The HubSpot Blog’s 2024 Instagram Marketing Report [Data from 600+ Instagram Marketers]

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Sometimes, it feels like Instagram looks different every time I open the app—IGVT is long gone, and Reels and Shopping tools are now front and center. 

New Data: Instagram Engagement Report [Free Download]

These shifts align with the trends we saw in our 2024 Social Media Trends survey, but I wanted to dive deeper into Instagram research.

So, I asked another 600+ Instagram marketers in Jan. 2024 about how they’ll approach this changing platform in 2024. Here’s what I found. 

Table of Contents

Top Instagram Marketing Survey Findings

Based on our results, most Instagram marketers are already ahead of the game:

  • 88% say Instagram marketing has been effective for their company this year. 
  • 37% leverage Instagram Shopping tools.
  • 62% post video content on the platform and the content formats they use most are video-based.
  • Image posts have the highest ROI of any content format and get the most comments. 
  • Content that showcases a brand's products/services (demos, teasers, etc.) has the highest ROI of any content type. 
  • The best strategies to grow your following on Instagram are engaging with other users (follows, likes, etc.), partnering with influencers, and posting interactive and engaging Stories. 
  • Instagram marketers will prioritize increasing engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc.) in 2024 and creating content that encourages engagement. 
  • 13% use the app for customer service. 
  • 21% partner with influencers (or creators).

This was a top-level taste of the most important findings I gleaned from the survey. Now, I’ll dive deeper into the benchmarks that will help you see how your brand compares to the competition. 

Instagram Marketing Benchmarks To Know In 2024

1. Over half of branded Instagram accounts have between 100K-750K followers.

3% of our survey respondents have under 10,000 followers, while 11% have between 10K and 100K followers. 

The largest distribution of respondents have between 100K and 450K followers (48%). 

instagram research: how many instagram followers do you have

2. Most engagement comes from likes and comments.

Likes and comments are tied as the main ways followers engage with branded Instagram accounts. 

instagram research: top sources of instagram impressions

Shares take second place, followed by direct messages, which makes sense to me, considering the rise in consumers who seek customer service via DMs on the social channels they already use. 

Overall, marketers say that content that performs exceptionally well/goes viral always has engaging elements, whether simply encouraging discussion, easy shareability, or interactive elements.

Take a look at where the impressions came from on your top posts and look for any patterns you can turn into a consistent strategy to recreate your success.

3. Most accounts have major YoY follower growth.

61% of respondents told us that the follower count of the accounts they manage has increased from 2023 to 2024. Just 10% say follower count has decreased. 

How have follower counts changed on your Instagram channels

This is a change from the last time we ran this survey in 2021 when less than half of business accounts said follower counts increased.

Part of this change can likely be attributed to the rise of social shopping — in the past three months, Instagram is the second most popular app consumers have used to make an in-app purchase. 

Now that we’ve reviewed some benchmarks, I’ll discuss goals and strategies.

Instagram Marketing Strategies

Top Strategies and Goals of Instagram Marketers

Instagram marketers' top goals on the platform in 2024 are increasing engagement (likes, comments, etc.), advertising their products/services, increasing brand awareness/reaching new audiences, and improving customer service/retention. 

primary goals of instagram marketers

Let’s talk about each of these goals in terms of how they relate to Instagram’s changing platform.

1. Increasing Engagement (Likes, Comments, Shares, etc.)

Since increasing engagement is marketers' primary goal, it’s not surprising that the most popular marketing strategy is interacting with audiences (like replying to comments) because that’s exactly how you increase engagement. 

graph displaying the most popular instagram strategies in 2024

It’s also no surprise that the strategy to get the most investment in 2024 is creating content that encourages engagement and that this offers the highest ROI. 

graph displaying instagram strategies with the highest ROI

The Importance of Interacting With Your Audience

There are various ways for you to interact with your audience, from simple reactions to comments and DMs.

However you go about it, I recommend taking the time to engage with your followers to strengthen the bond they have with your brand. But, interaction is a two-way street, so you’ll want to create content that encourages engagement.

2. Advertising Products/Services

Advertising products/services is the #2 goal for 2024, and marketers will accomplish this by creating content that showcases their products/services.

I’ll talk a bit more about high-performing content later, but here’s a sneak peek: content that showcases products and services offers the highest ROI of any content type.

bar graph displaying the content types that have the highest performance on Instagram

3. Increasing Brand Awareness/Reaching New Audiences

Increasing brand awareness is Instagram marketers' third most important goal in 2024. 

My top recommendation for increasing brand awareness is to have a consistent schedule and presence on the platform so you are more likely to be seen.

The data recommends sharing video posts (they get the most reach/impressions) and image posts (which get the most shares).

instagram research

4. Increasing Customer Service on the App 

Fostering meaningful relationships with consumers is one of the biggest benefits of having a brand presence on social media, so it’s no surprise that improving customer service and retention is a top goal for marketers in 2024. 

Sure, customer service might not seem like your job, but since consumers are shopping on social media more than ever, they expect to get service on the platforms they already use to make purchases. 

To strengthen the case for providing customer service on the app, I found that marketers who rate their strategies as very effective are more likely to use Instagram for customer service than those who report the opposite. 

5. Building Relationships and Community with Engaging Content

Marketers want to build relationships and community, and they’ll do it by creating engaging content. And, creating content that encourages engagement is receiving the most investment from marketers in 2024, with 37% planning to invest more in it than any other strategy.

graph displaying instagram strategies with the highest ROI

Going out of your way to connect with those in your digital community, especially when you aren’t trying to sell them anything, can help foster a deep relationship between them and your brand.

6. Gaining Revenue With Instagram Shopping Tools

Instagram Shopping tools are still evolving, but 71% of social media marketers who sell products directly within the app say its social shopping features have high ROI. 

37% of marketers currently use shoppable posts or other Instagram Shops features. A majority say that 25-50% of clicks on shopping/linked posts lead to purchases.

