Dive Brief:
- More than 4 in 5 marketers said their organization is under pressure to innovate, according to a survey of 300 marketers and 3,000 consumers by Acquia. Nearly all have changed their digital CX strategy over the past 18 months.
- Despite this demand, many executives will need to do more without any extra investment, according to Jennifer Griffin Smith, chief market officer at Acquia. Fewer than 2 in 3 CX leaders expect a budget increase in 2024.
- Griffin Smith points to AI as the solution, but cautions that markets’ and consumers’ perceptions of AI don’t match up and steps need to be taken to earn their trust.
Dive Insight:
Tight budgets mean that CX leaders will need to prioritize implementing solutions with major impact but low cost. Generative AI will be chief among them.
The most important factors in delivering CX over the past 18 months have been the ability to gather enough data about consumer preferences and the ability to create sufficiently personalized content, according to the survey.
“The biggest challenge of our role is matching the content with the data at the right time and executing it to the person,” Griffin Smith told CX Dive. “The more data we have and the more content we have, the harder that becomes. So how do we get efficient at it? I think AI, especially generative AI, is going to allow us to drive more efficiencies.”
However, there is a divide between how marketing and CX leaders and consumers feel about the usage of this technology.
An overwhelming 96% of marketing leaders are already using generative AI to generate content, with just as many feeling optimistic about its potential for efficiency gains.
Consumers are split over AI; 2 in 5 feel a positive emotion when they encounter an AI feature on a website, the same number that experience a negative one.
Consumers clearly enjoy the benefits AI can provide — nearly 3 in 5 of the consumers surveyed by Acquia said they like it when a brand knows their interests or preferences. The trick is reassuring them these insights are being responsibly derived from data.
"Do you articulate on your site, or in any of your customer communication, how you are using AI when it comes to data?” Griffin Smith said. “Lots of organizations have whole sections of sites that actually talk about what you can expect, which I think is really good.”
Another question to ask is whether the data is being used for the good of the company or the good of the consumer, according to Griffin Smith. A promo, for example, might not be as well received as marketing that has “taken into consideration knowing me and what I might need,” she said.
