GenAI’s use by social media marketers is already widespread

May 6

May 6 GenAI’s use by social media marketers is already widespread

It’s hard to get a realistic read on actual usage by marketers as survey data tends to be all over the map, but this one from HootSuite as summarized by eMarketer suggests fairly widespread adoption, especially for generating or editing copy. Less so for imagery.

GenAI helps brands meet content demands
It’s helping social teams work more efficiently. Social media managers are notoriously overworked, often juggling content strategies across several platforms. GenAI can help them complete tasks more quickly; 61% of companies said reducing staff workload is the No. 1 reason they’re using AI for social media, per an August 2023 Hootsuite survey.
A majority of marketers are using genAI to assist with social content creation. Just over 54% of marketing leaders at organizations that use AI for content creation use it for social media specifically, according to the Fall 2023 CMO survey from August 2023. And more than half (51%) of marketers worldwide said genAI is most helpful in creating social media posts, per a January 2024 HubSpot survey.
The tech is used more often to generate social copy than visuals. Eighty-six percent of marketers use genAI to edit or refine text for social, while 85% use it to produce ad text for social from scratch, per Hootsuite. But only about half use it to edit (54%) or generate (52%) images on social.