater than twice as likely to fear alternative as senior managers, according to DotDigital’s Secret Lives of Marketing Teams report. Copywriters, in particular, feel vulnerable. Dotdigital found that 34% are afraid AI will replace them.
Dig deeper: AI can scale ads, but great creatives drive brand impact
Yet survey data shows most fears are misplaced: 83% of AI adopters haven’t cut staff (10Fold). Instead, 71% of the teams are upskilling to use AI responsibly (HubSpot).
The prevailing sentiment is that AI serves as a strong “booster pack” that amplifies existing tools and techniques. According to GrowthLoop, 86% of marketers consider human intervention improves AI effectiveness.
That can mean getting outside help: 10Fold’s research found 88% of marketers proceed to depend on external agency support for a minimum of a part of their content process, with 86% preferring a hybrid model of in-house and agency resources.
What matters most in a trust-first economy isn’t being the fastest adopter. It’s being the one who pairs AI scale with human credibility that may ease consumers’ doubts.
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