“The average professional receives over 120 emails a day—and most of them feel like they could’ve been sent to anyone.”
So, how do you stand out in that flood of noise? How do you scale your marketing efforts without sounding like a robot?
As consumers become increasingly immune to mass-market messaging, personalisation has become essential—but doing it at scale is where things get tricky. It’s not just about using someone’s name in a subject line or segmenting by job title. Real personalisation means understanding the person behind the profile—and communicating with empathy, timing, and relevance.
We asked leading marketing minds to answer a crucial question:
How can you personalise at scale without losing the human touch?
Their answers are packed with practical strategies, cautionary tales, and visionary thinking on what the future of personalisation really looks like.
Dave Howard
Global Marketing Director, Retail
To personalise at scale without losing the human touch, start by segmenting your audience based on behaviours, intent signals, and role-specific pain points—not just demographics. Use modular content that can be tailored by sector or persona, keeping the core message consistent while adapting headlines, examples, and calls to action. Leverage first-party data to trigger relevant outreach and keep the tone conversational and empathetic, avoiding jargon in favour of clarity and warmth.
Empower your sales and marketing teams with flexible templates they can personalise, and mix automated journeys with genuine human touchpoints—like voice notes, Loom videos, or direct messages referencing real insights. Use AI to support relevance, not just volume, and always track sentiment, not just clicks. By designing for flexibility and keeping feedback loops open, you can scale with authenticity and still feel personal to every contact.
Lesley Knowles
Marketing Consultant
Why is personalisation such a critical part of modern marketing?
Personalisation has become critical because we’re drowning customers in irrelevant noise. The average professional receives over 120 emails daily, yet most feel like they could have been sent to anyone.
What makes personalisation truly critical isn’t the technology—it’s the human psychology behind it. When someone feels genuinely understood, they shift from being a passive recipient to an engaged participant. However, there’s a crucial distinction between personalisation that feels authentic and personalisation that feels algorithmic. The former builds trust; the latter can actually damage relationships by highlighting how little you truly understand your customer.
From a process perspective, personalisation forces organisations to actually listen to their customers systematically, rather than making assumptions. It’s less about having their name in the subject line and more about demonstrating that you understand their context, challenges, and aspirations.
What’s been your biggest challenge when trying to personalise campaigns at scale?
My biggest challenge has been what I call “fragmented excellence”—the tendency to optimise individual touchpoints brilliantly whilst losing coherence across the entire customer journey.
Teams become exceptionally good at segmented email campaigns, dynamic website content, or behavioural triggers, but these efforts often contradict each other. A customer might receive a “welcome back” email whilst simultaneously seeing “new customer” promotions on the website, or get product recommendations that completely ignore their recent purchase history.
The root issue is organisational: different teams own different touchpoints, each with their own metrics and tools. Marketing automation becomes a series of disconnected executions rather than a coordinated conversation. We chunk everything down for implementation efficiency but forget to ensure it all joins up into a coherent human experience.
This fragmentation doesn’t just confuse customers—it actively undermines trust by highlighting the mechanical nature of your communications.
What strategies or best practices have worked well for you in maintaining a human touch at scale?
I use a “Golden Thread” methodology, built around three core practices:
- Start with the human story, not just the data points: Before any segmentation or automation, I ask: “What’s the fundamental human need we’re addressing?” Instead of targeting “frequent purchasers,” we target “busy professionals seeking reliable solutions they can trust.” This human-centred foundation ensures every automated touchpoint serves a genuine relationship goal.
- Create connection points, not just touchpoints: Each interaction should acknowledge the relationship’s history and trajectory. When a customer returns after a gap, rather than generic product recommendations, we might say: “Welcome back! Since you last ordered those organic skincare essentials, we’ve added three new products from brands you trust.” It’s about progression, not repetition.
- Implement integration checkpoints: After implementing any personalisation tactic, we ask three questions: Does this align with how we’ve previously communicated with this customer? Does this move the relationship forward? Would this feel natural coming from a knowledgeable shop assistant who genuinely cares?
The key insight is building systems that capture not only what customers do, but also the context behind why they do it. We’re scaling genuine care, not just efficiency.
Where do you think personalisation in marketing is headed over the next few years?
I believe we’re approaching a significant shift from behavioural personalisation to contextual empathy. Current personalisation largely reacts to what people have done; future personalisation will anticipate what people need based on their circumstances.
