A majority of global marketers say they save around 4 hours a week – a whole working day every two weeks – from using AI tools, a new report from the graphic design platform Canva has found.
Canva’s The State of Marketing & AI Report surveyed 2400 marketing and creative heads across the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia.
Following Canva’s 2023 paper Marketing & AI Report, which focused more on perceptions of AI as an emerging tool, the latest report focuses on how AI is being used to enhance marketing today.
Now, AI adoption from marketers is widespread, with almost all surveyed (94 percent) saying they allocated a budget for AI in 2024, and 75 percent saying they expect AI expenditure to increase in 2025 – nearly two-thirds (62 percent) expect a budget hike of at least 25 percent.
Most marketers (85 percent) get back an entire day every two weeks due to AI use, saving at least four hours a week. One-in-five, however, claim they save over ten hours a week because of the technology.
Despite an increase in the adoption of AI from marketers, over half (64 percent) say the AI marketing space is saturated and there are too many tools to choose from.
For those who have chosen AI tools, however, there are challenges around incorporating the tech into existing workflows, with 61% reporting struggles around integration.
Almost all surveyed (94 percent) said they apply human oversight after using AI, and only half (52 percent) are consistently measuring AI’s impact.
In terms of concerns, participants cited brand safety (22 percent), data privacy (21 percent), and the impact on the creative industry (13 percent) as the biggest cause of worry.
