The potential of artificial intelligence is far from being fully exploited

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an indispensable part of marketing in 2018: 42 percent of global marketers already use self-learning algorithms in their companies or plan to do so in the next twelve months - whether for data analysis (51 percent), email marketing (26 percent) or programmatic advertising (22 percent). However, the diverse AI potential for a successful customer experience remains largely untapped: Only two percent use AI to realize inspiring customer experiences. This is despite the fact that optimizing the customer experience remains a top priority for global marketers in 2018 (19 percent) - followed by data-driven marketing (16 percent) and the creation of relevant content (14 percent).

This is the result of the current study "Digital Trends 2018"conducted by the market research institute Econsultancy on behalf of Adobe. Around 13,000 marketers were surveyed as part of this global study. According to the marketers surveyed, the main reasons for the insufficient use of AI are the lack of expertise (41 percent) and the lack of resources (38 percent) in the company. And this is unlikely to change anytime soon: Just under one in five companies (18 percent) plan to use AI for campaigns and experiences only in the next three years.

"When the enormous potential of AI is discussed, it is often about highly complex and time-intensive processes and their automation. But AI is also increasingly becoming a decisive factor on the path to the experience business in order to create and successfully play out inspiring customer experiences. Companies must adapt to this if they want to remain relevant and successful. The results of our latest Digital Trends Report show just how difficult they are finding it in practice: to date, most marketers do not know how to use AI to create unique customer experiences because they do not have the right frameworks in place to use AI in a targeted way. Adobe helps customers effectively overcome these hurdles: With us, AI in the form of Adobe Sensei is automatically included in all of our solutions and does not have to be laboriously integrated into an existing infrastructure," said Thomas Meyer, Director Business Development at Adobe.

Fragmented technologies make life difficult for marketers

In addition to the lack of AI, heterogeneous IT systems are currently proving to be a real brake on customer experience: According to the Adobe Digital Trends Report 2018, almost one in two companies (43 percent) is working with different, non-networked technologies. This often results in data islands that deprive individual business units of important customer information that is necessary for holistically consistent customer experiences. By contrast, only 12 percent of marketers surveyed have integrated, cloud-based technology platforms. The impact that integrated marketing cloud platforms can have on business success can be seen in the following result: The top performers among the companies surveyed are three times more likely to have an integrated cloud infrastructure than the average (25 percent vs. 9 percent). The focus of technology investment in 2018 is particularly on tools for content and experience management (45 percent) as well as for analytics (32 percent) and audience data management (31 percent).

In the focus of marketing 2018: data, content and design

For companies, a good customer experience means one thing above all: the smart use of data to deliver the right content to the right customers at the right time. For more than a third of the companies surveyed, however, this is becoming more than difficult: 36 percent still do not have access to relevant customer data. Overall, improving data analytics capabilities is at the top of the agenda for 65 percent of companies. Nevertheless, they already want to produce the content themselves: 82 percent plan to move content creation in-house in 2018. In addition to data-optimized content, it is not least good design that determines brand loyalty and thus the purchase decision of customers. The majority of companies have recognized this: 84 percent of them are firmly convinced that design-oriented companies operate more successfully than others. But here, too, the practice sometimes looks different: 43 percent of marketers feel that their company's design is not consistent across all channels. Almost three quarters (73 percent) are therefore investing in design in 2018 in order to further sharpen the brand presence and set it apart from the competition.

Companies bemoan shortage of skilled workers in the experience age

The necessary 360-degree view of the customer requires, not least, cross-team structures. In this respect, most companies see themselves in an excellent position: According to the Adobe study, around three-quarters (74 percent) are already pursuing a "cross-team approach" in which the customer is at the center of all activities. In particular, 52 percent want to further improve collaboration between the creative and marketing teams in 2018. After all, the best data and structures are of little use at the end of the day if the story isn't right and the message can't reach the customer. This requires consumer insights, i.e. an interpretation of the data collected about the target group. But it also requires a fair amount of creativity to develop concepts and stories that appeal to and touch people. And it is precisely this point that seems to be increasingly lacking: 39 percent of companies complain in the survey that they do not have the right employees they need to create inspiring customer experiences (2017: 33 percent). As a countermeasure, one in four companies (25 percent) have resolved to invest more in the digital skills and training of their employees in 2018.