Why language is the key to omnichannel personalization

Marketers are struggling to capture consumers’ attention, but generative artificial intelligence is creating a bridge to help them succeed.

Well before e-commerce adoption accelerated across the retail sector, a European grocery store chain had begun an extensive digital transformation. One goal of this initiative was to create an omnichannel retail strategy that would enable it to communicate with millions of customers effectively and consistently across digital channels.

The company began a pilot program with Persado, the Motivation AI company that generates personalized communications at scale. By December 2022, Persado Motivation AI was developing email subject lines and body copy, as well as SMS campaigns and website copy, which resulted in a 14.5% increased click-through rate and more than three times the engagement compared to their control message.

“Modern consumers are inundated with digital marketing messages, the majority of which are generic, self-serving, and don’t ‘speak’ to them directly,” says Sarah Coles, vice president of strategy at Persado. “Not only are such digital messages not performing, but customers are also not feeling a personal connection to the brand. Customer engagement is more and more dependent on personalization.”

Delivering an omnichannel experience

While this European grocer was an early adopter of Persado Motivation AI, some experts predict that 90% of online content will be AI-generated by 2026.

Persado Motivation AI enables personalized communications at scale and goes beyond the capabilities of standard generative AI. This enterprise-grade platform is designed to motivate consumers and drive engagement and revenue. It uses natural language generation technology to enhance the customer experience and build brand engagement with clear, consistent messaging across all digital channels—delivering the personalized omnichannel experience today’s consumers expect.

“Many brands are still putting the customer’s name in an email or on the website and calling it personalization,” says Coles. “While it’s nice to call the customer by name, personalization is so much more than that. It’s about creating true value and connection.”

With Persado’s platform, enterprises can increase their conversion rates, average order values, and returns on investment with high-performing digital messaging across website banners, images, buttons, and more. Furthermore, Persado Dynamic Motivation uses the brand’s session data alongside Persado Motivation AI to deliver words that speak to individuals at the time of purchase to help brands reduce cart abandonment and increase e-commerce sales.

“Through Dynamic Motivation, Persado uses a brand’s first-party data and generative AI to personalize messaging in the online shopping cart in real time. This allows retailers to see a return on investment in a matter of weeks, even days,” says Coles, adding that changing just a few words in the online cart drives 3% to 5% more online revenue—which is significant considering cart abandonment rates average around 70%.

Persado Motivation AI is designed to meet consumers where they are. The AI-generated language can be used to reach them on their smartphones, through SMS messaging and engaging social copy, as well as in-app alerts, location-based services, timely reminders, and relevant offers that can increase reward redemptions, cross sells, and conversions with personalized push notifications. This technology can also generate email campaigns that cut through the noise with engaging headlines, compelling messages, and clear calls to action. Additionally, it can be used to create effective interactive voice response scripts that provide proactive information and guidance.

“Motivation AI leverages Persado’s proprietary knowledge base, which is built from 10 years of experimental design, to identify the precise words and phrases that motivate consumers to purchase or take a desired action,” explains Coles. “Persado Motivation AI creates personalized customer experiences using consumer behavior data to deliver the exact words and phrases that are statistically proven to motivate each consumer to make a purchase.”

Persado’s 2023 Customer Motivation Report found that personal narratives were responsible for an average of 46% of total message performance. When marketers used generative AI to connect emotionally to customers, tapping into what was important to them and using language to evoke ideas and information, conversions went up.

The power of personalization

The in-store experience of working with a store associate to recommend the right products is inherently personalized. A luxury retailer using Motivation AI found that they could drive e-commerce growth and better mirror the in-store shopping experience by taking a segmented approach to product recommendations. They then use personalized AI-generated language to present the right products to the right people. This strategy allows the brand to tap into different types of emotions and ways of speaking that resonate best with each customer.

By personalizing each stage of the buyer’s journey, this retailer improved the customer experience by increasing relevance for its consumers. And because digital campaigns can be analyzed in real time, the team quickly learned that specific language such as, ‘Only two left!’ didn’t perform well. With that in mind, it altered the messaging tapping into sentiment and trends that focused less on regret.

As customers continue to demand personalization at scale, using technology that can provide it will become even more important. Just the fact that 88% of consumers say that the experience a company provides is equally as important as its products and services should be enough to make generative AI a consideration going forward, explained Coles.

“Having a way to personalize language is very impactful from a revenue generating perspective, and it also creates a connection between the consumer and the brand,” says Coles. “New opportunities for generative AI are emerging every day, which will continue to revolutionize the way we create content and how companies deliver customer experiences.”