And the same percentage of clicks lead to non-purchase-related conversions (like form submissions), which can help you nurture leads into paying customers. 

shoppable-clicks

What’s more, consumers are using the platform to make purchases; 46% say they’ve made a purchase on Instagram in the past three months, and it has the second-best in-app shopping experience. 

To round it out, marketers using Instagram shopping tools are likelier to say that their Instagram strategy has been very effective this year. 

Featured Resource: To learn more about selling on Instagram, I recommend downloading our 2024 Instagram Engagement Report.

7. Including Calls to Action in Content

We asked Instagram marketers whether asking followers to “like,” “share,” or “save” their content is most effective at triggering the algorithm to promote their content, as these are among some of the top metrics Instagram monitors.

Here are the results:

the most effective CTA type on Instagram

While Instagram marketers rank likes at #1, shares second, and saves last, I can also make a case for viewing it differently. 

To explain why, consider your behavior when on Instagram.

If you’re like me, you probably give out likes mindlessly while scrolling through your feed, but how often are you sharing content to your story or in chats with friends? How often are you saving posts to look at later? Those pieces of content are probably much more carefully selected.

When we share posts on Instagram, we are telling others that we found the content so valuable that we couldn’t help but share it with them - the algorithm picks up on this. Sharing also gets bonus points because it inherently exposes more people to a piece of content.

Similarly, when saving content, we tell the algorithm that we found it so valuable that we want to bookmark it for future reference.

So while all three of these are the most important metrics Instagram tracks, I would prioritize saving, sharing, or even commenting in your call-to-actions ahead of asking for likes.

Strategies Marketers Aren't Using in 2024

Affiliate marketing campaigns, contests/giveaways, and user-generated content are among the least used Instagram strategies, receiving the lowest investments in 2024. 

If you're having difficulty building an effective UGC, affiliate marketing, or giveaway plan, consider alternatives, like partnering with influencers in your niche who can generate authentic content for your brand to establish social proof and spread awareness.

And it will pay off, as marketers told us influencer marketing offered the third-highest ROI. 

While these strategies can still be successful and valuable to some brands, marketers we surveyed say they are not as effective as the other strategies we asked about.

Another strategy receiving lower investments is hashtags, but despite this, I still recommend using them because they help increase brand awareness and reach new audiences. 

Leveraging Hashtags

Hashtags have been around on Instagram since 2011, and they work in terms of increasing brand awareness and reaching new audiences.

However, Hashtags have dropped in popularity, and they’re at the bottom of the list of Instagram strategies marketers plan to invest in in 2024. 

So, here’s the important data I have about using them on Instagram. 

How Many Hashtags Should You Use on Instagram?

Our survey shows that when they use hashtags, a majority of marketers use between 9 and 11 hashtags (19%). Only 3% use between 27 and 30 (30 is the maximum amount).

how many hashtags should you use on Instagram?

And, when you do use them, leverage a mix of niche and general hashtags. For example, a specific hashtag like #Dachshunds and broader ones like #Dogs can help you attract a wider audience. 

Marketers say that hashtags have the most impact on comments and impressions, meaning that they can help increase brand awareness and visibility. 

We’ve gone over goals and strategies; now let's talk about the most effective formats.

Which Instagram formats are most effective?

The most popular formats/features among Instagram marketers are image posts, videos, and Stories. 

most popular formats/features on instagram

Fun Fact: The last time we ran this survey, live video was the most popular format, but it’s now the least leveraged. 

Image Posts

Image posts have the highest ROI, and marketers who use them say they make up most of their content mix (67% of posts are image posts).  Marketers also share image posts multiple times per week.

roi-of-instagram-formats

Video Posts

62% of marketers share video content on Instagram and say 59% of their content mix consists of videos they post multiple times per week. 

Videos get the most likes of any other format.

Instagram Stories

48% of Instagram marketers leverage Instagram Stories, and the feature makes up 43% of their content mix. Out of the most common engagement metrics, Instagram Stories bring in the most DMs. 

Marketers who leverage Stories say they share them multiple times per week (33%) — 14% post multiple times per day. 

how often should you post instagram stories

When you do post them, how long should your Stories be? 75% of marketers say their audience watches 4-9 before dropping off, with only 7% saying their audience watches the entire Story regardless of length. 

We also asked about the ideal number of stories to have up at once — 74% of Instagram marketers say 4-9 stories is best.

Curious about which story types are most engaging? Check out this post.

Instagram Reels

37% of Instagram marketers use Instagram Reels, making up more than a quarter of their content mix. 

The frequency of posting varies, with a majority posting multiple times per week (31%). 25% post Reels once a day.

graph displaying how often to post instagram reels

Reels fall towards the middle of the pack across engagement metrics, but I think the feature provides unique brand opportunities. 

For example, brands and influencers focused on it have seen major benefits to leveraging it. For example, my teammate Caroline Forsey spoke with with Kar Brulhart, who has organically grown her Instagram account from zero to 45,000+ viewers in under ten months using Reels.

She told Caroline about the incredible opportunity Reels presents for Instagram marketers:

 "I went from less than 2,000 followers in February 2020 to over 15,000 the next month through Reels, because Instagram is pushing Reels to new audiences. And 75% of the people who find my account are coming from Reels — compared to Stories and posts."

Considering the popularity of short-form videos and the emphasis Instagram places on Reels, I recommend giving the format a shot. They’re relatively easy to make and can also provide a boost in exposure.

Which types of content perform best on Instagram?

The most popular content types on Instagram are content that showcases a brand's products/services (demos, teasers, etc.), funny content, relatable and authentic content, and content that reflects a brand’s values (like social responsibility). 

When it comes to ROI, the top three remain the same, but behind-the-scenes content (like meet-the-team videos) takes fourth place.

content-with-high-performance-1

Content Centered Around A Brand’s Products/Services

49% of our survey respondents share content centered around a brand’s products/services and say it has the highest ROI. 

