AI Brings Gains in Customer Service and Social Media Marketing

Research firm Capterra has found that artificial intelligence is already proving impactful in several critical business functions, including customer service and social media marketing.

Capterra’s 2024 Customer Service Technology Survey found that more than half of U.S. businesses (53 percent) now use AI-enhanced customer-service software, such as chatbots and virtual assistants.

According to the data, 61 percent of users say that AI-enabled software has positively impacted customers overall and that the top benefits include faster response times, cost savings, and improved customer satisfaction. Additionally, AI tech has positively impacted productivity, call volume, and staffing levels, the report says.

Given these benefits, customer service professionals predict that AI will manage about half (52 percent) of call center interactions within the next five years, according to the research

“By integrating AI for routine tasks and reserving human agents for complex interactions, businesses can optimize resources, enhance customer satisfaction, build trust, and maintain operational efficiency,” says Laura Burgess, an analyst at Capterra.

Capterra has also predicted that businesses will use generative AI for an average of 48 percent of their social media content by 2026. This is a considerable rise from the current average of 39 percent.

Additionally, Capterra’s GenAI for Social Content Survey found that 73 percent of businesses say their engagement and impressions on social media have increased with genAI, with 22 percent noting a significant increase.

The research found that the top benefits of using genAI for social media marketing include greater efficiency, easier idea generation, increased content production, enhanced creativity, and reduced costs. Despite genAI’s potential, social media marketers also expressed the need for significant oversight to combat blandness and misinformation in AI-generated content.

And while monumental investments in AI by large companies have generated most of the buzz, Capterra also uncovered significant gains and opportunities for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) adopting AI.

Whether AI is used to enhance the experiences of customers, their current workforces, or prospective employees, SMBs are taking note of its potential. According to Capterra’s 2025 Tech Trends Survey, 31 percent of small businesses are prioritizing investments in AI next year. However, it’s equally important that SMBs have a thoughtful strategy for implementation that considers AI’s current limitations and biases, the firm warns. And as businesses enter 2025, there will be growing AI regulations and use cases that will require strategy adaptation, it says.

AI-Generated Ads Are Risky

NIQ research uncovers negative perceptions of genAI advertising.

As generative artificial intelligence continues to push the boundaries of creative industries, consumer intelligence company NielsenIQ (NIQ) found that consumers can identify AI-generated ads and often respond negatively to them.

“Brands and agencies are innovating at a rapid pace, leveraging AI-generated content in their advertising. They need to be cautious, as our study reveals that consumers are quite sensitive to the authenticity of ad creatives, both at the implicit (nonconscious) and explicit (conscious) levels. Brands must prioritize insights-led creative evaluation to produce effective ads,” says Ramon Melgarejo, president of strategic analytics and insights at NIQ.

NIQ’s research found that consumers intuitively identified most AI-generated ads, perceiving them as less engaging and more annoying, boring, and confusing than traditional ads. These sentiments suggest that AI-generated ads can create a negative halo effect that could dampen consumer perceptions of both the ad and the brand.

Additionally, AI-generated ads elicit weaker memory activation in the brain compared to traditional ads, which could impede consumers’ motivation to act, NIQ found.

The research also found that by drawing from pre-existing visual and conceptual representations, AI-generated ads successfully reinforce existing brand associations. But, coupled with the negative halo effect, this benefit could be outweighed by overall negative perceptions, NIQ says.

And low-quality visuals in AI-generated ads increase the cognitive effort required to process them, distracting from the intended message, the research found.

Marta Cyhan-Bowles, chief communications officer and head of global marketing at NIQ, cautions that while AI offers exciting potential for early-stage ideation and brand asset testing, poorly executed AI content can harm brand equity.

At the same time, though, while genAI might not immediately replace traditional ad creation, its capabilities can still enhance creative processes when thoughtfully integrated, she says further.