By Joseph
2026 customers want experiences, not just material, that are tailored to their needs. In a world when attention spans are short, personalization is the new norm.
Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), even small and mid-sized businesses can now provide marketing campaigns, product recommendations, and personalized content without spending all of their resources.
In fact, research by Salesforce shows that 73% of customers expect brands to understand their unique needs and expectations and AI is how forward-thinking brands are getting it done.
So how can your brand take advantage of this change?
Let's examine how AI in digital marketing is enabling large-scale personalization for brands and how you may follow suit.
AI-driven customization is the process of delivering specialized experiences at scale by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to comprehend consumer behavior, preferences, and trends.
It might be:
• Displaying different content on websites for new and recurring visitors.
• Recommending products based on past browsing activity.
• Developing advertising campaigns that adjust to the way a consumer engages with your company.
• Making use of human-like chatbots (instead of a full-time customer support staff)
The best part is you don’t need to be a tech giant to implement this anymore.
The global digital audience is growing and so are their expectations. Generic marketing no longer cuts it. With growing competition and shorter attention spans, brands that speak directly to the needs and behaviors of their audience will always win.
Here’s why personalization is critical for businesses:
• High mobile usage: People are constantly browsing on their phones, personalization makes mobile experiences smoother and more relevant.
• E-commerce boom: The rise of platforms like Jumia, Paystack, and Flutterwave has increased online buying and customers now expect Amazon-style suggestions.
• Cultural diversity: Personalization allows you to localize messaging for specific tribes, cities, or age groups without manually segmenting every detail.
You don’t need to build AI from scratch. There are affordable tools doing the heavy lifting, some of them are:
a. Email Marketing Personalization
Mailchimp and Sender allow you to send behavior-based email flows.
Example: Send a “We miss you” email if someone hasn’t opened in 2 weeks.
b. Ad Optimization
Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) now uses AI to test creative variations and automatically serve the best-performing ones to the right audience.
Google Ads Smart Campaigns tailor your ads based on location, time, and user behavior.
c. Website & E-commerce Personalization
Zoho PageSense helps personalize landing pages based on visitor actions.
Shopify plug-ins like LimeSpot suggest products based on AI predictions.
These tools are friendly to Nigerian SMEs and come with local currency billing or workarounds.
While AI is powerful, it still needs guidance. Here are a few ground rules:
• Don’t overdo it: Personalization should feel helpful, not creepy.
• Use data ethically: Be transparent about how you collect and use customer data.
• Start small: Begin with one platform (e.g., email or ads) and scale up as you learn.
• Test and tweak: AI learns as you go. So should you.
AI isn’t the future, it’s the now. It’s no longer just for big global brands. With the right tools, a little creativity, and the right mindset, businesses can personalize at scale, deepen relationships, and drive real results, all without losing that local, human touch.
Do you want to know where to begin with AI in your marketing? Backlinks AI Network can help you set it up, simplify the process, and get you growing the smart way.
