AI Content Personalization That Works: Tips to Transform Your Website

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Sam Lauron
Sam Lauron

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I experience AI content personalization on a near-daily basis, and you probably do, too. Netflix suggests new shows it thinks I’d. Spotify curates playlists based on what genres and artists I listen to. AI powers most of the content I interact with every day.

woman uses ai content personalization for her business

While those are broad examples from major companies, AI content personalization can be applied to businesses of all sizes. Marketers today know that personalization is essential to increase website engagement, improve conversions, and retain customers. AI can help you supercharge your efforts by achieving those goals at scale.

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Below, I dig into how AI-powered content personalization works, how it benefits your website and marketing strategy, and some tangible ways to implement AI personalization on your website.

Table of Contents

What is AI content personalization?

Content personalization is when marketers use data to tailor digital content and messaging to users. Web pages, emails, and other digital interactions are presented to consumers based on their interests, behaviors, and preferences.

When I talk about “AI content personalization,” I’m referring to the use of AI technologies to personalize the content on your website. AI can personalize content on a much deeper and more analytical level than a marketer alone could.

According to data from HubSpot’s State of Generative AI Report, 77% of marketers believe generative AI marketing is effective at making their content more personalized. That’s really helpful when 96% of marketers also say personalization increases buyer repeat purchases, and 94% believe it boosts sales.

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    Why Personalization Matters

    As a marketing writer, I’m more than familiar with personalized content. But I wanted to hear what industry experts think about the topic and why it’s so important. I asked Mike Ford, the CEO of Skydeo, a data company that provides high-performance audience targeting for advertisers, about the role of personalized content in marketing.

    “Personalized content is no longer optional. It's a competitive differentiator,” he says. “Personalization transforms the customer experience from generic to unforgettable. When users feel like a brand understands them and their needs, they’re more likely to engage, purchase, and be loyal.”

    He further explains that brands like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify have set the standard for consumers by offering tailored experiences to the point where they’ve become indispensable.

    Consumers today now expect that level of personalization on practically every website they visit. In fact, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions.

    How does AI-powered content personalization work?

    AI content personalization works by taking customer data — everything from demographics to interactions on a website to behaviors on other channels — and using that to make specific recommendations for them.

    While the practice of personalization is not new, AI technology and tools have made it possible to scale these efforts. AI can provide deep data analysis to generate hyper-personalized recommendations, dynamic pricing, and tailored messaging in real time.

    The Benefits of Using AI to Personalize Content

    Marketers have long been using customer data and touchpoints to tailor their website design and experience, but AI allows us to take it up a notch.

    “The biggest benefit of using AI to personalize website and marketing content is that AI enables hyper-personalization at scale,” says Ford.

    AI tools can deliver real-time insights and adapt to user behavior dynamically, which not only helps marketers provide a highly personal experience to customers but also saves time and resources.

    The industries that benefit most from personalized content? “Industries that thrive on data-rich user interactions are ideal for leveraging AI to drive personalized experiences,” suggests Ford. This includes ecommerce, travel, and entertainment platforms, to name a few.

    No matter which industry your company is in, here are more benefits of AI content personalization:

    • Higher engagement. Using AI, brands can make personalized recommendations to keep users on their websites longer. This can lead to higher engagement and lower churn.
    • Increased conversions. When customers are presented with recommendations tailored to them, they’re more likely to convert. As Ford puts it: “Personalization reduces friction in the customer journey, making it easier for users to find what they need.”
    • Increased retention. Ford also suggests that personalization makes users feel valued, increasing their lifetime value. “Take Spotify, for example. Users return weekly because Discover Weekly adds consistent, personalized value.”
    • Improved operational efficiency. AI automation reduces manual workload. AI can make automated recommendations and personalizations based on thousands or even millions of data points.
    • Continuous optimizations. One of the best things about AI is that it’s always evolving and learning based on the information it receives. The more user data you provide, the more AI can optimize its personalization strategy.

    How to Use AI for Website Content Personalization

    We know the benefits of using AI for website content personalization, but now I want to share the ways AI can be used. Here’s how to take advantage of AI’s capabilities for your content personalization strategy.

    Customer Segments

    Customer segmentation is essential if you want to personalize recommendations. While you probably already have some sort of customer segmentation set up, whether through your automation tool or otherwise, using AI for customer segmentation is a way to quickly identify and organize your customer data.

    AI can analyze your customer data and uncover patterns that you may not have noticed. It can also organize customers into more detailed segments based on a combination of data, behaviors, and predictive analytics.

    Predictive Analytics

    One of AI’s greatest strengths is its predictive capabilities. It can be used to make product or content recommendations based on previous interactions a customer had. For example, when I’m shopping on a website, and I see the “you may also like” section, that’s an example of predictive analytics in action.

    Brands that want to reach customers should go beyond simple product curation and use AI to make less obvious recommendations. In fact, McKinsey conducted a survey that found consumers want brands to make personalized recommendations for things that they wouldn’t have thought of themselves.

    Ford also predicts that AI-powered personalization will help brands and marketers create predictive, intuitive experiences for consumers.

    “Through natural language processing and advanced data analytics, AI-powered personalization will continue to anticipate user intent, recommending products, services, and content before users even ask,” says Ford.