I’m not surprised: marketers' #2 goal in 2024 is advertising their products and services, and, well, they act on that goal by sharing content centered around their products/services.

Funny Content

Funny content has the second-highest performance on the app, and it’s most popular among B2C and D2C businesses.

Also no surprise there, as consumers say funny content is the most memorable type of content brands can post on social media. 

B2B-vs-B2C

Relatable Content

Relatable content offers the third-highest ROI, likely because of consumer preference. Audiences care more that the content they see is authentic and relatable than having a high production value.

Content That Reflects Brand Values

Content that reflects brand values is the most popular content type in our social media trends survey this year, and 35% of Instagram marketers use it. 

53% of social media marketers plan to increase their investment in this content type this year and say it offers the second-highest ROI of all content types. 

Behind-the-Scenes Content and Interactive Content

29% and 28% (respectively) of Instagram marketers share behind-the-scenes and interactive content, and usage of both is growing in 2024. 

While knowing what type of content to post on Instagram is helpful, it’s only part of the equation. An optimized Instagram marketing strategy also includes the ideal days and times to post based on what brings in the most engagement.

In fact, just 9% of our survey respondents told us that this kind of optimization has no noticeable impact on performance. 

According to marketers, the best day to post is Friday between 6-9PM. Sundays also bring in high performance, and you’ll find success between 12-3PM and 6-9PM on most other days.

ROI of Instagram Marketing

How do marketers look at the overall ROI of their presence on Instagram? 

I asked marketers about what they look at to determine overall ROI, and the most important metric is revenue/sales of products within the Instagram app. That’s followed by the amount of leads and conversions driven from Instagram. 

Regardless of the metrics you prefer, your followers are the true drivers of your success on the app. Let’s go over the top strategies for growing your following on Instagram.

Instagram Audience Growth Benchmarks

How Brands Grow Instagram Audiences

The best strategies for growing your following on Instagram are engaging with other users, partnering with influencers, and posting interactive and engaging Instagram Stories. 

most effective strategies for growing your Instagram following

Partnering with brands/accounts with similar audiences is #4, and it’s a growth driver because you gain exposure to audiences who might not yet know about you but are likely interested in your content. 

Another powerful growth strategy is diversifying your content to resonate with a wider audience. You’ll also want to study your audience for trends and create targeted content to attract others with similar interests. 

Those are the best strategies for growing your following, but I also asked marketers what methods to use to reach your first thousand followers, and the results show key differences.

How To Get Your First 1,000 Instagram Followers

Earning your first 1,000 followers on Instagram is a massive milestone, and 78% of Instagram marketers I surveyed have been part of growing an account to 1K followers.

According to them, setting a regular posting schedule, customizing your profile, and writing engaging shareable captions are key to reaching your first 1K followers. 

strategies brands used to get their first 1000 followers

Remember that the formats most effective at getting shares are image posts, video posts, and Reels. 

How long does it take to reach 1,000 followers on Instagram?

Most marketers say it takes 4-6 months to reach 1K followers on Instagram. Only 17% reached that in under a month, and just 1% took over a year.

But just as you gain followers, it’s also possible to lose them. Let’s take a look at what has caused Instagram marketers to lose followers, so you can avoid those mistakes.

What causes Instagram marketers to lose followers?

Not posting enough and being too “sales-y” are the top culprits when losing followers. Nearly a quarter of respondents report losing followers from not using a consistent aesthetic/voice and Instagram removing bot followers. 

Lastly, using “banned” hashtags can result in your posts being hidden. You can check if a hashtag is banned by searching it on Instagram and looking at the top or most recent posts -- if those sections come up empty, it’s likely banned.

what strategies cause you to lose followers on Instagram?

Next, let’s take a look at whether Instagram marketers are leveraging organic or paid media on the platform, and which performs better.

Organic vs. Paid Instagram Content

Most marketers (46%) use organic content over paid (16%) content, and 38% use both. 

organic vs. paid engagement

Those who use a mix of both say organic content is more effective for reaching business goals and gaining followers. 

Instagram Marketing Challenges

We have an entire article about Instagram marketers' challenges, but I’ll give you a sneak peek at that data here. 

Survey respondents told us that the greatest challenges with Instagram marketing are driving traffic to their site, driving purchases/revenue, and increasing brand awareness/reaching new audiences. 

If these resonate, take a look at this piece to see how to overcome them.

Setting Effective and Ineffective Instagram Marketers Apart

I asked marketers whether their Instagram marketing strategies have been effective or ineffective this year and cut the data by the two separate groups and strategies they use. Here are some of the biggest differentiators:

what sets effective and ineffective strategies apart on instagram

As we end this post, here are a few themes we've picked up from the chart above and the overall results of our survey:

  • Video is key: Instagram is constantly evolving to welcome more and more video formats. While you don't need to create a large live video event, consider starting small with Reels as it is being favored by consumers and the Instagram algorithm. But, don’t forget about the original Instagram content format: Images.
  • Engage constantly: Whether you're responding to their comments, exchanging DMs, or creating content that sparks a conversation – it's important to ensure that your Instagram strategy caters to your audience and meets them where they are.
  • Social Shopping is the future: Shopping on social media is the future of e-commerce, and Instagram is a great place to do it. With a handful of shopping tools to choose from, there is no better time to get started.
  • Use Instagram for customer service: Using Instagram for customer service is a quick and convenient way to answer customers’ most pressing questions, and marketers who use it see high ROI.

More of Our Instagram Marketing Research

Check out these posts for a deeper dive as well as tips and tricks related to our Instagram marketing data.

Interested in learning even more about Instagram marketing and engagement from some of our expert partner brands? Be sure to download the free resource below.

What Jobs Will AI Replace & Which Are Safe in 2024 [+ Data]

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Is AI taking over jobs in 2024?

Get Started with HubSpot's AI Campaign Assistant

A quarter of workers are worried it is.

There’s even a website called “Will Robots Take My Job?” where you can input a job title and see the likelihood of AI taking it over. I’ll admit that I’m even affected by this fear, checking the website more often than I’d like to admit.

