Emplifi: AI Is Boosting Marketing Productivity-But Most Gains Are Still Moderate
Emplifi's "State of Social Media Marketing in 2026" report surveyed 564 B2B and B2C marketers and found a clear signal: AI is helping, just not at full throttle yet. Eighty-two percent say AI tools have improved productivity. Only 35% call the lift significant, while 47% say it's moderate.
The report goes beyond AI and maps where budgets, formats, and team dynamics are heading next year. If you lead a marketing team, these numbers can help you set priorities without adding more noise to your stack.
Where AI Is Heading Next
- Predictive analytics and customer insights: 30% plan to implement.
- Automated content creation: 28% plan to implement.
- AI-driven ad targeting: 26% plan to implement.
Translation: the focus is shifting from "generate more stuff" to "predict, target, and prove impact." If your AI roadmap doesn't include analytics, it's time to rebalance.
What's Slowing Teams Down
- Data privacy concerns: 27%
- Tech integration issues: 23%
- Limited skills: 21%
This is why many teams are seeing only moderate gains. Tool sprawl plus weak connective tissue between systems equals friction. As Emplifi's CMO, Susan Ganeshan, puts it: "Marketers do not need more tools, they need smarter workflows and more agile processes that drive results."
Influencer Spend Is Climbing-Including Virtual Influencers
- 67% plan to increase influencer budgets next year.
- 58% plan to invest in virtual influencers.
Practical move: pilot creators across three tiers (macro, mid, micro) with clear conversion and sentiment metrics. Test a small virtual influencer activation only if you can quantify lift versus traditional creators.
UGC: Everyone Says It Matters, Few Have a System
- 82% say UGC is important to their goals.
- 31% actively encourage or integrate UGC.
- Top hurdles: collecting content and measuring impact.
Close the gap with a simple weekly UGC cadence: prompt, collect, clear rights, tag, measure. Tie UGC to a single north-star KPI per campaign (saves, CTR, or assisted conversions) to prove value fast.
Social Strategy: Short-Form Leads, Outcomes Matter
- 73% will focus on short-form video.
- Top goals: increase engagement, improve brand sentiment and reputation, generate leads and conversions.
Short-form is the format. The differentiator is the system behind it: scripting frameworks, modular editing, and outcome-based reporting. Keep a running "what works" library and reuse proven hooks across channels.
Team Reality: Small Crews, Big Scope, Rising Burnout
- 57% say their social teams have fewer than six people covering content, analytics, community, and paid.
- Burnout: 52% feel it sometimes or very often; another 24% at least occasionally.
- Leadership: 42% say their orgs actively encourage adopting new tech.
Action items: ruthlessly trim low-value tasks, automate reporting, and templatize briefs. Track workload by channel vs. outcomes, then reallocate time to the top two levers per quarter.
Make "Moderate Gains" Material: A 90-Day Plan
- Weeks 1-2: Map one end-to-end workflow (copy, video, or paid) and identify the three highest-friction steps.
- Weeks 3-6: Pilot AI where it reduces cycle time by 30%+ (drafting, repurposing, tagging, QA). Set hard metrics: time saved, quality score, lift in output.
- Weeks 7-10: Layer predictive insights for audience, creative variants, or bidding. Kill what doesn't move KPIs within two sprints.
- Weeks 11-13: Document the workflow, train the team, and roll it to one adjacent channel.
Add guardrails early: privacy policy, review checklist, and a human-in-the-loop for net-new claims or regulated content.
If Skills Are the Bottleneck
Upskilling is cheaper than another tool you won't fully use. Consider focused training built for marketing teams.
Methodology
Emplifi surveyed 564 marketers across B2B and B2C roles via an online platform in September 2025.
About Emplifi
Emplifi is a social media marketing platform that provides data-driven insights and AI-powered tools for brands across marketing, commerce, and care.
Quote from Susan Ganeshan: "Future leaders will use technology to amplify human connectivity rather than replace it." That's the north star. Keep the human, streamline the system.
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