6 Pieces of Marketing You Should Never Automate

When you experience a personal touch from a business, you take notice, right?

A personal call from a company you did business with, and they’re not trying to upsell you.

A quick email reply from the owner or founder within minutes of your email.

A handwritten card along with a payment.

In a world that’s trying to automate automate automate, where can you unautomate, slow down, and connect more deeply with people?

This is a question that’s been on my mind lately. Forever the self-improvement junkie, I’m always looking for ways to do everything better. This includes the food I eat, the coffee I drink, how I show up to serve.

Better does not mean faster.

How many articles have you read lately about how to automate your customer intake process? My process might be a little slower, but it’s going to be different for every single person and company I work with in my copywriting and coaching business.

Go manual for a high-touch client experience.

I am not going to put you in a box.

One of the biggest reasons I do this writing work is to feel good about what I do. When I slow down and do everything with intention, it makes me feel good. I can then make the people I work with feel good, and then we can all sit around a campfire and sing songs.

I completely and fully realize automation is a business and tech tool, but please, do it consciously. Automation is helping people to spend less time on social media, and it’s good for website clicks. People set up automation so they make money while they’re sleeping. But at what cost?

The humanness is missing from our interactions.

There’s so much noise online, and by automating, you’re adding to it; and worse, you might be showing up in an inauthentic and totally icky way.

There are things that I will not automate. As a consumer, when I’m the recipient of certain kinds of automation, I quite often unfollow or unsubscribe.

Here’s what’s on my automation shit list:

1. Automatic follow-backs on Twitter. This is when, if you follow someone, their Twitter account automatically follows you back.

2. Automated direct messages on Twitter and LinkedIn. “Thanks for following me! Check out my website! [link to their website]”

3. Email auto-reply and out of office responders. If you’re going to email me back in a few days, there is absolutely no need to do this. Autoresponders are adding to the inbox noise. If you’re going to send one because you’ll be away for a while, at least make it fun.

4. Email sequences. When you get an automated series of emails fired off at you every single day. The writing and marketing tactics might be spot on. I also know that after a handful of emails, you’re going to try to sell me something.

5. Automated social media posts. I’ve seen some businesses constantly promote the same products and ads over and over. When a business has an oddly timed post, maybe after a natural disaster or big world event, it can feel totally out of place. Like you’re over there yelling at everyone, while everyone else is focused on that big world event.

6. Handwritten notes that aren’t written by you. When I discovered an online service that sends handwritten notes to your family, friends clients, I wanted to cry. If you are so busy that you can’t spend 5 minutes writing a quick thank you card or birthday card for your grandma, what in the world is the point of it all?

Automation has a time and a place, and if it’s not making your life better, or happier, then what’s the point?

Unautomate and connect.