The future of marketing lies in one-to-one personalisation

Today’s shopping journey is not linear. Consumers may interact with a brand on multiple channels – social media, digital ads, a physical store, and more before making a purchase.

With e-commerce shopping now largely occurring on mobile, consumers are easily distracted with notifications and pings from apps, leading to less than three pages visited per mobile shopping session.

To catch the attention of shoppers and meet their needs, it’s imperative for retailers to invest in the most direct and personalised channels to reach them.

Engaging mobile consumers on SMS

While email has been one of the main marketing channels in the last few decades, inboxes have become flooded and lack the personalised touch and engagement that today’s consumers seek.

SMS, on the other hand, has an average open rate of 98% – a significant contrast to average email open rates, which can be as low as 20%. Additionally, as the nature of text messages is conversational, 91% of global consumers want brands to engage with them through SMS for product recommendations, questions, and promotions. 

For marketers, SMS stands out as a channel that’s uniquely data-informed and measurable. With cookies going away, marketers are looking to re-establish their customer identity strategies around owned data.

Mobile phone numbers are great identity markers as consumers don’t typically have multiple. By collecting data during a shopper’s discovery and checkout experiences, marketers are able to build a complete customer profile to then use for personalised outreach.

One-to-one personalisation at scale

So how can marketers weave together data to craft bespoke shopping journeys that resonate?

Historically, personalisation required extensive resources and data teams, making it challenging for many companies. However, leveraging AI, personalised messages at scale is in genuine reach for brands of all sizes.

By feeding customer data through advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms, brands are able to deliver hyper-targeted messaging that not only resonates with each individual, but also maximises the performance of their campaigns.

With Attentive’s own AI technology, brands can now pick up on customer habits and shopping trends faster than ever before, and implement bespoke messaging to the right audience across the entire customer journey. Attentive AI can tailor every aspect of a message, based on a subscribers' evolving behavioural patterns and preferences, product availability, and in the brand’s voice.

Whether it's recommending products based on past purchases, sending timely reminders about abandoned carts, or providing exclusive offers tailored to specific interests, our platform ensures that every interaction leaves a lasting impression. That next level of understanding and personalisation makes a big difference in turning browsers into buyers.

Companies who have taken note of this shift and made changes in their marketing strategy are already seeing the difference, including 117% more purchases and 115% more revenue with Attentive AI.

Morgan Warner, SMS lead at Marleylily said: “We see Attentive AI’s send time feature outperforming general send times in nine out of 10 of our campaigns. It’s a game-changer for our engagement and conversion rates.”

Building consumer trust with data privacy

It’s important to note personalisation is only as good as it gets if you have clean and accurate data. SMS marketing is governed by strict regulations like GDPR and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prevent spam.

This regulatory environment not only ensures that brands use data that has been provided by subscribers, but it also builds trust by guaranteeing that messages are sent to consumers genuinely interested in the brand.

Data security also applies ‌when using AI, as it’s crucial to prioritise a platform that includes robust data governance and advanced security measures to safeguard sensitive information.

By infusing the online shopping experience with personalised recommendations, seamless navigation, and frictionless transactions, we are paving the way for a future where every interaction leaves customers feeling seen, heard, and valued.

Amit Jhawar is the CEO, of Attentive.