Australian marketers lack confidence in AI execution

Despite the accelerated adoption of AI tools, Australian marketers lack confidence in how to successfully implement the AI tech, according to a study by programmatic media player MiQ.

Three quarters (75%) of Australian marketers are planning to implement AI tools in the workplace over the next 12 months, however,  only 50% are confident in their knowledge and skills.

This is not far short of global attitudes, which show that 72% plan to apply the ad tech, but only 45% report confidence.

“I was unsurprised that Australian marketers came out higher than other markets surveyed, both across planning to implement and confidence to do so, as we’ve traditionally been a very innovative market,” said Fiona Roberts, MiQ ANZ managing director.

“There is still a long way to go to close that gap though and I found it interesting to see more than half tend to have more confidence in external AI solutions and tools offered by partners and vendors over their own companies’ internal solutions which speaks to a landscape where only half of marketers are fully confident in their capabilities and tools.”

Jordan Bitterman, chief marketing officer at MiQ, said education and training are important to close the gap between AI usage and readiness.

“We discovered that most marketers are bunched together at the early stages of a confidence curve,” he said.

“We’re at the start of a journey that will ultimately see us all move up the curve as we apply AI to more of our mission-critical work. Usage currently outpaces readiness by 27 percentage points, and we see that as pure opportunity. To close the gap, industry leaders must tap into tools and training.”

Marketers and agencies report two key limitations affecting their confidence.

43% report issues with data sharing, with their brands and clients not allowing data to be shared with AI tools.

There is also a “knowledge gap”. 38% of respondents lack comprehension of how partners’ AI solutions work. 35% report a skills gap, not fully understanding how AI or large language models (LLMs) work, and lacking the training on AI tools.

Similarly, 40% of global marketers report difficulties with understanding AI or LLMs. 35% globally report a lack of training, and 42% relate to these same data limitations. 44% report an inability to track results against the right goals.

There is a significant gap in education for AI tools.

Senior marketing professionals lack AI literacy with 38% still developing the education, measurement, and workflow systems for the ad tech.

And 38% of both junior and senior marketers are not properly trained on tools they are already using in the workplace.

When it comes to measurement, only half of Australian marketers are confident in their measurement systems, and only 46% believe strongly that they are tracking performance against the right goals.

Australian marketers report issues with the effectiveness of pre-campaign planning and insights, with only 25% backing their usefulness, despite the 91% who can effectively use data collection to drive results.

The most common use of AI by marketers both in Australia and globally is social media management, followed by marketing automation tools and customer engagement tools.

The solution to improving AI confidence is proposed as partner-agnostic solutions for shared data, the integration of AI into performance measurement, improving education and training, and maintaining a human touch-point through experienced marketers.

“Every marketer is trying to find the balance between learning and leading with AI,” said Bitterman.

“The ones who advance fastest will treat confidence as a capability, something built every day through connection, curiosity, and collaboration.”