The Importance of Martech in Personalization

Alright, let's cut through the noise. For the last decade, most "personalization" has been a delusion. A/B testing, simple segmentation, birthday emails... that’s not personalization. It’s guesswork. And it’s about to become obsolete. The acquisition of OfferFit by Braze isn't just another martech deal; it's the official starting gun for the AI native marketing era. I had a call with their team, and the tech is brutal. It uses reinforcement learnning to make thousands of micro decisions on channel, timing, and creative for every single customer. It's not guessing; it's learning. The results? They helped a top-5 US bank generate a $16M annual revenue benefit against an internal data science team of 1,300. Read that again. This isn’t a “1+1=3” situation. This is a “1+1=5” power play. You have the market leading platform (Braze), a terrifyingly effective AI decisioning engine (OfferFit), and the strategic architects who can actually wire it all together (Stitch). We’re not just going to help our customers implement this; we’re going to help them build an unassailable competitive moat. And here’s the most provocative part: this move forces a choice. The smartest companies are already building their entire growth engine on Braze. But for those still stuck in the past on Salesforce, Adobe, or Iterable, OfferFit’s compatibility means you no longer have an excuse for running a primitive marketing program. You can now access this weapon-grade AI. The real question is no longer if your brand will adopt this level of intelligence, but whether you can survive without it. We're ready to build.

I have overseen multiple waves of digital transformation, and for me the rapid adoption of AI and machine learning is both a huge opportunity and a reason for caution for unprepared organizations. We all have set mental goals to deliver the Minority Report world of advertising, and we are closer more than over. Weaponizing/Activating data is not just a technology upgrade in this era, it is an organizational and cultural change. According to this Ascend2’s November 2024 report, 60% of marketers believe AI/ML will have the biggest impact on marketing strategies in the next five years. Businesses that leverage AI effectively can differentiate themselves in a crowded market by delivering superior experiences, launching products faster, and responding to customer data more intelligently. With nearly two in five marketers already using AI for personalization (according to the January 2024 Ascend2 report), we’re inching ever closer to the holy grail of “one-to-one” marketing. This means delivering contextually relevant messages in real time—improving customer experiences and driving stronger engagement. True personalization used to be cost- and resource-prohibitive. AI allows us to generate nuanced audience insights quickly, enabling us to refine messaging and offers in ways that resonate at an individual level. The result: higher conversions and longer customer lifetime value. With 34% of marketers using AI for ad optimization, we’re seeing machine learning algorithms test thousands of variations of creative and copy simultaneously. This can drive budget efficiency in real time, pinpointing what works best in each channel at each moment. This continuous learning process all but eliminates the guesswork in media buying and campaign optimization—an enormous boon in an environment where marketers are managing multiple platforms and shrinking consumer attention spans. The proliferation of AI-powered chatbots provides immediate, 24/7 responses to customer queries, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing operational costs. It’s a prime example of how AI can complement human teams, freeing up staff for more complex, nuanced interactions. Over time, as NLP (Natural Language Processing) evolves, these chatbots will become more empathetic, further personalizing and elevating customer interactions. https://lnkd.in/e3qwRT9Y

#AI is no longer just a tool for automation—it’s the key to unlocking true personalization at scale. This Forbes piece by Emily Ketchen highlights a growing truth: customers expect brand experiences tailored to their needs. And yet, many companies still struggle to translate data into meaning. That’s where AI becomes transformational. When used responsibly, it turns fragmented data into insight—and insight into action. From outcome-based targeting to personalized storytelling, the opportunity isn’t just efficiency—it’s relevance. In my book “Personalized, Customer Strategy in the Age of AI,” we delve into how AI enables companies to design for the individual—not the average. The brands that win won’t just use AI to optimize campaigns; they’ll use it to build relationships. https://lnkd.in/dAB3BdS5 #Personalization #CustomerStrategy #MarketingInnovation