The site is interesting to explore, but it’s important to understand the facts. So, I took a deep dive into the site to see what jobs have staying power and which don’t.

In this post, I’ll discuss the impact it’s already had, a list of jobs that AI can and cannot replace, and expert advice on how to future-proof your career and come out on top.

Table of Contents

Artificial intelligence disruption is already happening.

AI once posed the most significant disruption to assembly lines. The recent AI boom has changed that, as advancements have introduced AI to many different industries and businesses, and more and more workers leverage it to do their jobs.

For example, salespeople are using AI to analyze sales calls faster, bloggers and content creators are already using AI to streamline the writing process, and customer support reps are bringing customers faster solutions.

Salespeople are now using AI to analyze sales calls faster, marketers and digital creators are creating multi-channel content at greater speed, and customer support reps are bringing customers faster solutions.

Such functions lead to greater ROI for businesses, and this is shooting the AI optimism off the roof according to our 2023 State of AI report.

woman with sign that says only ask questions if you have already tried with chatgpt

Image Source

However, as advancements continue, will the disruption become so great that the workforce will find themselves asking, will ChatGPT replace me?

HubSpot Co-Founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah has a positive outlook on the future of AI. In fact, he thinks bots and AI will make us better at our jobs and more secure in our careers, not the other way around.

Samyutha Reddy, Jasper’s head of enterprise marketing, thinks similarly. Her teams regularly use generative AI, but she’s still actively hiring because AI can’t replace the human experience.

“We value writers in our society because they‘re able to give us a thought-provoking human perspective on the world…it’s about humans sharing opinions on very real topics that help build your perspective on how you feel about something. So an AI could really never replace that human perspective,” she says.

Despite the expert opinions of Shah and Reddy, you might still be anxious about where your career stands. I sometimes find myself lying in bed, scrolling through Reddit threads about the robot uprising. So, I put my mind at ease by turning to data.

Based on current data and the website Will Robots Take My Job?, I’ll explore what jobs AI can replace highlighting ten positions with a higher likelihood. I’ll also explore which jobs are safe from AI, highlighting ten job roles least likely to be replaced by this technology.

What jobs can AI replace?

Once in the past, concerns over machines replacing human jobs rose with the automation of physical tasks common in factories and warehouses. Now, the same is happening with AI and the fear of it replacing human intelligence in the workplace.

“Think about your position and what your position will transform to in the next 12 to 24 months. Whether you like it or not, this is happening, and it is going to happen so fast that it will change the fabric of our society. If you haven't already done so, search for whatever your title or your position is and look at all the [AI] tools that exist within that,” Duran Inci, CEO at Optimum7 says.

Before ChatGPT exploded in 2022 and unleashed the capabilities of AI to the average user, AI had already been making inroads in the sector. Business leaders were already hiring AI specialists, devising ways to use the technology to 10x their productivity, according to a report by PwC.

Between 2012 and 2023, jobs with AI-specific skill requirements increased sevenfold. In contrast, regular jobs only doubled within the same timeframe. But while the demand for professionals with technical AI skills may be on the rise, traditional jobs with high exposure to AI may be left on the back burner.

And from a Pew Research Center study, one in five Americans work a job with “high exposure” to (this exposure is measured by how much of the job’s most important activities can be performed or supported by AI).

Job roles that involve work activities like “getting information, processing information, analyzing data and information, thinking creatively, evaluating information to determine compliance with standards, making decisions or solving problems, performing for or working directly with the public, and more” fall under that category.

And these are the jobs that AI can replace. Not entirely, but to a significant extent affecting 30% of current worked hours by 2030.

“I would say 40% to 50% of creative and generic positions are already 80% there, and you will lose millions of dollars in the next 10 to 20 years if you don’t already have the plus version of ChatGPT and if you don't already use it,” Inci continues.

What this means is that the greater the level of AI exposure a job has, the greater the risk of replacement.

Here are some examples.

1. Telemarketers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 99%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 100%

Why: You probably already receive robocalls on behalf of various products and services, and career growth in the telemarketing space is expected to decline by 18.2% by the year 2032. This is largely because of the requirements to be successful. Unlike other roles, these jobs often require repetitive and predictable tasks that can easily be automated.

However, successful human telemarketers have a level of social perceptiveness and emotional awareness that machines can never replicate.

2. Bookkeeping Clerks

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 99%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 100%

Why: Jobs in this role are expected to decline 4.5% by 2032, and it‘s no surprise why — most bookkeeping is becoming automated if it hasn’t been already. QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Microsoft Office already offer software that does the bookkeeping for you, so it's no surprise this job has such a high probability.

3. Compensation and Benefits Managers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 96%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 41%

Why: As companies grow, especially across multinational markets, a human and paper-based system can present more hurdles, time delays, and costs. That’s why there is a 64% chance of full automation within the next two decades.

Automated benefits systems can save time and effort by providing benefits to large numbers of employees, and companies like Ultipro and Workday are already being widely adopted.

4. Receptionists

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 96%%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 93%

Why: Pam predicted this back on The Office, but in case you‘re not a fan, she said automated phone and scheduling systems can replace a lot of the traditional receptionist role — especially at modern technology companies that don’t have office-wide phone systems or multinational corporations.

But, receptionists develop relationships in the office that give them a unique advantage in providing customized support compared to an algorithmic system.

5. Couriers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 94%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 95%

Why: Couriers and delivery people are already being replaced by drones and robots, so it’s only a matter of time until this space is dominated by automation altogether.

6. Proofreaders

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 84%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 100%

Why: Only a few jobs have a 100% risk level and this is unfortunately one of them. Proofreading software is everywhere. From Microsoft Word’s simple spelling and grammar check to Grammarly and Hemingway App, there are a lot of technologies out there that make it easy to self-check your writing.

On the other hand, the relationship a proofreader develops with a client gives them an understanding of the intention behind a writer's work and the contextual knowledge needed to successfully complete a project.

