The future of AI personalization is inclusive, part 2: Reimagining audience engagement with emotional intelligence

Does your advertising truly resonate with your audience?

This is a common, yet complex question that most marketers consider for every campaign. I’ve asked myself the same thing many times. 

A broad customer base requires targeted messaging that ensures relevance, minimizing the risk of unintentionally excluding people. Reaching and converting those who aren’t gravitating toward your advertising themes becomes increasingly difficult when you’re not specific enough.

Every business strives for this kind of ideal personalization. It’s a challenge, but also an opportunity that brands face in a hyper-competitive, digital-driven world moving at the speed of AI.

Over years of digging into how inclusion is personalization, I’ve found that the answers may be simpler than they appear. It’s possible to achieve higher engagement and conversions by approaching personalization with inclusive, human-centric data insights to reimagine audience engagement. And the inclusive insight that’s common to all humans is rooted in having emotional intelligence with your audiences.

In part 1 of this series, I discussed the nexus of untapped value to be the intersection of generative AI, inclusion, and personalization. Let’s continue the conversation about the mechanisms to tap into that value with insights based on our study, The Psychology of Inclusion and the Effects of Advertising.

I’ll share how to reimagine audience engagement with emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient or EQ.

Resonate with audiences through personalization built on trust

To build a personalized marketing campaign that resonates with more audiences, start by using inclusion as a source of insights to build connections. Here are some important considerations to this approach as it relates to audience engagement.

Inclusion equals trust

Neuroscience tells us humans cannot make a decision—like purchases—without accessing their emotions. So, it’s no wonder that business growth is influenced by feelings. In fact, 70% of buying decisions are driven by emotion, including brand preferences.

And according to our research,

How much does trust matter in buying decisions?

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 71% of consumers say it’s more important than ever to trust the brand they buy or use. In looking at generational differences, Gen Z—a key segment for growth-minded brands—rated this even higher at 79%. Additionally, 85% of consumers say they’ll only consider a brand if they trust it.¹

Audiences likely won’t emotionally connect without trust. For example, when companies present themselves as environmentally friendly without substantial evidence to back up their claims, it can erode consumer confidence and damage the brand’s reputation. Trust is earned in drops, but lost in buckets.

And trust doesn’t just elevate a brand as preferred. Trusted brands can net higher margins, as 46% of consumers said they would spend more with them. Companies understand this value of trust, with 93% of business leaders agreeing that developing and maintaining customer trust improves revenue.

The pillars of trust-building and inclusivity

Creating trust isn’t easy, but greater personalization is a highly accessible avenue to it. Personalization strengthens the relevance of advertising, increasing its impact. However, this engagement is met with many failures, as 76% of people say brands miss the mark in relevance.

That’s why my critical components of trust-building with inclusive advertising campaigns include: