The future of conversion rate optimization is here – and it’s powered by AI. From personalized videos to scalable email outreach, learn how to maximize conversions with AI CRO.
If Kieran and I were to invest our marketing budget somewhere in the next 6-12 months, it would be there AI Conversion Rate Optimization (AI CRO).
In fact, we believe in AI CRO so strongly that we easily rank it above other marketing growth strategies like organic search, paid performance, brand marketing, and even product marketing. The return potential is simply unmatched, with some experiments seeing a 50-100% increase in conversion rates.
Now I know what you’re thinking: CRO has been a staple of marketing for decades.
And you’re right. But AI has completely upended the process, opening up new levels of personalization, scaling and automation that weren’t even imaginable a year ago. The result? A faster, smarter way to convert curious visitors into loyal customers.
In a current one Marketing against the grain ConsequenceKieran and I explain what AI CRO is, the key areas it is transforming marketing, and advice for incorporating it into your marketing strategy.
What is AI conversion rate optimization and why is it important?
AI-powered conversion rate optimization (AI CRO) uses artificial intelligence to increase conversion rates by Analyzing huge amounts of data and identifying key customer patterns, such as recurring behaviors or connections between different touchpoints.
Based on these insights, the AI then identifies conversion opportunities – such as customizing landing page content, email messages, or the order of campaign interactions – to better tailor user behavior and preferences.
What makes AI CRO a particularly effective strategy, in our opinion, is the scale of its impact. At HubSpot, for example, our AI-generated email campaigns delivered a 94% higher conversion rate than test control without AI. That’s what Kieran and I call Game changer.
3 key areas where AI is transforming CROs + tool recommendations
You’re probably already using generative AI for marketing to some extent – but we’re here to tell you that you should more. Here’s how.
Chatbots and the user journey
When it comes to providing real-time, personalized support, AI chatbots are one of the most powerful tools in AI-powered CRO. These bots simulate human-like interactions, providing 24/7 support and giving users the information they need, when they need it, in a personal and efficient way.
For example functions like HubSpot’s AI chatbot can do everything from answering customer questions to making personalized content recommendations in real-time, ultimately improving the overall user experience.
While some companies worry that chatbots might seem impersonal, our AI chat experiment at HubSpot actually showed the opposite, with a more than 50% improvement in value per chat, and customer satisfaction ratings (CSAT) that matched human-led interactions , and an improvement of 43%. Increasing chat conversion rates.
Email personalization at scale
“Message personalization – at scale – is a great application of AI CRO,” says Kieran, explaining how AI helps marketers design and customize marketing and sales messages for different audiences. “If you can address customers in a personal way, it always works very well.”
Generative AI tools like GPT-4 and Claude AI make it easy to scale personalized email campaigns with minimal manual effort, ensuring every message feels relevant and timely to the recipient.
Video content generation
We’ve often talked about how AI videos are revolutionizing the marketing industry. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that using AI video marketing tools to create and customize video content is a leading strategy in AI-powered CRO.
For example tools like Hey Gen And Infinite AI Help marketers quickly create videos for campaign or product pages that are missing them – or personalize existing videos for different customer segments. Video content keeps visitors on your pages longerresulting in higher user engagement and higher conversion rates.
Our advice for navigating AI CRO
AI CRO has enormous potential, but without the right approach it can fail. Here’s what Kieran and I learned about using AI to drive real conversion results.
1. Act early to gain an advantage.
Integrate AI into your CRO strategy Now – not tomorrow or next week – gives you valuable time to experiment, iterate, and fine-tune your approach while others are still catching up.
“If you look at companies that were really early adopters of AI and integrated it into their outbound prospecting systems, their growth has been pretty significant,” says Kieran. “But as AI becomes more mainstream, things will become saturated and all companies will reach the same level.”
If you get in early, you won’t just learn; They also define how AI-driven CRO will shape your industry.
2. Think like Spielberg: Be a creative problem solver.
Things don’t always go as planned with your AI CRO strategy, especially in the early experimental stages The ability to pivot and solve problems creatively is key.
Kieran shared an example of how Steven Spielberg suffered a major setback when the mechanical shark broke during filming Jaw. Rather than let the problem stop production, Spielberg rewrote the script overnight and used yellow barrels to represent the shark’s presence – a creative solution that is now an iconic part of film history.
“So are you a problem solver?” asks Kieran. “Or do you let problems stop you from doing what you really want to do?”
By staying agile, testing and pushing different strategies, you will discover new – and sometimes even better – solutions.
3. Study the future and the past.
As a marketer, it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of your long-term strategy. But if you really want to grow your AI CRO efforts, you need to focus on the future and the past – and not Get stuck in the little things of everyday life.
By studying the great marketers of history, you can identify patterns that will influence your future strategy. For example, Kieran and I often discuss how Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull, turned an energy drink into a $16 billion empire.
History tends to repeat itself, and those who understand the past can better predict where the next big opportunities lie in an AI-powered future.
To learn more about how you can use AI to optimize CRO, check out complete episode from Marketing against the grain below:
This blog series is a partnership with Marketing Against the Grain, the video podcast. It delves deeper into the ideas of marketing leaders Kipp Bodnar (CMO of HubSpot) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing at HubSpot) as they craft growth strategies and learn from outstanding founders and peers.