7. Computer Support Specialists

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 65%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 52%

Why: The field is projected to grow by 6.2% by 2032. But with so much content on the internet with instructions, step-by-step guides, and hacks out there, it’s no surprise companies will rely more heavily on bots and automation to answer support questions from employees and customers in the future.

8. Market Research Analysts

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 61%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 40%

Why: Market research analysts play an incredibly important role in developing messaging, content, and products, but automated AI and surveys can compile this information more and more efficiently.

While automated research tools can have a leg up in scale, speed, and accuracy, a human researcher has hands-on knowledge and personal experience that an algorithm can’t develop. Human researchers that leverage automation tools can create a more effective process.

9. Advertising Salespeople

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 54%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 52%

Why: As advertising shifts away from print and TV and towards web and social media landscapes, people simply aren't needed to manage those sales for marketers who want to buy ad space.

Social media platforms make it easy for people to buy space through free application program interfaces (APIs) and self-serve ad marketplace, removing the salesperson and making it faster and easier for users to run their ads.

Even the ads themselves are leaning more and more in artificial intelligence. When looking at actors or voice actors, we're also seeing a trend of companies using AI voices for advertisements like commercials.

10. Retail Salespeople

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 92%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 66%

Why: Companies are democratizing the shopping experience with features like self-checkout, and the modern buyer is much more internet-savvy and more likely to do internet research and make a buying decision on their own.

On the other hand, the care a retail salesperson brings during a 1:1 interaction differs from automated and unemotional support, and many consumers prefer to interact with humans during the support process.

10 Jobs AI Can Replace

What jobs are safe from AI?

Although data suggests generative AI could expose over 300 million full-time jobs across the US and Europe to automation, certain roles remain largely immune to this. Going by the exposure scale, these jobs have medium to low exposure to AI.

This is because their most important work activities range from:

  • Training and teaching others
  • Performing general physical activities
  • Repairing and maintaining equipment
  • Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships
  • Resolving conflicts and negotiating with others
  • Developing and building teams
  • Selling or influencing others
  • Judging the qualities of objects, services, or people 
... and so much more.

What these activities revolve around are uniquely human traits like emotional intelligence, contextual creativity, discernment and manual labor that AI cannot replicate yet. This is also echoed by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) top 10 work skills of 2025, some of which include:

  • Analytical thinking and innovation.
  • Critical thinking and analysis.
  • Creativity, originality, and initiative.
  • Leadership and social influence.
  • Complex problem-solving.

And this is true for business leaders and their hiring practices. At GuerrillaBuzz, Co-Founder Yuval Halevi, says they rely mainly on human creativity to drive their marketing efforts. “We apply AI mainly to repetitive and time-consuming tasks, removing the monotony and freeing up time for more creative work.”

In the words of Ian Shine at the WEF, these jobs are safe because “one of the human brain’s biggest advantages over AI is the fact that it is attached to a real human body.”

Without further ado, here are some jobs that are safe from AI.

1. Human Resources Managers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 0.55%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 14%

Why not: It’s kind of in the name — but your company’s Human Resources department will likely always need a human at the helm to manage interpersonal conflict with the help of non-cognitive and reasoning skills. Problem solving, contextual understanding, and unique business knowledge also make a human better equipped for this job.

The field is projected to grow 7.3% by 2032 as companies scale and need more robust structures for supporting and helping employees.

2. Sales Managers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 1.3%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 30%

Why not: Sales managers need high emotional intelligence to hit their monthly quotas, network and collaborate with customers, and motivate and encourage the larger sales team. Managers also have to analyze data and interpret trends. The high levels of intelligence required and the constant need to adapt to new situations make this role safe from automation.

3. Marketing Managers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 1.4%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 18%

Why not: Marketing managers have to interpret data, monitor trends, oversee campaigns, and create content. They also have to nimbly adapt and respond to changes and feedback from the rest of the company and customers, making this another human-forward career AI isn't quite ready to replicate.

A unique contextual understanding and previous business experience make a human stand out from an automated system.

4. Public Relations Managers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 3.7%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 8%

Why not: Successful public relations (PR) managers rely on a network of relationships and contacts to procure press placements and buzz for the companies they represent, making this another completely safe role.

PR managers who have to raise awareness around an issue or mission need a particularly human touch to raise funds or get people to participate in a campaign, too — and jobs are expected to grow 7.6% by 2032.

Most importantly, PR managers are often on the go, attending events and being on hand to provide support if need be — a computer will never be able to do this.

5. Chief Executives

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 1.5%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 0%

Why not: It‘s nearly impossible to automate leadership — after all, it’s hard enough to teach it. Chief executives must inform broad strategy, represent companies' missions and objectives, and motivate huge teams of people working for them. Executives also have years of prior experience that make them successful.

Companies may answer to stakeholders and boards of directors, who likely wouldn't want a robot giving them an earnings report, either.

6. Event Planners

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 3.7%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 8%

Why not: Event planning is a growing field, and if you ask anyone on our events team here at HubSpot, whether you're planning an event for employees, customers, or an industry event with tens of thousands of attendees, the planning process has many, many moving parts involved.

Planners have to coordinate and negotiate with vendors, contractors, and freelancers to make things come together, and the organizational and people skills involved will make this another near-impossible role to automate.

Planners also attend events, ready to step in and troubleshoot on the spot. An automated tool simply couldn’t be present.

7. Writers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 3.8%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 49%

The large score difference is likely due to developments and advancements in language models post-2013 that can write entire blog posts or social media content.

Why not: Writers have to ideate, create, and produce original written material, something that AI writing tools have not yet been able to replicate in the same way as humans (see recent BuzzFeed controversy about AI-generated travel articles).

There are also many types of writers, some of which might be more at risk. An experienced journalist will likely be favored over AI, but a freelance copywriter may no longer be needed by a business that now uses AI to write Instagram captions.

