Amit Jhawar is the CEO of Attentive, a leader in AI-powered mobile marketing. Previously, he was the CEO of Venmo.
We’re living through a marketing shift. Today’s most effective strategies aren’t just about reaching more people but reaching the right people with the right message at the right time. Personalization isn’t a buzzword anymore—it’s the new baseline.
Our 2025 consumer trends report found that three out of four surveyed shoppers have already abandoned brands they once loved in favor of those offering more personalized experiences, while 81% say they routinely ignore marketing messages that don’t feel relevant. At the same time, customer acquisition costs are climbing, lifetime value is shrinking and the competitive landscape is intensifying.
Marketers also face the ever-growing challenge of signal loss. With shorter cookie lifetimes, cross-device browsing and stricter privacy laws, brands can no longer reliably identify and track site visitors. This weakens their ability to tailor experiences and erodes marketing efficiency.
However, there’s a clear opportunity. We found that 99% of surveyed consumers say they’re “willing to share some form of personal data in exchange for relevant incentives”—relevant offers, better recommendations or more intuitive experiences. Additionally, “71% want brands to learn from their shopping habits.” While the challenges facing marketers are material, personalization is a clear imperative.
Marketers can do this by embracing smarter, data-driven strategies and rethinking what meaningful personalization really looks like in a world where signal loss, privacy regulations and customer expectations are all evolving at once.
Personalized messaging creates a competitive advantage.
We found that 96% of surveyed shoppers say they’re “likely to purchase when brands send personalized messages.” That makes personalization a business imperative. It’s not about sending more messages—it’s about sending better ones.
Irrelevant, batch-and-blast campaigns don’t just underperform—they teach customers to ignore the brand altogether. To drive growth, marketers need dynamic, insight-driven communication that feels personal, timely and useful. Nine in 10 shoppers want brands to remember their preferences and suggest relevant products. Getting it right builds loyalty and lifetime value.
Meet consumer expectations through intelligent personalization.
In the next 18 months, AI-powered personalization will redefine how consumers shop and how brands engage. We’re shifting from static segmentation to adaptive, real-time conversations that understand context, predict intent and deliver the right message at the right moment.
By analyzing behavior patterns in real-time, brands can accurately identify site traffic to create intuitive experiences, send messages at the optimal point in the shopper’s journey and recommend products that align with individual preferences and history.
This results in communications that feel less intrusive and more like perfectly timed, helpful interactions. This approach not only improves immediate performance metrics but fosters loyalty through meaningful engagement.
Data is the foundation.
Every personalized offer, predictive recommendation and intelligent message relies on high-quality data. AI can only be as effective as the inputs it receives. To drive meaningful outcomes, brands need clean, real-time customer signals and strong internal systems to manage and act on them.
This is where data quality becomes a competitive differentiator. Companies that invest in first-party data, real-time infrastructure and cross-team collaboration will lead the way in delivering true one-on-one experiences.
Trust and compliance are nonnegotiable.
Consumers want personalization, but they also want control. Many consumers are taking active steps to protect their privacy, driven by distrust of certain websites and uncertainty around how data is being used.
Trust isn’t a blocker to personalization; it’s the foundation. To gain consumers’ trust and enable the personalization they demand, brands must implement responsible data governance.
Doing so calls for transparency and close collaboration between marketing, IT and compliance teams to ensure data is responsibly collected, securely managed and effectively used for marketing goals. Then it’s essential to provide proper training to teach teams how to manage first-party data and integrate AI tools responsibly while executing personalization strategies.
When done right, this doesn’t just support compliance—it strengthens the customer relationship.
Where does marketing go from here?
The era of one-size-fits-all marketing is over. Consumers are increasingly seeking a balance between privacy protection and personalized experiences. Marketers who understand this balance, collect high-quality data and transform it into one-on-one tailored interactions will be positioned for long-term success.
The future is about delivering tailored, meaningful experiences that feel natural and impactful, building lasting connections that drive both purchases and loyalty.
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