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With AI-powered tools on the rise, it seems like everyone is using ChatGPT or the like to help power their profiles. From creating posts and visuals to targeting ads and more, social media professionals know that AI is a powerful tool.
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In this survey, we polled socialmedia marketers from all rungs of the corporate ladder to learn what they really think about using AI in social media. Read on for the results
To ensure diverse results, we surveyed 2334 social media professionals from a variety of industries, team sizes, and positions.
The majority of respondents are at management level or higher. 8% are at the VP level, 37% are at the senior director/department head level, 39% are at the management level, and 16% are entry-level workers. Because decisions about tools and organization workflow usually comes from higher-ups, this gives us excellent insight into team-wide tool usage
A variety of industries are represented in the study, with the most prolific being marketing & PR (16%), retail (14%), manufacturing (13%), and healthcare (11%)
Among respondents, 70% have a mid-sized social team of 2-10 members, and 44% represent companies with less than 10,000 followers. This gives us a great scope of opinions from teams of all sizes and compositions.
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AI in social media (and the rest of our lives) is one of the hottest topics of 2023. While some social media professionals could care less (a tiny but strident 3%), 71% are interested in the impact of AI on social media.
Whether it’s changing the way we create content, build ads, or create visuals, there are lots of changes on the horizon. And some that are already here!
A variety of industries are represented in the study, with the most prolific being Unsurprisingly, frequent users have more skin in the game. 86% of people who use it every day and 81% of people who use it a few times per week are interested to see how social media will be impacted by AI-related changes.
Companies with large followings are more tuned into the upcoming changes. For companies with followings >250,000 followers, disinterest in AI is nearly 0%. If you’re looking to get on their level, it could be wise to start paying attention to emerging technologies - for better or for worse.
Whether you choose to use it or not, your competition is already on the AI-powered tool bandwagon. And as big accounts start adopting AI tools, you might start falling even farther behind. As large accounts adopt and normalize the usage of AI tools, smaller accounts would be wise to follow suit!
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While AI-powered tools only became popularized in the past year, usage is already exploding, with 62% of people using AI once per week or more. There are a good number of power users out there, too; 21% of respondents use AI every day. Just 11% of people say they don’t use AI in their social media jobs. This comes at no surprise, as the usefulness of AI-powered tools has been championed by marketers in a variety of roles.
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Among the 21% of respondents who reported they use AI daily, those in senior roles are the heaviest users.
In fact, 68% of VPs, 78% of directors, 58% of managers, and 41% of entry-level social media professionals reported using AI once per week or more!
Senior staff typically sets the standards for the rest of the team; based on these numbers, we would expect increased adoption by lower-ranking employees in the future as AI tools make their way down the corporate ladder and become part of the organizational workflow.
Following the trend from above, larger accounts are more likely to use AI frequently.
Of the respondents with larger accounts, 75% with followings of 500,000-999,999, 65% with followings of 250,000-499,999It seems that large accounts are already 64% with followings of 100,000-249,999 use AI a few times per week or more.
It seems that large accounts are already embracing the revolution of AI tools in their everyday workflows.
After a year of readily available tools, 69% of social media professionals agree that AI is a helpful tool for social media management. There's no question that these tools help us become harder, better, faster, and stronger. As tools evolve and find a permanent spot in our tech stacks, it will be how we use them that makes the real impact.
For those who feel like their jobs may be easily replaceable, AI tools are a huge threat. So, it's no surprise that 24% of entry-level social media professionals don't think that AIis a helpful tool for social media management. But nobody should pack their things just yet. In fact, leveraging AI tools will help entry-level employees stand out from the crowd.
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Continuing the trend from above, larger accounts are more likely to be all-in on AI (or getting there, at least).
Larger accounts are more likely to find AI helpful, with 88% of accounts with 500,000-999,999 followers, 85% of accounts with 250,000-499,999, and 72% of accounts with 100,000-249,999 followers agreeing that AI is a helpful tool for social media management.
It should come as no surprise that frequent users find AI helpful for social media management.
In fact, 86% of everyday users and 81% of users who use AI tools a few times a week agree that AI is a helpful tool.
As with any tool, once you're familiar with it and the way it functions in your workflow, the more you'll like it.
The most popular uses for AI are visual creation (47%), post ideas (40%), copywriting (37%), and ads creation (35%). AI tools tend to work best in conjunction with a human who can make scrupulous edits and make the final call on what actually gets posted.