8. Software Developers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 4.2%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 39%

The large score difference is likely because of new back-end tools that help web developers write entirely new code, fill in gaps, and debug.

Why not: Software engineering and development is complex enough for human beings, and the time and skill investment needed to create applications, software, and websites will be tough to replicate — especially since developers need to execute perfectly to create great products for customers.

The field is expected to grow by 30.3% by 2032, so if you‘re a software developer, you’re sitting pretty for now.

what jobs will ai replace, coding

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9. Editors

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 5.5%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 45%

Why not: While the automated proofreading technology mentioned previously can take a load off, editors have to review writers' submission for clarity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, and originality.

Some software can spot-check for clarity and scan for plagiarism, but the editor role must be carried out by a human in order to read work as another human would.

Today, 86.33% of marketers who use AI, for example, always make edits to the content that AI produces, according to our State of AI in Marketing survey.

10. Graphic Designers

Future of Employment Study Likelihood: 8.2%

Will Robots Take My Job? Likelihood: 34%

Why not: Image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E make it easy for people to create what they want, but graphic design is an artistic and technical field best suited for someone with fine arts training and experience. Like writing, graphic design work must be original and tailored to a unique use case.

If a graphic designer is working with a business, it also requires building a relationship between both parties throughout the design process. Plus, some image creators have been found to plagiarize artists' work — a lawsuit is likely the last thing people want.

10 Jobs AI Can’t Replace

Navigating Artificial Intelligence

Kate O'Neill, the author of Tech Humanist and founder of KO Insights, explains that jobs that require emotional intelligence will be safer in the immediate future:

“This is going to be a continuously moving target, but for the time being, what AI can't do well is use emotional intelligence, understand situational context, make judgment calls, and generally see nuance and meaning like we do.”

“That means any kind of job that benefits from these kinds of human attributes is better off done by a human. A computer or robot may assist you in performing efficiently, but for now, you're the one who adds the expertise on how to perform appropriately,” she adds.

This is echoed by Halevi, who says, "Having knowledge that's beyond the obvious is crucial. AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can sometimes provide inaccurate or misleading information."

"Without a deep understanding of your specific area, you might be misled or produce subpar work. Expertise ensures you can critically evaluate AI outputs and maintain high-quality standards."

Even for jobs that are more likely to be impacted, there are always reasons why a human with real-life experience and expertise is a better fit. The best way to navigate the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence is to stay informed and adaptable.

How to Future-Proof Your Career

Between January and May 2023, 417,500 jobs were cut. However, only 3,900 were reportedly because of artificial intelligence — less than 1%. Still, regardless of what happens, you might be wondering how to future-proof your career. The answer? Re-skilling.

On a Marketing Against The Grain Episode, Kipp Bondar, HubSpot’s chief marketing officer, says, “As I think about the evolution of AI, I think about one of the things that’s going to go part and parcel with it is the need to be amazing at re-skilling our workforce all around the world.” (Listen to the full episode here).

Re-skilling doesn’t mean preparing for the worst. Most jobs expect employees to engage in some sort of professional development, so this might be routine for you.

For example, you could explore different AI tools and how to leverage them in your day-to-day role. HubSpot’s AI tools, for instance, give you access to a suite of AI tools that could perform functions like content creation, data analysis, and even build a chatbot.

hubspot ai tools

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Or you could take a course to learn a new skill. As Shah said above, AI’s most significant impact will likely be helping us be more effective in our careers.

But, if your job is impacted, having taken the time to re-skill leaves you more prepared for future opportunities where you present yourself as a multifaceted candidate.

Learning from others is another great way to stay on top of the changing AI landscape and learn new skills. HubSpot has spoken to experts that have leaned into AI and incorporated it into their processes, and their insight is a valuable way to get ideas for re-skilling.

Here are some helpful resources:

Your experience is your greatest asset.

All technological revolutions impact how people work, and AI will simply follow this pattern, having the most impact on rote and mundane tasks to save us time.

No matter what happens, your experience is your greatest asset in the face of a changing landscape. To stay up to date on AI and the trends, HubSpot’s State of AI pillar houses all the information you need.

AI Email Marketing: How to Use It Effectively [Research + Tools]

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Email marketing is integral to any marketing strategy because it’s a great way to generate leads and convert audiences.

Download Now: The Annual State of Artificial Intelligence in 2024 [Free Report]

Whether you’re creating your first strategy or looking to modify your process, AI email marketing tools can help you save time, optimize your strategy, and meet your email goals.

In this piece, I’ll go over how AI email marketing tools work, new data about how marketers currently use AI for email marketing, and a list of tools you can leverage in your role.

Table of Contents

What is AI email marketing?

AI email marketing is a machine-learning-powered process that helps marketers create email campaigns that reach the right audiences at the right time with the right messages.

AI email marketing tools use data (like your historical performance data) to help you optimize your email strategy, automation to help you save time on repetitive tasks (like triggering an email workflow), and generative AI to help you create email content.

When using AI in email marketing, you can do things like:

  • Analyze past email performance to identify how to optimize your email strategies, like the best time to send your emails or the subject lines that get the most clicks.
  • Compile email analytics so you understand the health of your campaigns.
  • Trigger email workflows after people take a specific action.
  • Clean up your email lists to improve deliverability.
  • Write compelling copy that speaks to your audience.
  • Personalize email content to specific audience segments.

Some tools have one specific function, like a generative AI email tool, while others offer multiple features.

Why should you use AI in email marketing?

I've found that the most significant benefit of using AI in email marketing is that it saves time while improving performance. The routine processes you spend time on can happen instantly, and you can launch your optimized campaigns faster.

Most AI email marketing tools are also powered by machine learning, meaning that they use data points (from your business and sometimes your industry) to help you optimize your email strategy.

You won’t be left to guess what works best because the AI can look at your past emails, and you can benchmark your performance against competitors to see where you can improve.

If you’re interested in learning more about the impact of AI on marketing, check out this Marketing Against The Grain episode about marketing opportunities that AI unlocks for business.

