Study: 55% of businesses plan to increase their use of AI for social media

In the ever-evolving space of social media and digital marketing, 55% of APAC businesses see AI as an important part of their social media strategy. This is a notably higher percentage when compared with their global counterparts (44%).

In fact, 55% of marketing and communication professionals across the APAC region are planning to increase their use of AI tools in 2024 with organisations mainly leveraging AI to find inspiration (45%) and create copies (40%).

Don't miss: Study: Content production has increased by 56.7% with the introduction of gen AI

These were the results of social media intelligence firm Meltwater’s ‘State of Social Media 2024’ report which surveyed around 400 professionals in the APAC region to also reveal that 64% of respondents say AI tools help them save time on writing. 36% say it helps improve their copy.

When it comes to the reason companies use social media, 47% of organisations are interested in using social media to achieve its top-of-funnel goal of raising brand awareness with sub-goals of connecting with customers and increasing brand engagement.

As to which platforms marketers are prioritising in 2024, Instagram is still the highest channel of interest by a slim margin (45%), followed closely by TikTok (43%) and LinkedIn (40%).

Interestingly 63% of respondents in APAC countries say they plan to invest less time and therefore fewer advertising dollars on X and Facebook which is notably lower than companies in America and Europe (75%).

Compared to teams globally, teams in APAC are more likely to dedicate the same amount of budget (38%) rather than increase their budget heading into 2024 (35%).

While 58% of companies operate social media entirely in-house, 12% outsource more than half the work with text and picture content production along with video production being the most popular social media efforts being outsourced.

Limitations in execution

With AI becoming more widespread among consumers and marketers alike, content production has increased by 56.7% since the year ChatGPT launched as content generation becomes easier than ever.

The substantial growth is seven times higher than the typical increase in rate of content production which averages at 7% per year, according to digital asset management provider Bynder’s latest study that aims to uncover the impact of gen AI tools on the amount of content created and managed by marketers.

However, Meltwater’s report uncovered that despite the ease of generating social media content with AI, 51% of companies are concerned about employee bandwidth when managing social media and 37% cite not having a defined strategy as the bigger challenge.

Other challenges faced when it comes to social media management include fighting the algorithm, a lack of creative resources in terms of staff and not having a dedicated social media manager to name a few.

In fact, a majority of survey respondents operate in small social media teams of two to five members (50%), highlighting that the increased focus on social media is putting a strain on manpower constraints.

“Social media teams are in an unenviable position of doing a lot more for their organisations this year with limited resources and budget,” said Mimrah Mahmood, vice president Enterprise APAC and partner at Meltwater APAC.

“Brands typically post three to four times each week and the challenge is to consistently create engaging content in a scalable way. AI will continue to be a technology of interest as it augments the capabilities of social media teams,” he added.

Join us on 12 June 2024 for an exciting experience as Content360 makes its debut in Malaysia! Brace yourself to join the crème de la crème of the content marketing industry hailing from across the region. Immerse yourself in a dynamic atmosphere, and uncover the latest trends with thought leaders and solution providers from the realm of content.

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