Performance Marketing

Performance marketing is being reshaped by AI on two fronts simultaneously: the tools used to optimize campaigns and the channels through which conversions happen. Michaels' reported success with a Google-powered AI shopping assistant — claiming double the conversion rate of traditional search — is a striking data point that will reverberate through retail media and performance marketing circles. It validates the thesis that AI-mediated discovery is becoming a genuine conversion channel, not just a top-of-funnel curiosity. At the same time, the agentic commerce discussion surfaced at Beet.TV raises the stakes for performance marketers: if LLMs develop persistent memory and begin making purchase recommendations based on prior interactions, first-mover brands that establish positive AI associations now could enjoy compounding advantages that are difficult for late entrants to overcome.