Personalization was intended to be the “concierge” of digital marketing: a helpful nudge, a timely reminder or a suggested shortcut that made a customer feel understood. Somewhere along the way, however, personalized marketing started feeling more like a carnival barker with a confetti cannon—loud, distracting and relentless, as well as oddly confident about what you “must” want to see next. And all those sights and sounds aren’t just overwhelming; they’re often off-kilter and off-putting. In one survey, two-thirds of global consumers reported being targeted by inaccurate or invasive marketing.
Now, Gartner’s November 2025 report, “Leadership Vision for 2026: Chief Marketing Officer,” adds a sharper warning: Overly aggressive, algorithm-driven personalization can actively weaken trust and leave consumers feeling overwhelmed with information and hesitant or regretful about making purchases. Even so, abandoning personalization altogether isn’t the answer, as it’s clearly effective when done well—a consumer trends report notes that 96% of respondents said a personalized message from a brand does prompt them to make a purchase.
So what does “better personalization” look like in 2026, and how can CMOs make customers feel seen, not herded? Below, members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank share their takeaways from the Gartner report as well as practical strategies to help marketing teams produce personalized messaging that’s compelling rather than creepy.
“Customers don’t want hyper-targeted nudges that feel invasive, manipulative or exhausting. They want clarity, control and breathing room.”
Support Decisions Rather Than Promoting Purchases
Magda Paslaru, Founder and CEO of THE RAINBOWIDEA, frames the Gartner findings as a gut-check for how far personalization has strayed from its original purpose.
“The Gartner data is a reminder that personalization has drifted from being ‘helpful context’ to becoming ‘algorithmic pressure,’” Paslaru says. “Customers don’t want hyper-targeted nudges that feel invasive, manipulative or exhausting. They want clarity, control and breathing room.”
She points CMOs toward a reset that’s less about predicting every move and more about helping customers feel confident in the moves they choose to make.
“The takeaway for CMOs is simple: Personalization must shift from predicting behavior to supporting decisions,” Paslaru says. “Rebuilding trust starts with dialing back the noise: fewer prompts, fewer micro-segments and fewer interruptions.”
That change should also show up in the ways brands explain themselves in the moment, not just in how they optimize behind the scenes.
“Focus on transparent value, why you’re recommending something, how it helps and what the customer can expect,” Paslaru says. “Practical shifts include simplifying journeys, letting customers self-select preferences, prioritizing content that reduces overwhelm, and designing experiences that feel guided rather than engineered.”
Stop Surveilling and Start Smoothing Journeys
Jayashree Rajan, CMO of Nexla, puts the issue plainly: A lot of “personalization” has started to feel like something else entirely.
“The Gartner findings confirm what customers have been telling us: that we confused personalization with surveillance, and it has eroded trust,” Rajan says. “The fix? Stop mindless tracking and use data to reduce friction.”
That requires CMOs to rethink what success looks like. If the scoreboard only rewards clicks, the playbook will keep drifting toward pressure tactics.
“For far too long, we have optimized for clicks and engagement while ignoring trust indicators,” Rajan says. “It’s time to flip that and measure opt-in rates, preference engagement and how many people choose to voluntarily share our messages over time.”
She also sketches a practical formula for building personalization that’s inspiring rather than intrusive.
“The equation for real personalization is AI for pattern recognition plus human judgment for context plus customer control over their data,” Rajan explains. “Tell customers why they’re seeing something, and allow them to choose what they see.”
Rajan points to the North Star CMOs should refocus on when trade-offs get tempting.
“The bottom line: Personalization that is thoughtful and provides choice builds loyalty,” Rajan says. “When it feels like stalking, it destroys trust. Don’t trade trust for clicks.”
“Align with cognitive empathy; showing an understanding of customers’ cognitive load from the noise they continually encounter from algorithms can be a differentiator for brands.”
Empathize and Simplify
Paul L. Gunn Jr., Founder of KUOG Corporation, zooms in on something marketers often underestimate: the customer’s mental bandwidth.
