GenAI’s use by social media marketers is already widespread, especially for content creation

Companies are baking genAI into several different aspects of their social strategies and workflows. But it’s already delivering dividends during content creation, especially because demand for content is sky-high.

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.

But humans are still usually crafting the finished product

• GenAI is often used for tasks like brainstorming or storyboarding. These tools can create text and visuals, but marketers aren’t simply taking the results and posting them on social accounts. Bridget Jewell, executive creative director at Dentsu Creative, said the agency uses the tech when presenting first-round ideas to clients. “They have more time to focus on the actual ideas that we’re showing to our clients,” she said.
• The tech can quickly complete otherwise time-consuming and mundane tasks. For instance, a brand may have a set amount of commissioned artwork for a campaign. GenAI tools can help the brand create additional versions as needed—say, by filling in backgrounds for alternate sizes or adding motion—while keeping the original artwork at the core.
• Human intervention remains key. In many cases, genAI tools require practitioners to come up with queries in the first place. And efficient prompting of the tools still requires a person who has developed that skill. Once the output is available, employees are tasked with ensuring it aligns with the brand’s tone of voice and standards if they plan to use it in a public-facing capacity.

Read the full report, GenAI and Social Media Marketing.