How to Balance Automation and the Human Touch

Marketing technology is advancing at such an accelerated pace that it’s hard to keep up and easy to let technology take control. We now have machine learning and AI driving a large part of our marketing platforms.

Whether it’s letting Google or Facebook make our advertising decisions for us or having ChatGPT write all our content (a really bad idea), AI makes our jobs easier. Where is it?

It depends. Are you getting the results you want? Are you safe using AI-generated content? Are you at risk of losing your voice and jeopardizing your online customer engagement? Are you honest?

In this case, honesty means being human, authentic and transparent. And listening to the most important computer in marketing today: the one between your ears.

The mechanisms of modern marketing

In the early days of the web, we were mostly experimenting and trying to figure things out. Even today, with all these tools, many marketers still don’t get the clarity and visibility they need.

We have a saying here at Wellspring Digital: “Rule number one: Don’t trust the tools.” Be wary but check. For example:

Marketing Automation

Platforms like HubSpot, Constant Contact, Marketo and others have opened up all kinds of possibilities for marketers. We can now automate most of our marketing efforts.

We can automate our email campaigns and set up automated drip campaigns using workflows that send messages based on a user’s activity, elapsed time, or other factors. We can use AI-powered chatbots to streamline customer service and online sales.

But this is not a “set it and forget it” situation. We still have to use our brains. Examine the user journey as they interact with your campaigns with some empathy. Use this information to evaluate whether these campaigns will perform as you expect, not just as the machines expect.

In other words, an automated drip campaign is only effective if:

• You’ve done your homework and really understand who your audience is, what their needs/wants are, and how you can get them to take action.
• You’ve developed content that encourages them to convert. It’s about branding using your unique voice, keeping a human touch to your message. Your audience will be able to tell if the AI ​​created your content without any of the above considerations and your campaign will suffer.
• The path you want them to take is clear and you have motivated them enough to want to follow it.

Marketing automation platforms have revolutionized marketing. But as computer enthusiasts always say, “garbage in, garbage out.” These platforms only work if you take the time to plan and execute based on your complete understanding of how your marketing goals and your users’ needs converge.

Dig Deeper: AI Marketing Automation: How It Works and Why Marketers Should Care

PPC: paid search and social media

AI is also used in automated bidding for paid campaigns. Or automatic targeting and AI ad generation. It’s not bad to use these tools. That’s why they are there. But, again, you don’t just hand the keys to Google, Meta or whatever.

You really have to know your audience, because machines don’t. Take the time to check which words/phrases/themes you should bid on.

Take a more holistic approach. Develop your buyer personas. Engage in SEO so you know which terms you can rank for versus those you will need to bid on and which terms are a waste of time.

Understand how your audience uses social media. Think through the ads, get a complete picture of what will grab their attention, and encourage them to take action.

Develop realistic user journey will help you verify that AI is making the best decisions for your advertising campaigns. If you set it and forget it, there’s a good chance you’ll blow your budget with nothing to show for it.

There are definitely benefits to martech

Do not mistake yourself. There are definite advantages to kowtowing to our robotic marketing overlords. These modern marketing mechanisms can, if used correctly, make us better marketers.

This can also be used to better serve our customers. And that’s my point.

Efficiency and scalability

In today’s ocean of marketing channels and advertising opportunities, most teams struggle to keep up or know where to start. AI is a great idea generator. If you’re working on a blog topic, use a tool like ChatGPT as an idea generator. Or use it to develop an outline for your message. You still need to do the work and develop real, meaningful content.

AI and marketing automation platforms can enable a team of one or two people to do marketing that previously required a team of ten. Automated messaging, social media scheduling/monitoring, and advertising automation can improve campaign effectiveness while allowing the team to scale, expand into more channels, and try different messages and advertisements.

Data-Driven Decision Making

And all of these tools scrape tons of useful data while doing your job for you. Data is stupid, and on its own it rarely tells a complete story. You need to compare the data from these tools with the data in your head and that of your team members.

Data-driven decision making is only as good as the data you use. If you look at this data and make a bad call, you will get a bad result. Pay attention to what the data tells you and how strategically you act on it. Engage your humanity to fill the empty spaces.

Personalization and targeting

AI and marketing technology allow marketers to target much more precise audiences. And this technology makes customization much easier than before.

Using AI, for example, you can analyze your subscriber list and identify specific purchasing habits or needs. You can then segment your list and deliver more targeted messages or offers to a smaller, more specific segment of your audience.

The goal is not to be scary. The goal is to respond more specifically to what everyone wants. They will feel “seen” and be more inclined to take action. They’re starting to expect it.

Dig Deeper: 3 steps to make AI work for you

Your AI Honesty Checklist

You can automate to the point of being boring if you’re not careful. Your audience will ignore you or mark you as spam.

And AI content may seem cold or formulaic, which will hinder your customer engagement. People don’t want to feel like they’re dealing with a machine.

People want to work with other people and feel seen. There is a real risk of alienating your customers with each gradual loss of authenticity.

“Open-hearted” marketing means engaging your audience as a human being, with empathy. Here’s a quick checklist to review when using AI and machine learning to expand and automate your marketing efforts.

Open-Heart Marketing Checklist

• What audience is it aimed at?
  • Have you compared this effort to your buyer personas?
  • Is this something that will resonate positively with them?
  • Will they act based on your understanding of them from your previous personality work and customer interactions?
• Is it you?
  • Is it on brand? Do I feel like it’s coming from your brand?
  • Is it authentic? Does this seem human?
• Is it honest?
  • Did you or a member of your team write it?
  • If not, is it written or created in a way that makes it seem like it came from your team?
  • Is this your content and not borrowed from someone without permission? (AI content as is can often be taken from another source, creating plagiarism issues.)
• Will they feel seen?
  • How empathetic is that?
  • Will they read or see this content or ad and feel like it was written for them with their needs in mind?
• Will this motivate them to act?
  • Honestly, get in their heads. Will they care? Will this move the needle with them?
  • Think about their experience and ask yourself, “Will this solve their problem, scratch their itch?”

This should be a quick spot check based on public sentiment, experience and knowledge. Over time, it will become shorthand for all your marketing reviews.

Embrace authenticity, practice empathy, and prioritize real human connection. These tools are intended to support, not replace, these core values.