Digital advertising spend and AI marketing impact peak season

A report by Intuit Mailchimp and Datalily, titled ‘Breaking Through Peak Season Noise’, analyzed over 44 billion emails and 83 million text messages sent globally between Halloween and New Year’s. The findings indicate that generative AI significantly enhances performance, with AI-assisted emails seeing a 50 percent higher order rate and a 33 percent higher conversion rate compared to those created without AI.

Data shows that targeted strategies, such as abandoned cart automation, resulted in 36 percent higher open rates, while segmentation led to an 11 percent increase in average order value during the Black Friday Cyber Monday period. SMS marketing also demonstrated high engagement, with order rates up to six times higher than other methods. Additionally, the research noted that order rates on weekends are twice as high as on weekdays, despite brands sending 60 percent fewer messages during those times.

Separately, Senor Tower reported that global digital advertising spending is projected to exceed $110 billion in the fourth quarter, marking a 19 percent increase quarter-over-quarter. Meanwhile, the market intelligence company Cafeteria launched S/NTH, a platform designed to provide brands and financial institutions access to consumer insights across more than 20,000 topics.