Week of August 10, 2026
The ask isn't "does AI work," it's "show me the steps
Asked what would help them start, marketers picked instructions over evidence.
38%
38% chose all of the above, and among single asks, step-by-step workflows lead at 29%. Only 6% still need proof AI works.
Source: AI Lab webinar survey
“Every week spent by marketers ‘convincing’ teammates to see the value in AI is a wasted one. The data show there are enough AI-ready marketers out there to move quickly, provided there are clear workflows to automate and next steps to take.”
Sean Blanda, Founder of Gate Check Studios
Analysis
What the numbers actually mean.
Marketers are past convinced. They want a how-to.
Hardly anyone still needs proof AI works, and what they're asking for instead is a clear set of steps. That's a real shift in what content actually helps them. The Marketing AI Institute has found the same for years, with lack of education and training its number one barrier every year since 2020, cited by 62%.
The bottleneck moved from belief to know-how.
A few years ago the job was talking marketers into trying AI. That's done. What's left is a practical gap: they believe it works and still don't know how to run it themselves. Selling the idea harder won't move people who are already sold.
So teach the workflow, don't pitch the tool.
If almost no one needs proof and most people want a playbook, the highest-value thing you can publish is the process itself, the prompts, the order, and the calls to make along the way. Content that shows how, instead of arguing why, is what actually moves someone off the starting line.
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