Jim Marous: Personalization in 2026 research is mainly audience targeting

Jim Marous: Personalization in 2026 research is mainly audience targeting
Most personalization in marketing is audience targeting

Jim Marous, publisher at The Financial Brand, observes that in his 2026 State of Financial Marketing research, 67% of what is categorized as personalization involves selecting the audience that receives a message.

He describes this as list selection, a practice financial marketers have been using under various names for 40 years.

In previous research, Marous noted that banks often delay high-impact marketing efforts because of incomplete customer data, but still have the ability to build targeted campaigns through other methods, as detailed in an earlier article. He has also examined the role of agile methods in helping banks accelerate stalled innovation projects, according to another report. Both topics remain relevant for financial marketers aiming to improve campaign effectiveness.

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