Tested to perfection: Building great experiences with experimentation and AI
Experimentation is vital to staying ahead amid evolving business and consumer demands. But how effective is your approach?
The rapid rise of AI offers marketers new opportunities to enhance experimentation and deepen customer connections through advanced personalization. To understand how AI is transforming these efforts, we gathered insights from 100 UK marketers and surveyed 1,000 UK consumers for their views on AI, personalization, and exemplary experiences.
The state of web experimentation
According to our findings, 75% of marketers believe that experimentation is essential to strategic business decision making. However, we uncovered that the current state of web experimentation still has room for improvement:
- 1 in 5 marketers (20%) believe their current approach to web experimentation is ineffective
- A quarter of marketers (25%) believe their current approach to app experimentation is ineffective
- Almost a quarter of marketers (23%) describe their current approach to web experimentation as unsophisticated
- A quarter (26%) describer their current approach to app experimentation as unsophisticated
Having an average approach to experimentation isn’t going to cut it these days. Not only are marketers leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table by not testing their website to perfection, but they’re also missing out on ample opportunity to deliver a more 1:1 experience that today’s buyers crave. By combining customer data with a powerful testing platform, marketers can segment customers in real-time and create relevant, personalized experiences that truly drive revenue and boost brand loyalty.
The state of personalization
While marketers believe that their approach to experimentation is relatively effective across most channels, this doesn’t fully translate to how personalized their experiences are (according to consumers).
- Only 42% of shoppers say the online communication they receive from brands feels ‘targeted’ — down from 48% in 2023
- 24% of shoppers say the communication they receive from brands online is often ‘irrelevant’ to them
- 66% of consumers would not describe the marketing promotions they receive as interesting while 64% would not describe these as ‘useful’
- Only 54% of consumers believe that email marketing campaigns are effectively tailored towards them – down from 63% in 2023
- Only 59% of consumers believe that website content is effectively tailored towards them – down from 71% in 2023
And it’s not just web experiences that are struggling, as consumer expectations rise, mobile experiences also leave a lot to be desired…
- Only 47% of consumers believe that content on mobile sites is effectively tailored towards them
- Only 54% of consumers believe that content on mobile apps is effectively tailored towards them — down from 66% in 2023
- Only 55% of consumers believe that social media content is effectively tailored towards them — down from 69% in 2023
- Only 41% of consumers believe that online adverts are effectively tailored towards them — down from 64% in 2023
Rapidly increasing consumer expectations may be behind lower satisfactions levels when compared with our 2023 survey findings. Regardless, there’s clearly work to be done to reverse these trends when it comes to creating highly targeted and personalized content.
Experimentation is more than just a marketing tool, it’s essential for achieving business goals.
Tightening budgets and rising expectations from customers and stakeholders pressure marketers to maximize the value of their experimentation. In economic uncertainty, experimentation validates the impact of marketing efforts, showing they’re worth the investment. For 69% of marketers, experimentation transcends traditional A/B testing; it involves a rational approach to testing, learning, and innovating, driving organizational improvements. This approach equips marketers with the data to make informed decisions and discover what truly resonates with their audiences.
Key findings on the power of experimentation
- 87% of marketers believe experimentation is important for achieving their business’ goals in 2024
- 86% of marketers believe experimentation is important for growing their business
- 87% of marketers believe experimentation is important for achieving their marketing goals in 2024
- 84% of marketers believe experimentation is important for boosting customer engagement
- 81% of marketers believe experimentation is important for boosting business profitability
The power of experimentation is clear. It’s not just a marketing tactic, but a key tool for innovative businesses looking to drive profitability and growth.
But to get the most out of this tool, it needs to be enabled in the right way. Every level of the business should understand the importance of experimentation and realize that despite its potential, experimentation isn’t an instant fix to every business problem. Organizations must focus on developing a test-and-learn culture within teams. Organizations that embrace this culture of experimentation are far more likely to succeed in building brand loyalty, growing revenue and market share and standing apart from the competition.
- 77% of marketers say that businesses need the right culture for experimentation to work
- 45% of marketers feel their businesses do not have a ‘culture of experimentation’
- 80% believe cross-department collaboration is ‘essential’ for effective experimentation
Fostering this culture within an organization is key. If everyone isn’t on board, barriers can begin to crop up that make it difficult to get the most value from experimentation practices.
Barriers to experimentation
AI is helping overcome experimentation challenges
How can businesses overcome these barriers to experimentation? Many marketers believe that AI will provide the answer…
- 89% of marketers believe AI will help them overcome their current experimentation challenges
- 65% of marketers have started using AI within their experimentation approach
- 45% have only adopted AI within the last year
- 31% have plans to adopt AI into their experimentation approach in the coming years
Marketers are sure that AI can help improve their experimentation practices in the coming years. It’s now less a matter of if they will implement AI, but how and when.
When rolling out AI, however, it’s vital to be conscious of consumers’ apprehensions. Data privacy remains a major concern, due to the huge data sets required to train and use AI. Being transparent about data use and staying up to date with regulations is a must.
Consumers want transparency
While some consumers are happy for brands to use AI if it improves their experience, only a third are happy for marketers to use their data to power and train AI.
Many are asking brands to be more transparent with how they’re using AI and want the technology to be more heavily regulated. The recent introduction of the EU AI Act is likely the first of many official AI regulations to come.
- 48% of consumers are happy for retailers to use their data for AI, if the AI improves their shopping experiences
- 54% are happy for retailers to adopt AI, if it makes their experience better
- 54% are happy for retailers to use AI if it makes content more relevant to them
- 60% of consumers are happy for retailers to use AI if they respect their privacy
- 33% of consumers don’t understand how AI is being used to sell to them
- 79% of consumers think brands and retailers should disclose if they use AI
- 70% of consumers want AI to be more heavily regulated
- 42% of consumers believe the EU AI Act is a positive step forward
- Only 13% disagree
In conclusion
As consumer expectations continue to rise, experimentation is completely necessary in any marketing organization looking to optimize digital experiences. These teams will also need to get comfortable with using AI regularly as it’s well on its way to becoming deeply embedded in experimentation and other marketing practices.
Marketers already have a vision of how AI can help reduce barriers to experimentation to ultimately create more targeted and personalized experiences. But they need to be conscious of their data transparency when using AI within their experimentation practices. Marketers should disclose how AI is actually being used within their tech stack and reassure customers that their privacy is being protected.
For more information about how Optimizely can help marketing organizations get the most out of their experimentation practices and create more efficient digital experiences, check out our suite of AI, experimentation and personalization products.