Gartner: CMOs Prioritize Digital Acquisition Amid AI Content Skepticism

A recent report from Gartner reveals that Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are increasingly directing their spending towards digital media channels and customer acquisition efforts. This shift in budgetary focus is directly linked to a rising trend of consumer skepticism regarding the perceived value and authenticity of AI-generated content.

This finding signals a critical re-evaluation of marketing spend effectiveness at a global scale. As economic pressures persist, marketers are under renewed pressure to demonstrate tangible returns. The pivot to acquisition-focused digital strategies suggests a move towards channels and tactics with clearer, more measurable KPIs, offering a more direct path to revenue generation.

The emphasis on digital acquisition typically translates to increased investment in performance marketing disciplines. This includes paid search, social media advertising with strong calls-to-action, programmatic display campaigns optimized for conversion, and potentially the expansion of retail media network (RMN) budgets. These channels allow for granular tracking and optimization, providing clearer insights into customer journey and conversion paths.

Crucially, the report highlights consumer wariness of AI-generated content. This does not necessarily imply a wholesale rejection of artificial intelligence as a marketing tool; rather, it suggests that consumers are becoming more discerning about the quality, originality, and genuine intent behind content produced by algorithms. Generic or inauthentic AI output may now be perceived as low-value, prompting marketers to rethink its front-end application.

CMOs are spending more on digital media and acquisition as consumers grow more skeptical of AI-generated content and its value.

For marketers, this means a renewed focus on ensuring creative authenticity and strategic relevance, even when AI tools are used for efficiency. The challenge lies in leveraging AI for backend tasks like personalization at scale, audience segmentation, or rapid content iteration, while reserving human oversight and creative judgment for consumer-facing messaging that builds trust and delivers genuine value.

Looking ahead, this trend will likely intensify the demand for robust attribution models and incrementality testing to prove the true impact of acquisition spend. Platforms and agencies will need to evolve their offerings to provide more transparent performance insights, moving beyond vanity metrics to demonstrate direct contributions to business growth. The debate over the role of AI in creative execution will continue, but with a sharpened focus on consumer perception and tangible business outcomes.