Brands and businesses around the world are enthusiastic about the potential of generative AI (GenAI) to enhance engagement, productivity, and cost savings, while simultaneously fostering human creativity, despite significant concern about the risks of disseminating misinformation via AI-generated content. Nevertheless, new research from business services firm Capterra suggests that social media content production will increasingly be handled by AI—nearly half of all such content is expected to be AI-generated within two years.
The firm’s new 2024 GenAI for Social Content survey of over 1,600 social media marketers worldwide finds that businesses plan to use generative AI for an average of 48 percent of their social media content by 2026, up from 39 percent in 2024.
Businesses will significantly increase GenAI use for social media marketing
Regions such as Canada, Australia, the U.S., and Brazil are currently leading in GenAI usage for social content. Over the next 18 months, significant increases are expected in the U.K., Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Spain. This trend is partly due to the predominance of English-language internet content, which has given English-speaking countries a head start in utilizing GenAI tools.
The promise of boosted productivity, engagement, and efficiency drives GenAI adoption
GenAI’s ability to improve productivity is a primary driver for its adoption in social media marketing. Businesses report that GenAI streamlines workflows, aids in idea generation, automates routine tasks, and creates personalized content for specific audiences. Nearly all (90 percent) businesses using GenAI for social content report moderate to significant time savings, while 73 percent have seen increased engagement and impressions from GenAI-assisted content.
Additionally, 49 percent state that GenAI-assisted content performs better than human-created content. However, the integration of GenAI also raises concerns about maintaining the value of human creativity, with 40 percent of businesses questioning the value of human input.
Challenges include maintaining authenticity and preventing misinformation
Despite its benefits, GenAI poses risks such as potential blandness and misinformation in content, necessitating significant oversight to ensure quality and accuracy. Businesses cite maintaining authenticity as a top challenge (43 percent), followed by ensuring AI-generated content resonates with audiences (35 percent). Additionally, 94 percent worry about the potential for GenAI to spread misinformation.
“The need for human supervision remains critical, as errors and issues such as factual inaccuracies, plagiarism, and bias are common,” said Molly Burke, senior marketing analyst at Capterra, in a news release. “Businesses must practice a human-in-the-loop strategy, ensuring human review and editing of AI-generated content before publication.”
Concerns remain about implementing AI safely and effectively
To leverage GenAI responsibly, businesses should establish formal policies and adopt best practices. Creating a formal internal policy helps align stakeholders on use cases and best practices to ensure safety, legal compliance, and brand alignment.
Using both internal and external metrics to measure GenAI effectiveness is crucial, as it helps track performance and understand the true cost and impact on employee morale. As businesses increase their investment in GenAI, they must navigate its challenges and benefits, ensuring the technology supports rather than replaces human marketers.
Read more and download the full report here.
