GenAI is fast becoming a critical tool in marketing, offering transformative potential for AI in decision-making and the management of data. Yet according to a recent global study, "Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End," conducted by SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, while 90% of organizations plan to invest in GenAI for marketing by 2025, an equivalent percentage of CMOs admit to not fully understanding GenAI or its potential impact of AI in business processes.

The blunt lack of deep knowledge about generative AI on the part of senior marketing executives hampers an effective deployment. Although 75% of marketers now use GenAI to perform basic tasks like copywriting, editing, and content creation, these kinds of uses barely scratch the surface of what the technology is capable of offering.

The numbers involving more sophisticated uses anything from audience targeting to price optimization fewer and farther between. For instance, only 18% of marketers have adopted GenAI for building audiences, 16% for customer journey mapping, 14% for price optimization, and 19% for audience targeting.

Poor understanding of GenAI at senior management levels may well inhibit higher states of use for the technology. Jenn Chase, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS tells them that this does indeed hold organizations back from realizing the full potential of GenAI. She says that it is a deficit that education and training would surely help surmount; otherwise, GenAI will be there to boost productivity, enhance customer experience, and fuel more business.

Also as challenges lie ahead, marketers remain bullish on GenAI. They expect the use of the tech to increase over the next one to two years, for saving time and money, better managing risk and ensuring compliance, and large-data-set processing at speed. Other immersive applications are seen by some, including adaptive virtual reality, mainly among those who are using GenAI fully.

However, data security and privacy remain key concerns. 61% of marketers name these issues as their major concerns connected with the use of GenAI. Whereas one-third of the organizations report having a well-established governance framework regarding data management, less than 10% have a similar framework for GenAI. And herein lies the difference in governance that will create a lag in effectiveness and trust about applications of GenAI.

Jonathan Moran, Head of Martech Solutions Marketing at SAS, thinks there is, in fact, a chasm between what is said about GenAI's capabilities and actual deployment. He feels much work will be required around the education, enablement, and data governance areas of GenAI to close this gap and improve trust between brands and consumers.

While Generative AI in marketing is gaining traction, there are critical steps to take that involve bridging knowledge gaps and addressing concerns related to data security and governance if the full potential of the technology is to materialize. Investment by organizations in better education and comprehensive data management will go a long way toward positioning them in leveraging GenAI to full advantage.