## The Attentive Marketer Pulse: A Blueprint for High-Performing Messaging Programs

We surveyed 208 Attentive customers in our latest Marketer Pulse to uncover how top-performing programs are becoming more coordinated, personalized, and intentionally built for stronger results.

### 68% of brands improved messaging performance YoY. The data shows what separates them from the brands that didn’t.

Louder marketing is no longer the answer. Bigger discounts, generic batch-and-blast sends, repetition across channels—these aren’t the path to profitable growth.

**The goal for 2026? Efficient growth.**

The pressure is coming from both directions: Brands’ costs are rising and shoppers are being [more deliberate about how they spend](/content/blog/april-2026-attentive-consumer-pulse/index.html).

To understand what that looks like in practice, we surveyed **208** Attentive customers in March 2026 about their marketing strategies, priorities, and messaging tactics. What emerged is a clear playbook: the best programs are more coordinated, more personalized, and more deliberately built.

### TL; DR: What separates high-performing messaging programs

Before we unpack all of the findings, here’s what the data shows sets apart high-performing messaging programs from the rest:

1. **They personalize to drive revenue.** Brands that personalize are **3.5x** as likely to see improved messaging performance year-over-year.
2. **They send more—but keep it relevant.** **56%** of higher-performing brands increased message frequency year-over-year.
3. **They coordinate across channels.** The more coordinated a brand’s communications are across channels, the more likely they are to report **improved performance.**
4. **They invest in identity resolution.** **79%** of brands actively investing in identity resolution report improved performance.
5. **They use discounts deliberately.** Higher-performing brands lean on targeted and personalized content to drive engagement.
6. **They're protecting SMS inbox placement for iOS 26.** Using Attentive’s two-tap ™ sign-up units is the **#1** way to ensure they show up in subscribers’ main inbox.
7. **They're building for AI discovery.** **83%** of marketers are improving their chances of showing up in LLM conversations.

### Big-picture strategy: Balancing profitability and market share while lifting core metrics

In 2026, **profitable growth** is the focus—and means improving conversion, [list growth](/content/tags/list-growth/index.html), engagement, and retention while protecting both margin and market share.

### 89% of brands seek profitability in 2026

Marketers’ focus in 2026:
- **54%** are balancing profitability and market share equally
- **35%** are primarily focused on profitability and margin stability
- **8%** are prioritizing market share and customer volume

Overall, **89% say profitability is at least part of their 2026 strategy.**

### The core challenges tied to profitable growth: conversions, list growth, engagement, and retention

To grow sustainably, brands are focusing on improving four core metrics:
- **50%:** Conversion rate
- **43%:** List growth
- **38%:** Customer engagement
- **33%:** LTV/retention

### Messaging execution: Higher frequency and sharper targeting correlate with better performance

**68% of marketers** say their messaging program performance has improved since last year.

#### Higher-performing brands send more messages per subscriber—but they have to be relevant

Nearly half of brands ( **46%**) are sending more messages per subscriber year over year.

### Engagement gains come from targeting, behavioral triggers, and stronger content

| % of marketers | Most effective engagement strategies |
| --- | --- |
| **72%** | Better targeting/segmentation |
| **45%** | Using behavioral triggers |
| **44%** | Stronger creative & copy |
| **35%** | Personalizing message content |
| **25%** | Optimizing journey timing |

### Personalization: Brands that personalize are 3.5x as likely to see performance gains—and AI makes it easier to scale

**69% of brands that personalize their marketing saw improved messaging performance year over year.**

### Cross-channel coordination: Connected programs see better results

**The more coordinated programs become across channels, the more likely a brand is to see year-over-year performance improvements.**

### Identity resolution: Customer recognition gives brands a performance lift—but most are underinvesting

**79% of brands actively investing in identity resolution report improved messaging performance year over year.**

### Staying visible in iOS26: Known Sender status protects SMS success

Apple’s [iOS 26](/content/blog/ios-26-explained-for-marketers/index.html) introduced changes to how text messages are displayed in the iPhone Messages app. **81%** of marketers are already working on this—and there's a clear playbook for earning Known Sender status.

### AI is the breakout discovery channel of 2026: LLM playbooks are a priority as AI referrals drive higher-intent traffic

Shoppers are increasingly turning to AI assistants before they turn to search engines. According to the [January 2026 Attentive Consumer Pulse](/content/blog/january-2026-attentive-consumer-pulse/index.html), [70% of consumers used AI to help them shop](/content/blog/january-2026-attentive-consumer-pulse/index.html) in the previous three months.

The brands improving their messaging performance in 2026 aren’t doing something radically different. They’re making more intentional decisions about the fundamentals:
- Protecting margin with selective offers instead of defaulting to sitewide discounts.
- Sending more messages—but earning that spot in the inbox with more relevance.
- Building the identity infrastructure that makes personalization and coordination work.
  
## Methodology

In March 2026, Attentive surveyed 208 users of the Attentive platform to find out how they’re shifting their marketing strategies and adapting to industry changes.