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With tools that help social media marketers do everything from writing posts to creating arresting visuals, AI usage is at an all-time high. Only 18% of companies don't use AI for their social media efforts. While ChatGPT just launched in November 2022, adoption was swift. Most companies realize that forgoing new technology could leave them far behind their competitors.
As we saw before, large accounts are leading the foray into AI-powered tools, with accounts with 500,000-999,999 followers (88%), 250,000-499,999 followers (80%), and 100,000-249,999 (83%) followers using AI in their social media efforts the most.
As new technology emerges, companies will increase their usage of AI in their social media management.In 2024, 67% ofcompanies plan to increase their AI usage in managing their socials, while only 11% of companies plan to decrease usage. As tools become cheaper, easier to use, and produce better results, we can expect this number to increase.
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Again, larger accounts lead the charge for AI tool usage. Large accounts were more likely to use AI in their social efforts, with accounts with 500,000-999,999 followers (88%), 250,000-499,999 followers (80%), and 100,000-249,999 followers (83%)saying their companies plan to increase their usage of AI-powered tools.
After all, when it comes to managing accounts with a high volume of followers, posts, and complex campaigns, a tool that helps streamline tasks is more than welcome.
Heavy users plan to increase their usage, too. The allure of AI-powered tools doesn't wear off, even after daily use. Once social media marketers experience how they can save time and mental energy, they want more of the same for themselves and their departments. 86% of everyday users and 76% of users who use AI tools a few times per week plan to increase their usage of AI in 2024.
The consensus is in: social media marketers want to increase their usage of AI-powered tools! Only 18% of respondents say they don't want their company to increase its use of AI tools. Because AI-powered tools are still on the new side, there are bound to be some skeptics.
But with 72% of social media marketers excited about increasing their AI usage, adoption and innovation are bound to trend upwards. Leadership is all in, too, with senior directors most likely to want to increase usage (79%).
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Accounts with 1,000,000+ followers (83%), 500,000-999,999 followers (88%), 250,000-499,999 followers (85%), and 100,000-249,999 followers (75%) want to increase their company's usage of AI tools. Frequent users want their companies to increase usage of AI, too, with 88% of daily users, 85% of almost-daily users, and 83% of weekly users wanting to increase usage in their companies.
For 2024, social media professionals are excited to use AI-enabled tools more for visual creation (47%), post ideas (44%), and copywriting (41%).Because AI-created posts are seldom ready to post straight off the rack, they tend to be best for brainstorming, outlining, and researching. As social media marketers get more comfortable using these tools, they'll be using them more to create things they can't (like visuals) or for ideating content. Looking forward, only 9% of social media marketers don't want to use AI in 2024.
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IFor VPs, copywriting (58%) and post ideas (53%) hold the most potential, while those at the senior director level favor visuals (56%). Management-level marketers marginally favor visuals (42%) and post ideas (41%) over other functions, and entry-level professionals have the same preferences (38% and 43%, respectively).
The biggest barriers are limited organizational experience (38%) and lack of understanding (32%) Because AI-powered tools are new to the scene, most companies don't have a resident expert to help guide their adoption. Information can be hard to come by without buying a course or doing intense independent experimentation. As tools become more standard and companies invest in employee education, adoption is likely to accelerate across industries.
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AI-generated content is a new frontier for the internet. It's a new, shiny thing that many social media marketers are excited about. With new tools and innovations coming out each month, it's no surprise that 71% of social media professionals currently use AI tools in their work.
In general, those in higher management positions and who manage larger accounts tend to be more interested in using these tools. For those just starting in the industry, getting acquainted with AI-enabled tools is a smart career move. After all, AI-powered tools aren't going away anytime soon. With 67% of companies planning to increase AI usage in their organizations, the tools are here to stay. Luckily, the more you use these tools, the more you'll like them; just ask the 88% of daily users who want their companies to increase AI usage.
Regardless of how the social media landscape changes, one thing is clear: for those unwilling to adapt, working in social media will be very difficult. With the current state of AI technology, tasks like post creation, ad targeting, copywriting, and image creation are easier than ever. Companies that refuse to leverage new technologies will find themselves moving slower with misaligned targeting and extended turnaround times. While the current state of technology doesn't promise the average account completely autonomous posting capabilities, the available tools are becoming essential in developing streamlined and aligned workflows for social media teams.
Bottom line: AI-powered tools are here to stay, and the longer companies and individuals resist emerging technologies, the harder it will be to catch up with competitors. Starting now is the best way to figure out how these tools can function in your and your team's workflow for the long haul.
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