The news: Social media managers (SMMs) report blind spots in AI’s ability to assist with trendspotting and market analysis, leading to wasted time, loss of employee trust, and delayed campaigns.

• Only 28% trust their current AI tools to accurately surface what’s happening on social media in real time, per a Censuswide survey commissioned by HootSuite.
• Just 39% of social media managers believe their AI uses real-time data.

Why does it matter? Despite AI’s promise to streamline work, it's doing the opposite for many SMMs, who report spending excessive time coaxing proper answers and data out of AI engines.

Nearly half (43%) of social media managers spend 11 or more hours a week using AI tools, taking away time that could be spent on creative and strategic work.

Working through the noise: The amount of time spent on prompt tinkering could even be delaying campaign launches. More than half (59%) of marketing leaders report campaigns are launching after the trend window has closed, per HootSuite.

With trends moving fast, surface-level or outdated data hinders timely and relevant engagement. Without accurate, up-to-the-moment social data, the costs could include:

• Missed trend windows. Campaigns become less relevant and teams lose out on cultural moments that could drive engagement.
• Out-of-touch ads. Content can be outdated—or even insensitive—without timely insights. That can damage brand perception.
• Loss of trust. Repeatedly refining prompts and correcting outputs rather than executing high-impact work undermines confidence in AI initiatives.

Spending ≠ success: With all of these pain points, marketing teams are finding that investment doesn’t always equal impact.

Forty percent of senior marketers say they’ve wasted over 10% of their AI budget on tools that didn’t deliver. This could indicate a mismatch between executive expectations and the realities marketers face in their daily work.

Our take: AI’s current limitations may be widening the gap between insight and action, especially in a landscape where timing is everything.

CMOs should:

• Involve their teams in AI tool selection to ensure real-world fit.
• Regularly evaluate whether applications are actually saving time.
• Provide training on prompt writing and the strengths of various models to cut down on wasted time.

A more realistic view of AI’s abilities and limitations will help marketing teams focus on strategy and creativity, rather than troubleshooting.

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