The technology will become more sophisticated at reading situational context—not just “this person bought running shoes” but “this person is training for their first marathon and feeling overwhelmed by conflicting advice.” The data won’t just track actions; it’ll understand the human motivations behind those actions.
However, this creates both opportunity and risk. When done well, contextual empathy can create genuinely helpful, almost prescient customer experiences. Done poorly, it could feel invasive and manipulative.
The organisations that succeed will be those that use these capabilities to solve real human problems rather than simply drive immediate transactions. They’ll personalise not just the message, but the entire relationship—understanding when to offer advice, when to provide reassurance, and when to get out of the way entirely.
The future of personalisation isn’t about having more data points; it’s about connecting those dots into a coherent understanding of the human being behind the customer profile. The winners will be those who remember that personalisation is ultimately about people, not just data profiles.
Alex Smith
Founder at Leadeth
- Personalisation is no longer optional—it’s the foundation of meaningful communication. People are overwhelmed with content, so what cuts through the noise is relevance and empathy. Personalisation shows the customer that they are seen, heard, and understood. In a world of automation and AI, the brands that thrive will be those that still make customers feel human, not like data points. It’s about moving from broadcasting to connecting.
- What’s been your biggest challenge when trying to personalise campaigns at scale?
The biggest challenge has been avoiding the “personalised-but-robotic” trap. Just because a message includes someone’s name or job title doesn’t mean it feels human. At scale, it’s tempting to rely too heavily on templates and automation—but without deeper context, it risks sounding hollow. Ensuring that personalisation still reflects authentic care and relevance takes thought and constant refinement. - What strategies or best practices have worked well for you in maintaining a human touch at scale?
a. Segment with meaning: Don’t just segment by demographics—go deeper into behaviours, intent, and values. This allows messages to feel more intuitive and relevant.
b. Write as if to one person: Even in mass emails or campaigns, I write in a conversational tone, as if speaking directly to one individual. Avoiding corporate jargon helps keep it warm and personal.
c. Use tech wisely, not blindly: Automation is powerful, but only when it serves genuine connection. Tools like AI-driven CRMs or behavioural triggers are great—so long as there’s a human hand shaping the journey and reviewing what’s sent.
Personally, I’m trying hard to include a phone call to every prospect, customer, or stakeholder on a weekly basis.
Raf Uzar
Penteris
Let’s face it: we’re all drowning in digital noise. And in this sea of sameness, personalisation has become the lifeboat. But here’s the kicker: how do you personalise at scale without sounding like a badly programmed chatbot?
It’s not about faking familiarity. It’s about creating genuine connection. Here are three tried-and-tested ways to do just that, while keeping your brand human, not robotic.
- Go Beyond the Numbers
Knowing your audience is about going beyond the metrics—knowing people’s motivations, frustrations, and what makes them tick. Real personalisation starts when you understand what keeps your audience up at night, what excites them, what they value. Use data, but pair it with actual conversations, social listening, and stories from your frontline teams. When you understand people as people, not profiles, you communicate with purpose, not just precision. - Let Tech Support You, Not Speak for You
Automation is brilliant—until it isn’t. The trick is to use your tools to deliver smart timing and relevance, without outsourcing your tone. Your voice should still sound like you. Craft empathetic messaging. Use dynamic content that responds to behaviour, not just demographics. Think of your automation like a backstage crew: it sets the scene, but you still perform the message. - Create a Two-Way Street
Here’s something we forget: communication is a loop, not a broadcast. Set up real feedback mechanisms: polls, comments, DMs, even quick follow-up questions. This helps you fine-tune what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Most importantly, it shows your audience you’re not just talking at them—you’re listening to them.
People First, Always
At the end of the day, tech is a tool—but people are the point. If you keep empathy, curiosity, and respect at the heart of your strategy, your personalisation will never feel artificial.
That’s when the magic happens.
Personalisation at scale isn’t about more data—it’s about more depth. As these expert voices show, success lies in balancing automation with authenticity, and segmentation with real empathy. The most impactful messages don’t just land in inboxes—they resonate, reflect understanding, and build trust over time. As technology evolves, the brands that lead won’t be those who shout the loudest, but those who listen the best, communicate with care, and remember that even at scale, every interaction is a human one.