Marketing Against the Grain

Click here to listen to the full episode.

What are the challenges with AI in email marketing?

Of course, using AI in email marketing is not without its challenges. AI tools are still relatively new in terms of technology, so they’re not perfect.

Here are a few challenges marketers face when using AI in email marketing and how they solve those issues.

Tone

Anyone who’s asked ChatGPT to write an email for them knows the first output will usually sound formal. Tone is undoubtedly the biggest challenge marketers face when using generative AI for email marketing.

Most AI tools need to be trained to match your brand’s voice and tone, and even then, you’ll probably still need to edit it to sound exactly how you want.

Meg O'Neill, co-founder of Intuitive Marketing Collective, gets around this challenge by using clear and specific prompts.

“I want [my emails] to sound like I’m talking to a friend,” says O’Neill. “I’ve added this requirement to my prompt, and it’s helped a lot. Sometimes, I’ll give [the AI tool] the name of a famous business person and ask it to write in a similar tone.”

Quality

Whether you use AI to write the body copy of your email, generate subject line ideas, or outline an email funnel structure, the quality of the overall content isn’t going to be perfect the first time around.

“The quality is not always there,” says Jeanne Jennings, Founder and Chief Strategist for Email Optimization Shop, an email marketing consultancy.

To overcome this challenge, Jennings takes a collaborative approach by “micro-managing the AI tool at each stage to get the quality content I need. Without my collaborative approach, the output is usually junk,” she states.

Data Accuracy

Ben Schreiber, Head of ecommerce at Latico Leathers, says the biggest challenge he’s faced using AI in email marketing is data accuracy and integration.

“Good quality data is paramount to the success of using AI systems since any inaccuracies may lead to wrong output results,” says Schreiber.

“We have had issues with outdated or incomplete data, which directly affects how well or poorly our campaigns perform.”

How Marketers Are Using AI in Email Marketing [New Research]

Our State of AI in Marketing report surveyed 1,062 U.S. marketing and advertising professionals about how they’re currently using AI.

For starters, AI usage for marketing has increased significantly since 2023.

74% of marketers who responded to the survey said they use at least one AI marketing tool.

While chatbots are the most popular marketing tool used by marketers, 25% of marketers use AI through existing CRM and marketing tools with AI-enhanced features.

Here are a few specific ways marketers are using AI for email marketing.

Content Creation

By far, the most common use case for AI tools among marketers is content creation. Of respondents who report using AI, 43% say they use it for content creation.

Of respondents who report using AI, 43% say they use it for content creation.

While marketers use AI for everything from creating images to creating outlines, the most popular type of content to create is written content.

There’s no denying AI’s ability to generate text — both long-form and short-form — in an instant, making it a great tool for email campaigns.

In fact, 47% of marketers use AI to create email marketing content such as newsletters or campaigns.

Testing

From subject lines to body copy to design elements, testing is essential to increase engagement and ultimately improve your email marketing performance.

Of marketers, 27% say they use AI tools for brainstorming, and it’s safe to say testing email content falls into that category.

Not sure how to use AI for experimenting or brainstorming?

“Ask AI to provide you with specific testing ideas so you always have a fantastic list to choose from to continue improving your email performance,” recommends email marketer Bethany Fiocchi Root, CEO and founder of Oceanview Marketing.

Data Collection

Email marketing relies on data, but data collection can be a time-consuming process for busy marketers. That’s where AI comes in.

Not only can AI tools help automate data collection — decreasing time spent on these tasks significantly — they can be more precise with the information.

A majority of marketers (including those who don’t currently use AI) agree that AI can help their organizations share data more effectively.

From a leadership standpoint, 39% of marketing directors agree that AI and automation tools help employees make data-driven decisions.

And the more data you have, the more you can personalize your email marketing.

In fact, 69% of marketers agree that AI tools can help them personalize the experience their customers get.

Automation

Finally, marketers use generative AI to automate their processes. With AI, everything from scheduling email campaigns to email data entry is taken care of.

Of the marketers surveyed, 75% say using AI for automation helps them reduce time spent on manual tasks and more time on critical or creative tasks.

In other words, AI helps them focus on the aspects of the job they enjoy rather than on administrative tasks.

15 AI Email Marketing Tools

1. HubSpot AI Tools

ai email marketing tools: HubSpot

Click here to learn more about HubSpot AI tools.

HubSpot has multiple email marketing tools and features to leverage to drive clicks and conversions.

AI Features

  • Email Marketing Software that helps you easily create email workflows and triggers to reach your target audiences with the right messages at all stages of their journey.
  • Inbox automation tool that scans your emails and recommends tasks based on email content and can auto-populate contact properties (like name and phone number) from every first-time email to create a customer profile.
  • Content assistant uses generative AI to help you write high-quality email content, and you can ask ChatSpot to quickly write things like professional follow-up emails or thank you notes to prospects.

Price: Free tools are available. Starter plans cost $20 per month. Professional plans cost $890 per month. Enterprise plans cost $3,600 per month.

2. Mailchimp

ai for email marketing: Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s email automation software helps ecommerce businesses create automated email workflows that reach audiences at the best possible time.

AI Features

  • Its Content Optimizer compares your email data to industry benchmarks to give you recommendations for optimizing your campaigns and email content.
  • You can choose from different versions of AI-generated content that match your intent and brand tone.
  • Its Creative Assistant leverages your brand assets to create unique email designs you can personalize to different contacts.

Price: Free forever plans are available. Essential plans cost $13 per month. Standard plans cost $20 per month. Premium plans cost $350 per month.

3. Sendgrid

ai email marketing tools: Sendgrid

Sendgrid helps you create an automated email marketing process with custom workflows and triggers.

AI Features

  • Its real-time API scans your email lists and removes junk or undeliverable email addresses to lower your bounce rate and ensure you reach more people.
  • Get data-driven insights and recommendations for improvement based on your historical metrics and email performance.
  • AI paces your email send and monitors your reputation with ISPs.