    Ford also notes that his shift will enable brands to deliver hyper-targeted messaging, “offering real-time, responsive recommendations based on individual behaviors and preferences.”

    Behavioral Data

    You know those automated emails you get after visiting a website? The ones reminding you about a product in your cart that you haven’t purchased yet or nudging you to “pick up where you left off.” These automated messages are personalized based on your interactions on a site, but I believe there are opportunities to take them a step further.

    AI can track and analyze behavioral data on a deeper level than a typical automation or manual analysis. Marketers should take advantage of AI’s ability to analyze massive data sets at scale and use that to dig deeper into customer behaviors.

    For example, when a customer leaves something behind in their cart, instead of simply sending them an automated email reminding them of that, use it as an opportunity to recommend another product.

    How to Use Generative AI in Content Marketing

    Find out how to integrate AI tools into your content workflows.

    • Understanding generative AI.
    • Limitations of AI.
    • Rolling out AI to your team.
    • And more!

      Download Free

      All fields are required.

      You're all set!

      Click this link to access this resource at any time.

      AI can also be used to improve multi-channel marketing. Let’s say you operate a shoe store and have both an online store and in-person retail locations. You may notice that a customer shopping online added two different sizes to their cart before eventually abandoning it and leaving the site.

      You can use AI to pick up on this kind of behavior and then automatically send the customer an email directing them to your in-person location to try on the two sizes to see which one fits best.

      How to Implement AI Content Personalization on Your Website

      If you’re like me, you love tangible examples. I looked around the web to find real examples of how brands are using AI to personalize their website content. Take inspiration from these strategies and use them on your own site.

      Personalized Recommendations

      Offering personalized recommendations or tailored content suggestions is the most common way to implement AI content personalization on your website. Whether you run an ecommerce site or a blog, presenting customers with something you think they’d like based on past behaviors is a great way to tailor their user experience. Not only does it keep them engaged, but it also increases the chances that they’ll convert.

      Think about the way Amazon curates the homepage anytime you return to the site. The first things you see are products and categories the algorithm thinks you’ll like based on your shopping history. This is AI content personalization at work.

      Another great example of personalization I’ve seen is quizzes, particularly on beauty company websites. Take this shade finder quiz on makeup brand Laura Geller’s website, for instance. The quiz is designed to help you figure out which of the brand’s foundation shades is the best fit for your skin.

      makeup brand laura geller uses a shade-finding quiz on its website for ai content personalization

      Source

      After answering a few questions, the AI-powered quiz presents you with the “perfect shade match” of its foundation. In addition to sharing the shade that’s the best fit, the quiz also makes product recommendations related to the foundation.

      For marketers, this is a great opportunity to convert website visitors and upsell your products.

      laura geller shade matching quiz is an example of ai content personalization

      Dynamic Pricing

      Another way to personalize content to users is through AI pricing or dynamic pricing. AI can be used to analyze the market, user data, and competitors to offer adjusted pricing as a result.

      Uber is a great example of AI-powered pricing. The ride-sharing app uses surge pricing to automatically adjust its rates based on different variables such as high demand. This wouldn’t be possible at scale without AI technology. Machine learning can take mass data and automatically optimize pricing to meet real-time demand.

      uber’s surge pricing is an example of ai content personalizationhttps://www.uber.com/us/en/drive/driver-app/how-surge-works/

      Adaptive Customer Experience

      I love when I visit a website and it prompts me to pick up where I left off, whether I’m online shopping or reading content. This is not only convenient for me as a user, but it also helps me feel valued and recognized.

      Websites that use AI to remember a user’s history and tailor their experience accordingly will be ahead of the game. This strategy uses AI to combine customer behavior and interactions with personalized recommendations to create a journey that feels natural for the user.

      Duolingo is a great example of how to effectively use AI to personalize a customer’s journey on a website. Not only does the language learning app track your progress as you go, but it also analyzes your pace, mistakes, and goals to create a tailored learning experience.

      duolingo’s learning app offers ai content personalization

      You can achieve something similar on your website by prompting users to answer a few questions about themselves and their goals when they sign up. Those responses provide your initial data, and from there, AI can add to that data based on the user’s behaviors and interactions.

      AI Content Personalization is Just Getting Started

      AI has proved itself to be a powerful tool for any product or content marketer. With its ability to tailor recommendations, predict customer behaviors, and analyze data at scale, it’s an indispensable way to improve your website engagement, conversions, and retention.

      It’s important to remember that AI is a tool and not an overall strategy. In my experience, AI is only as good as the ideas or prompts you provide. That’s why it’s important for marketers to understand how content personalization works and what type of data can be used to generate valuable personalizations.

      Once you have a grasp on what type of data to collect, what customer interactions you want to analyze, and the journey you want to take users on, then AI content personalization can be used to advance your website strategy.

      How to Use Generative AI in Content Marketing

      Find out how to integrate AI tools into your content workflows.

      • Understanding generative AI.
      • Limitations of AI.
      • Rolling out AI to your team.
      • And more!

        Download Free

        All fields are required.

        You're all set!

        Click this link to access this resource at any time.

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