Marketers are the most enthusiastic adopters of AI tools across go-to-market, with significantly higher rates of weekly and daily AI use compared to sales and operations peers, according to a survey of more than 1,000 GTM professionals.
Those marketing power users are using AI to get work done faster, launch higher-performing campaigns, and drive deeper audience engagement.
But ZoomInfo’s State of AI 2025 report shows that many marketers still face key roadblocks to using AI effectively, including reliable data quality and the push-pull between AI efficiency and human connection.
Digging deeper into the survey’s insights highlights how marketers are using AI today, where it’s working best, and the challenges that could limit further adoption.
Adoption and Usage
A near-supermajority of marketers are adopting AI regularly, with 63% of survey respondents telling us they use AI at least once a week.
Another 15% of marketers are “experimenters,” using AI monthly. Only 22% of marketers in our survey qualified as “skeptics,” using AI only a few times per year at most.
That makes marketers the most enthusiastic AI adopters in GTM, with “power user” rates 37% higher than AI users in sales and 15% higher than RevOps survey respondents.
The gap reflects how quickly core AI use cases like content generation and campaign optimization have gained traction in the industry, and perhaps show that more specialized sales and RevOps use cases are less well-developed by mass market AI tools.
However, the survey also reveals a gap between basic and advanced AI adoption.
While content creation tools dominate, more powerful solutions — such as predictive analytics or data enrichment platforms — remain underused. These capabilities could dramatically enhance segmentation, campaign targeting, and ROI if better integrated into marketing strategies.
The Tools Marketing Teams Use
No surprise here: marketers’ most commonly used AI tools are focused on content creation. From generating copy to producing design assets, AI content tools streamline creative workflows and allow teams to scale output much more quickly than before.
But content creation is just the start. Emerging marketing AI use cases, such as AI-powered audience segmentation, real-time campaign optimization, and predictive performance analytics, still have untapped potential.
Teams that invest in more sophisticated capabilities are seeing clearer, more strategic value from AI. For example, marketing teams using AI for predictive targeting or engagement-based workflows report better alignment between messaging and customer behavior, leading to stronger performance across key metrics.
Impact on Marketing Efforts
Survey respondents report strong gains from adopting AI in marketing, especially in areas that combine automation with customer data analysis:
- Productivity: Marketers are 44% more productive thanks to AI, saving an average of 11 hours per week — time that can be reinvested into more strategic jobs.
- Personalization: AI analysis and message creation is driving better audience engagement. One survey respondent, for example, said AI personalization increased open rates by 30% and conversions by 20%.
These results suggest that marketing teams are using AI not just to work faster, but also to work smarter, with data-backed insights that power more effective campaigns.
AI Challenges in Marketing
Despite these benefits, marketing teams still face unique challenges when it comes to scaling AI:
- Data Quality and Segmentation: For AI to deliver accurate personalization, marketing teams need clean, organized GTM data and strong audience segmentation. Without this foundation, AI outputs can feel generic or miss the mark.
- Maintaining a Human Touch: Marketers worry about authenticity, with 22% noting that AI-generated content often sounds less human, making it harder to build trust with customers.
AI Success Stories in Marketing
Teams that have embraced AI are already seeing outsized returns:
- Simmers Crane Design & Services used AI-driven analytics to automate marketing reports, saving valuable time and reducing manual work. “AI-driven analytics automated marketing reports, eliminating hours of manual work for us,” the company’s chief commercial officer said.
- MajorKey, a security technology company, saw a 40% increase in return on ad spend and cut marketing costs by 15% by implementing predictive analytics.
- Embroker, a business insurance company, used AI to set up engagement-based workflows, leading to better deal closure rates and real-time campaign optimization. “Using AI to set up workflows based on customer engagement to our marketing emails helped us close more deals,” one survey respondent said.
AI as a Strategic Advantage in Marketing
Marketing teams are well positioned to capitalize on the next wave of innovation in AI, whatever form that takes.
What sets them up for the best chances of success? AI fueled by Go-to-Market Intelligence, ensuring the highest-quality B2B data, high-velocity buying signals, and AI-fueled analysis, insights and recommendations.
Want to learn more about AI trends in GTM? Check out the full State of AI in Sales and Marketing 2025 report.