Marketers are spending 15% of their departmental budget on AI, but a third can’t prove its ROI

33% of marketers say they are unable to measure the impact of AI investments

A survey by mobile data and advertising company LoopMe has revealed new insights around AI investments in marketing. Research reveals that marketers are spending on average 15% of departmental budget on AI. However, as many as a third (33%) say they are unable to measure the impact of these investments on the business.

Stephen Upstone, CEO of LoopMe said: “AI has significant uptake among brand marketers, as they recognise its application in creativity, ad serving and brand outcomes. For AI to be properly effective it must be attributable, maintain a control and undergo rigorous measurement. Brands should be able to track ROI on their AI investment, as with all their media spend.”

Of those who are able to measure the impact of AI:

• • 31% most valued impact on sales
  • 29% most valued ROI in innovation
  • 21% most valued ROI in advertising
  • only 11% most valued lead generation / cost per lead
  • as few as 7% most valued employee productivity

Seven in ten marketers (71%) are using their AI investment to create and deliver personalised ads. Specifically, nearly 58% see personalising content as the most important benefit of AI. This is compared to one in three who saw serving ads at the right time as most useful.

Marketers are also split on the budget in where AI spend should come from within organisations. The survey found that 40% allocated it to their general marketing budget, whilst 30% favoured the digital budget. A further 16% allocated this spend to their innovation budget, and 5% allocated it to their research budget. Only 10% of those surveyed said they were not investing in AI.

Upstone also added: “Marketers are right to be investing in AI – it is a hugely versatile tool at marketers’ disposal, and should be applied to both content personalisation and delivery of ads. As we move into 2019 brands should look to AI-driven personalization to help them achieve their brand goals, such as increases in sales.”

About the research

LoopMe and Sapio Research received 400 responses (200 US, 200 UK) from marketers working across a range of verticals, including financial, retail, FMCG, automotive and travel.  Companies ranged in size in terms of number of employees: <100 (21%), 100-250 (19%), 250-500 (22%), 500-100 (20%) and 1000+ (18%). The survey represents a range of responses across different levels of management: managers, directors, VP/SVPs and C-suite.

About LoopMe

LoopMe was founded with the mission of closing the loop on brand advertising. Its full-stack tech platform harnesses mobile data, using a powerful combination of attribution, Artificial Intelligence and analytics to deliver outstanding campaign performance against brand outcomes – consideration, purchase intent, foot traffic and sales