• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 22, 2024

CMOs are looking toward generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to minimize mistakes, inaccuracies, errors, snafus, flubs and gaffes in marketing images, video, and text to deliver the greatest value and return on investment (ROI) in 2024.

More than 40% of the 16,000 CMO Council members surveyed in partnership with Zeta Global during the first quarter, who collectively control nearly $1 trillion in annual aggregated spend worldwide, say they want to see more predictive outcomes from creative investments.

The two companies say a paradigm shift is coming for marketing technology combined with AI. But with this convergence, boards and management expect a lot more.

Some 54% expect topline revenue growth, while 51% expect operational efficiencies and 41% expect AI-drive efficiencies. 

The study shows that CMO Council members want higher levels of automation, productivity, and efficiency in internal and agency teams. All these will translate into better outputs and inspiration from less people doing the same jobs, they contend.

Customer data is seen by nearly 46% of marketing leaders as essential in order to recognize, personalize, humanize, prioritize, and give vitality to engagement with the most valued buyers and loyal shoppers.

Better knowledge and understanding of customer journeys, along with improved process, productivity, and workflow are high on the priority list for marketing technology investment in 2024.

Teams of cross-functional leaders are now being deployed with clear strategies for selection, deployment, adoption and scaling of new or existing platforms, solutions, and tools. In fact, half of all surveyed CMOs prioritize functional alignment and unified execution in 2024, followed by acquiring customer insights for better outcomes.

Only 17% of CMOs believe their teams lack digital skills, and just 18% face resistance to change. About 14% of chief marketers rated their teams excellent in 2023, while nearly 50% said they met expectations. Around 30% see room for improvement, and 8% reported underperformance.

Some 60% of respondents put top-line revenue growth is the top priority. They also expect more operational efficiency and cost reduction from marketing in 2024, with big expectations for AI's impact on productivity and performance.

CMOs view IT, CIOs, CTOs, and chief digital officers as key partners for leveraging customer data, driven by expanding marketing stacks, point solutions, channel partners, ecommerce, and customer-facing groups.