Caution, automation!

What happens when the golem rises up against its creator

While AI algorithms can be super smart and save you a ton of work, they're still no substitute for human intelligence, and those who over-rely on them could find themselves paying heavy prices

Ditza Kern

07/26/2022

Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 5:42 p.m. Updated: 9:32 p.m.

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Expert opinion and the Facebook group of the marketing channel in Vala (photo: photo processing, Yaron Other)

Marketing automation is one of the most powerful growth engines that exist today in the field of business development.

It optimizes the workflow and operation and saves valuable time.

Routine operations that once required a lot of manpower and resources are now done by bots with uncompromising quality and without human error.

But alongside the indisputable advantages of automation, a lot of things can go wrong when you don't work with it correctly.

So, so you don't say we didn't warn you, here are some examples of cases where automation can really hurt your business (written inspired by PPC Hero).

Artificial intelligence - not what you thought (photo: Unsplash)

Loss of control over sponsored campaigns

Automated systems that set ad bids based on how likely they are to get clicks and conversions, like the one offered by Google, can be very tempting given the amount of work and expertise required to arrive at accurate bids.

But alongside their many benefits, running set-and-forget campaigns based on these bids can cost you dearly if you use them out of control.

In fact, over-reliance on these types of automated assessments will take you out of control of your campaigns.

Google's algorithms are indeed smart, but its interests are protected with it.

When you do your own evaluation, you can know more precisely why a certain campaign succeeded or failed.

When Google sets the bid, you can never know the set of considerations that led it to set the bid, and therefore you have less control over the campaign.

Our recommendation is to treat automatic price offers as a recommendation only, as part of your overall set of considerations, and not as a Torah from Sinai.

Customer spam

Automated systems for sending updates and messages to customers can be a lifesaver for businesses trying to optimize their service and maintain continuous contact with customers.

However, sending too many automated messages can do more harm than good.

No one likes to be bombarded with messages, even if they are valuable.

Therefore, if you manage a website or application, and you have automatic triggers for sending messages, try to reduce them to the minimum necessary, and put emphasis on quality instead of quantity.

When you have something really important to say, there are more chances that people will open the email if it is not preceded by another 100 unnecessary ones.

Losing touch with your target audience

One of the most prominent trends today in the field of automation is the ability to personalize messages based on actions the customer takes or questions he raises. While automation and artificial intelligence can certainly help with this, there is a very thin line that separates the use of automation to run the business and completely ignoring your customers.

For example, suppose you created Automation where every customer who asks about X will get a Y answer. As soon as a customer asks a slightly less standard question, and the system gives him the same answer, he may feel that he is being underestimated or that he is not being listened to. Remember that to every rule there is an exception, so even if it seems that there is You have an automatic answer to every question, can always surprise you.

Although your customers probably also understand the value of automation, people still want to know that they are dealing with real people.

If they feel like they can't connect with a human being on the other side of the screen, they may lose confidence in your business.

Therefore, it is worth taking a look at your conversations at least once a day, refreshing your message database, and always remaining available for customers to handle non-trivial cases.

Embarrassing mistakes on social media

True, social media marketing requires a lot of actions that can be really exhausting.

At the same time, automated posts on networks are very easy to spot, and usually they look quite ridiculous. If the main purpose of posting on networks is to engage and interact with potential customers, you cannot afford to make bot

mistakes. Such mistakes can be, for example, Addressing a woman in the masculine language, using archaic phrases that have long since fallen out of use in the language, or writing in a style that doesn't match your brand's language are all types of shooting yourself in the foot that will sabotage your efforts to generate engagement and interest.

If you really can't handle the social media marketing aspects of your business, it's better to hire a professional to do it over an automation system.

This doesn't mean you can't use automation to publish your content, but if you want to see real results for your efforts, it's better not to rely on automation alone, and always proofread the messages you put out.

Not enough optimization

Once in a while, even the best automations can get out of sync, or at the very least, become obsolete.

Therefore, a good automation is one that you have periodically optimized and adapted to the spirit of the times.

Therefore, it is important that you make sure that the systems you work with are adapted to the current climate and the current criteria of what you want to achieve.

Information security is one of those areas where over-reliance on automation can cost you heavily.

Hackers and thieves never sleep, and they are constantly finding new ways to break into your security systems.

Manually optimizing your security systems periodically is the only way to ensure that your customers' data and their personal information remains confidential and protected.

In conclusion

Marketing automation is a great way to optimize your business;

However, it is important to maintain proportion and remember that this is only a utility and not a business model.

As long as your customers are human, automation can never replace your hard work, personal involvement and attention.

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