Beyond Traditional Segmentation: How AI is Changing the Dynamic Content Game

Wondering what your customers really want? Right now? In 2025?

Here it is: Customers want brands to meet them where they are, in real time, with made-for-them messaging that’s genuinely helpful given their unique context.

Now, obviously, that’s a tall order. And it’s an order that traditional tactics, like generalized audience segmentation, won’t be able to fill.

With the help of artificial intelligence, brands can break free from rigid segmentation and deliver hyper-relevant experiences at scale.

To do that right, you need to understand three essential types of AI:

1. Generative AI: Creating Content on the Fly

Generative AI gets most of the public’s attention. (In fact, depending on your industry and use cases, that might be the main version of AI you’re familiar with.)

There’s a good reason for this focus.

Generative AI can rapidly produce content, from ad copy to product descriptions. When using this type of AI, your prompts are conversational and directive, and you usually get some form of content as an output. Think typing “Generate 10 headlines for our spring sale” or “Resize this banner for mobile” into a chatbot, before getting those precise headlines or resized images within seconds.

It’s easy to get excited about that level of accuracy and efficiency. However, if you’ve played around with AI, you’ve likely realized that generating good AI content requires human oversight.

The key? Use generative AI as an accelerator, not a replacement for human creativity.

2. Decision AI: Matching Content to Customers

Personalization is only effective if the right content reaches the right person. After all, an ad personalized for someone in the Bahamas won’t leave the right impression if it gets sent to someone in Copenhagen.

Decision AI can help make these matches. This form of AI uses customer data (e.g., past purchases, browsing habits, and real-time behavior) to determine the best content to serve at the right moment.

For example, let’s say a home improvement retailer has hundreds of thousands of SKUs. Rather than guessing which products to showcase on its website (or painstakingly combing through buying records to make sweeping, high-stakes decisions), the retailer can use decision AI to analyze data and predict which SKUs will resonate with each shopper.

The result? Right person, right message, right time.

3. Discovery AI: Finding What You Didn’t Know

Discovery AI spots patterns that human marketers might miss. It can dig through data and pick up on clues that we may not think to look for, and, as a result, find meaningful trends that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

For instance, working with discovery AI might help you see that customers in certain ZIP codes respond better to video content, or that mobile users prefer a specific call-to-action format.

These AI-driven insights go beyond pinpointing demographics and unpacking past behaviors. With creative application of the data you glean with discovery AI, you may be able to unlock entirely new audience opportunities.

How to Take Action Now

AI isn’t a magic switch. It’s a tool. And like any tool, AI works best when wielded carefully by a professional following a clear plan.

Here’s your plan:

• Integrate your data. AI is only as good as the data it learns from. Make sure you’re breaking down silos and feeding AI accurate, unified insights.
• Pilot small, scale smart. Start with one AI-driven initiative (e.g., dynamic product recommendations) before expanding AI’s role in your marketing.
• Keep humans in the loop. AI can automate, but shouldn’t run wild. Maintain brand oversight, implement preview workflows, and test before deploying AI-driven content.

The future of marketing is dynamic and ultra-specific. If you’re going to deliver what your customers deserve, it’s time to go all-in on smart, AI-fueled processes.

Are you ready to make the shift?

Mitchell Weisman is founder and CEO of Innervate, the leader in dynamic content orchestration. He is also chairman and founder of LifeStreet Media, an AI-powered mobile-first demand side platform tailored for performance marketers.