Approval delays, administrative workloads and fragmented information sources are squeezing marketers’ creative time, while concerns about generic content are limiting wider adoption of AI, according to research by Irish AI start-up Pacey.
Pacey develops AI for in-house marketing teams and its “Marketing’s Joy Problem” research draws on 286 responses across four surveys in eight countries, including Ireland.
The research found that 67% of respondents’ marketing teams used AI regularly but only 8% use it in workflows.
It also found that that 66% of those surveyed were frustrated with work being held up waiting for feedback or approval over the last three months.
While 58% counted “making things” among the best parts of their job, chasing approval was the biggest drain on their energy, cited by 40%. Administrative work and work with an unclear purpose followed, both at 36%.
“The professional joy that marketers get from the job, particularly making things, could easily be swamped by managing multiple systems, chasing approvals and daily reporting,” said Catherine Hayes, Pacey’s Head of Product Design.
Too many stakeholders or conflicting feedback was the most frequently cited obstacle to effective marketing, selected by 35%. Three in four had experienced work being redone because the original direction was unclear.
Pacey argues that faster content production risks adding to approval queues unless teams also improve briefs and decision-making.
The research also uncovered degrees of concern that AI could make marketing feel generic or lack taste and creative judgement and this too was the leading barrier to wider use, cited by 39%. Other issues like privacy, security, legal or intellectual property concerns followed at 32%, while 24% said output required too much checking or editing, or was inconsistent.
Three-quarters of respondents responsible for signing off creative work said AI lacked the taste required for strong marketing. Nevertheless, 51% of these sceptical approvers agreed it could demonstrate taste with sufficient context and direction.
The research also found that 78% expected AI to make brands sound more alike, although 62% believed it could improve marketing without replacing human judgement.
“It is very clear from the research that any AI system built for marketing teams will need taste. I don’t mean human taste but it needs to be trained to have creative judgement and context,” said Evan Greally, Pacey’s chief technology officer.
Fragmented systems presented another challenge. The research found that most teams used between six and 15 tools a month, but only 11% said they operated as one connected system. Some 71% had experienced delays while someone searched for information or files.
Respondents to the survey remained open to greater adoption: 82% would be more willing to use AI that demonstrated a consistent understanding of their brand, customers, goals and previous work.
Speaking about the findings of the research, Richard Carr, Pacey’s CEO, said AI was being pointed in the wrong direction.
“People joined a marketing team to use their creativity to drive growth, not to open 20 applications on their laptop everyday, or manually input customer reviews,” he said.
“However, research shows we are still in the very early days of using AI to relieve daily complexity in marketers’ lives. It seems that much of the industry debate has focused on AI content generation which is something that benefits most from humans. Managing large datasets, speeding up workflows, and uncovering deep customer insights, which are the bedrock of brilliant creativity, is still largely untouched by AI and this is something that AI excels at. AI eats complexity,” Carr added.
To download a copy of Pacey AI’s research report click HERE