Price: Free trials are available. Basic plans cost $15 per month. Advanced plans cost $60 per month.

4. Phrasee

ai email marketing tools: Phrasee

Phrasee uses AI to help you create effective email campaigns and content to share with your audience.

AI Features

  • Its deep learning model and language insights leverage your historical data to tell you what works best with your audience and what inspires clicks for an optimized campaign.
  • The Magic Button helps you generate email content (like subject lines or in-email CTAs) that will resonate with your audience.
  • It always uses your custom guidelines and messaging to ensure everything you create is on-brand.

Price: Contact for pricing.

5. Drift

ai for email marketing Drift

Drift offers an AI-powered inbox management tool that helps you clean up your email lists and improve deliverability.

AI Features

  • Its Email Bots leverage machine learning to interpret emails and help you reply with engaging, conversational emails that inspire responses.
  • AI can qualify a lead as ready for sales and automatically introduce the prospect to the right salesperson for seamless marketing to sales handoff.
  • Use different Email Bots for your unique business need, like the follow-up email bot, abandoned chat email bot, and webinar email bot.

Price: $2,500 per month.

6. GetResponse

ai email marketing tools: GetResponse

Use Get Response to design behavior-based email workflows to engage with audiences at key moments with content personalized to their needs.

AI Features

  • Share keywords or phrases, email goals, and tone with the GPT-powered email generator that leverages industry data to produce emails most likely to increase your conversions.
  • Display different images, text, or AI-driven product recommendations in each email.
  • The AI subject line generator helps you test subject lines and learn what stands out in your subscribers’ inboxes.

Price: A free 30-day trial is available; paid plans start at $19 per month.

7. Levity

ai email marketing tools Levity

Levity’s software helps you manage your inbox, understand your email health, and save time.

AI Features

  • Build an AI tool unique to your business by uploading your data that it will learn from and use to make human-level decisions.
  • Create different AI blocks for every email workflow you want to run (like a workflow for responding to emails).
  • Share unique categorization criteria with your AI to automatically sort emails as soon as you receive them.

Price: A 30-day free trial is available. Startup plans cost $49 per month. Business plans cost $139 per month.

8. Superhuman

ai for email marketing: Superhuman

Superhuman is an AI-powered inbox management tool that helps you streamline your processes. Best for teams that use Gmail or Outlook.

AI Features

  • Immediately sort incoming emails into a split inbox based on your custom rules so you can sort spam from genuine humans and focus on what needs attention.
  • Use its Snippets tool to create pre-built templates for phrases, paragraphs, or entire emails that you can quickly add to emails to automate responses.
  • Set reminders for email tasks, like following up on unanswered emails or a reminder to respond to a message you snoozed for later.

Price: Starter plans cost $30 per month. Growth plans cost $45 per month. Enterprise pricing is available.

Most of the tools listed above have multiple AI features, like email writing help to automated inbox sorting. Below, we’ll go over AI email marketing tools that only offer generative features.

9. Hive

ai email marketing tools Hive

Hive offers an easy-to-use and time-saving tool for your email marketing. Simply share a brief prompt of what you’re looking for with its Notes AI, and it’ll help you generate a perfect response.

Price: There is a free forever plan. Teams plans cost $12 per user a month. Enterprise pricing is available.

10. ChatGPT

ai email marketing tools ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a generative AI tool that you can use to write your marketing emails, and all you have to do is enter a descriptive prompt into the chat. It’s a conversational tool, so you can ask it to rewrite the email until you’re satisfied.

Price: There is a free research preview. ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month.

11. Zapier

ai email marketing tools Zapier

Zapier runs on Zaps, automated workflows you can customize to your needs. You can create an email-based Zap to generate email copy with an API key from OpenAI.

Whenever you receive an email matching your Zaps rules, it’ll prompt GPT-3 to write an appropriate response.

Price: A free forever plan is available. Professional plans cost $19.99 per month. Team plans cost $69 per month. Contact Zapier for Enterprise pricing.

12. Copy.ai

ai for email marketing copy ai

Copy.ai is an email copywriting tool you can use to create high-converting emails. It can write email content for you, suggest subject lines, and help you stay on track with suggestions to improve email quality.

Price: A free forever plan is available. Starter plans cost $36 per month. Advanced plans cost $186 per month. Enterprise pricing is available.

13. Compose.ai

ai for email marketing: compose.ai

Compose.ai is powered by GPT-3 and helps you write personalized and on-brand emails.

Its autocomplete feature suggests how you can finish what you’re writing, and its suggestions and generations are always tone- and brand-relevant because it learns your unique brand voice.

It’s an always-free Chrome extension, so you can easily use it on your favorite sites.

Price: A free forever plan is available. Premium plans cost $9.99 per month. Ultimate plans cost $29.99 per month. Enterprise pricing is available.

14. Grammarly

ai email marketing tools: grammarly

Grammarly’s machine-learning copy-editing tool recognizes in-text errors and suggests how to fix them. I use this feature all the time to assist in my content writing.

GrammarlyGo extracts the context from short prompts and helps you instantly generate appropriate email replies. Leverage the tools on its website, as a Chrome extension, or within your favorite email client.

Price: A free forever plan is available. Premium plans cost $12 per month. Business plans cost $15 per month.

15. Jasper

ai email marketing tools jasper

Jasper Commands helps you create effective marketing emails quickly with machine learning algorithms.

Use it to write entire emails or email subject lines, and its outputs always match your business’ unique writing style and tone for brand consistency.

Price: Free trial is available. Creator plans cost $39 per month. Pro plans cost $59 per month. Custom business pricing is available.

Leveling Up Your Emails With AI

From writing copy to generating subject lines and even collecting and organizing data to improve personalization, a majority of marketers agree that using AI for email marketing makes their job easier.

When AI tools are used as just that — tools — they can improve your email marketing campaigns and give you more time to spend on creative tasks that make you better at your job.