Ever wonder why Spotify knows your jam better than your best friend? It’s not magic—it’s AI-driven personalization. And guess what? Most companies are terrible at it. They try, fail, and annoy you with random, irrelevant recommendations.

But here’s the fact: People WANT personalization. In fact, 80% of customers expect it. Companies that get it right don’t just make customers happy—they rake in $$$.

Enter the Personalization Index

Mark Abraham and David Edelman created this nifty little thing called the Personalization Index. It’s a score from 0 to 100 that measures how well companies deliver personalized experiences.

…and the spoiler is that Most businesses are failing it .

Here’s what the best companies focus on:

· Empower me: Make my life easier.

· Know me: Actually understand who I am.

· Reach me: Show up when I need you, not when I don’t.

· Show me: Give me tailored content that feels made just for me.

· Delight me: Surprise me in ways that make me smile (and come back for more).

With the amount of digital activities increasing , the Gen-Beta  ( After the Gen X/Y/Z 😊 ) is going to be digital-first generation ( meaning – digital will be primary source of information for most things ) . Evey digital activity leaves digital footprints that define your online behavior, which have a reflection of your interests / needs / wants / etc . Smart companies are going to use the tools to leverage this data and personalize marketing outreach  – At Scale

So, who’s crushing it?

· Spotify: Their AI learns what you love and creates playlists you didn’t even know you needed.

· SonderMind: They make mental health easier by personalizing therapy journeys.

· Sweetgreen: A salad chain that turned an app into a loyalty-building, money-making machine.

· DoorDash: Running hundreds of micro-experiments to keep you adding more to your cart.

These companies aren’t just playing around. They’re growing 10x faster than the laggards, and their customers spend 30% more.

The 5 Secrets to Personalization Success

Here’s the cheat sheet to level up your personalization game:

Empower Me

Don’t just sell—solve problems. Make the customer’s journey seamless.

Example: SonderMind’s app learns your mental health needs and gives you actionable steps to improve.

Know Me

Collect data, but make it count.

Example: Sweetgreen knows its app users better than most people know their friends. Result? More orders, more money.

Reach Me

Timing is everything.

Example: Cisco uses AI to figure out when and how to talk to customers without being annoying.

Show Me

Personalization at scale.

Example: Pandora uses AI to whip up custom content in days (not months).

The result? Higher conversion rates.

Delight Me

Keep testing, tweaking, and improving.

Example: DoorDash runs experiments faster than most people can decide what to eat.

Why It Matters?

Personalization isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” It’s the future of business.  It’s what you need to crush the competition and stay competitive.

Here’s the proof:

·        Companies that are personalization leaders have higher customer satisfaction (Net Promoter Scores above 40).

·        They’re earning 3x the ROI compared to laggards.

·        The personalization game is worth a $2 TRILLION prize across industries.

The Voya Financial Playbook

Voya Financial nailed personalization by making financial planning easy. Their app, My Voyage, gives users a full financial picture and personalized recommendations—even if it means moving money away from Voya. The result? Trust, loyalty, and double-digit revenue growth.

Want to Win? Speed Matters.

The biggest difference between leaders and laggards is ‘speed’.

Leaders don’t wait 12 weeks to launch a campaign. They get it done in 3–5 days. Why? Because they’re using AI and agile teams to move fast, learn faster from the data gathered , and keep improving their messaging and outreach channels .

Final Takeaway

Personalization isn’t about adding a customer’s name to an email ( That was in the dinosaur era ). It’s about creating experiences that feel tailor-made. The companies winning today (and tomorrow) are the ones that treat personalization as a strategy, not an afterthought.

So, if you’re still sending out generic messages to everyone, it’s time to rethink your game. Get personal, do it fast, and watch your business grow.