• by Colin Kirkland , January 17, 2024

PhotoShelter’s research found that 85% of creative professionals and marketers reported being under pressure to produce content more rapidly while still minimizing budgets and resources, pushing them to seek out new ways to pivot and streamline operations, with 76% of respondents agreeing that economic fluctuations have amplified the need for strategic pivots in teams' workflows, including AI solutions.

“As content creation demands soar, brand and marketing teams must leverage technology to stay ahead,” said Andrew Fingerman, CEO of PhotoShelter, in a statement. “The creative industry is facing a pivotal moment as AI allows creative professionals to work in new and innovative ways.”

In terms of current marketing struggles, half of all respondents in the study expressed a strong desire for streamlined content-creation tools, with 38% saying they struggle to create relevant content and increase social-media followers, and 42% reporting they have trouble driving higher brand engagement -- a challenge that is 47% more prevalent among marketers employed by enterprise companies with over 10,000 employees.

PhotoShelter also shines a light on the industry's growing investment in AI tools, with almost 60% of marketers reporting they have already integrated such tools into content and asset workflows.

In addition, 78% of respondents reported they believe that AI can help companies increase revenue, while 56% said their company has already increased its AI budget allocations in the past year, and 39% said their company plans to do so in 2024.

The adoption of AI tools is more pronounced in the C-suite, as CMOs are 66% more likely to average AI for task automation and 40% more likely to use AI for asset organization.

While AI tools may provide some benefits in efficiency and quality of work, it's understandable that marketers are concerned about the influence of this emerging technology on their job stability as major tech companies continue to lay off industry professionals -- including Google, which recently announced plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its ad-sales unit as it continues to invest in machine learning across the ad-buying process in search, YouTube and additional services.