“Embracing paths that lead to clear communication is an investment with a big impact,” Gunn says. “Align with cognitive empathy; showing an understanding of customers’ cognitive load from the noise they continually encounter from algorithms can be a differentiator for brands.”
He also calls out a paradox CMOs run into when they chase hyper-personalization as proof they “know” the customer.
“CMOs who anchor their marketing in hyper-personalization often fail to make an individual really feel seen,” Gunn explains. “In fact, hyper-personalization can actually make a customer feel studied or surveilled, making what marketing teams intended to be helpful feel harmful.”
His takeaway braces the Gartner theme with a philosophical backbone: simplicity isn’t just an aesthetic; it’s a trust-builder.
“Stoics understood well what the Gartner report signals: the wisdom of simplicity,” Gunn says. “When complexity overwhelms, confidence begins to erode.”
The strategic move, then, is to make restraint a feature, not a compromise.
“CMOs can win by subtraction by grounding personalization in clarity, human context and consent,” Gunn says.
Reduce Cognitive Load With Honest Guidance
Cody Gillund, Founder of Grounded Growth Studio LLC, draws a bright line between personalization that earns trust and personalization that drains it.
“The Gartner report makes one thing clear: Personalization failed when it stopped feeling personal,” Gillund says.
She advises shifting the target when it comes to the purpose of personalization. Instead of trying to outguess people, help them navigate.
“CMOs should shift from predicting intent to clarifying choices—reducing cognitive load rather than layering on more triggers and variants,” Gillund says. “Rebuild trust by personalizing around needs, not surveillance; focus on simple paths, honest guidance and transparent reasoning.”
Gillund also gets specific about how that shift should show up in day-to-day marketing operations.
“Practically, it means fewer segments, clearer defaults, preference centers that customers control, and service-led moments that show you understand their context,” she says. “Empathy scales when you prioritize usefulness over precision.”
“Your content should reflect the way a genuinely helpful associate might talk with you in a store, not how a creepy stalker would follow you around.”
Be a Guide, Not a Pushy Salesperson
Rachel Perkins, Founder and Chief Strategist at Venturesome Strategies, offers a simple gut test for personalization: Would a customer find your message helpful in a live interaction?
“Personalization should be a thoughtful guide, not a pushy salesperson,” Perkins says. “Your content should reflect the way a genuinely helpful associate might talk with you in a store, not how a creepy stalker would follow you around.”
That framing matters because it keeps CMOs grounded in the customer experience, not just digital capability. Perkins stresses that while technology can help with information and analysis, it can’t understand what consumers will really value—or what will turn them off.
“Just because you can hyper-personalize with data doesn’t mean you should,” Perkins concludes. “Personalization requires a thoughtful approach.”
Making Personalization Feel Human Again
- Shift from predicting behavior to supporting decisions. Reduce prompts, micro-segments and interruptions so customers feel clarity, control and breathing room.
- Stop mindless tracking; instead, use data to reduce friction. Measure opt-in rates, preference engagement and willingness to voluntarily share your messages over time, not just clicks.
- Practice cognitive empathy by designing for customers’ mental bandwidth. Win by subtraction with clearer communication grounded in human context and consent.
- Clarify choices instead of layering more triggers and variants. Use fewer segments, clearer defaults and customer-controlled preference centers to reduce cognitive load.
- Pressure-test your messaging against real-life helpfulness. Aim for the tone of a genuinely helpful associate, not a pushy salesperson or a “creepy stalker.”
Turn Down the Volume, Turn Up the Trust
The Gartner warning is clear: When personalization starts feeling like pressure, it doesn’t just miss the mark; it changes how customers feel about the brand behind it. Better personalization is less about predicting the next click and more about supporting confident decisions through clarity, consent and usefulness.
Looking ahead, marketing teams who personalize with restraint and intent—using AI where it helps, human judgment where it matters, and customer control as the default—will create messaging consumers value and have confidence in. In a market where attention is expensive and trust is priceless, dialing back the algorithmic noise may be the most strategic move a brand can make.
