Description: Marketers sceptical about automation in marketing cite a lack of personalization as a cause for their scepticism. We discuss the two buzzwords of marketing.
Automation vs Personalization
We are, currently, at the edge. Of what, no one’s really sure. Hunter S Thompson once said that only those who go over the edge know what the edge really is.
Using the same principle, we cannot seriously predict what the edge is with a technology like AI. Are we ready to work with machines who can think for themselves? Perhaps not, but it doesn’t matter. Even if we are not ready, we will have to adapt. Technology, like time, doesn’t wait for people to adapt and be ready. It disrupts industries and moves on.
Unlike AI, we have seen the impact of automation in many industries. Marketing has welcomed automation with open arms. Large parts of marketing were earlier highly laborious and redundant. With the help of automated tools to help with certain aspects of marketing, marketers are free to invest their time in more important parts of their job which deserve greater attention.
What is Automation?
Before going into a deeper discussion about automation, it is important to define what it is.
Automation, put simply, is a process performed with minimalistic human input. While it was viewed as a way to manufacture physical goods with greater efficiency, it has since found a way to impact many other fields, including marketing.
In general, automation is used in areas where there is a lot of repetition.
Since automation is essentially a one size fits all approach to whichever field it enters, it is valid to ask whether its increased presence in marketing would impact factors like personalization.
It doesn’t take a genius marketer to explain the need for personalization. In a world where people seek distinction and exclusivity, personalization becomes an essential part of a marketing campaign.
If automation represents the future of marketing, does personalization have no place in marketing? Are we finally reaching a point where there is no need for a human touch?
Also see: Why AI and Machine Learning Should Scare Digital Marketers?
Understanding the Roles Clearly
With increase in automation across every level of a marketing campaign, the level of personalization is bound to come down. Since automation is not something we can turn back from now, the question really is how much do we let automation become a part of automation?
There are some areas where automation can really be of great help. In other areas though, an actual human marketer or marketing team is needed to decide the direction to take.
There are many areas automation lags in. Personalization is an obvious area where automation cannot produce the right results. All customers will never connect to one simple marketing message. No secret sauce in the world can help create automated marketing messages to reach a large audience.
Another interesting trend is how much a regular customer values personalized messages. Think about the last time you called up a customer care number and waited until you talked to an actual human being. Wasn’t the process frustrating? Customers still like to have the voice of a human being at the other end of the phone.
This is clearly an area where automation cannot be relied on. The need of the hour is not to think about who will win between automation and personalization, but instead how these two can be balanced for the best possible results.
How Can Automation and Personalization be Used Together?
It really isn’t very difficult to see how automation and personalization can be used together for the best possible results. While excessive use of automation can cause personalization to suffer, the right balance can help any marketing campaign gain a significant edge. In the three following points, we will see how automation and personalization can be used together in a marketing campaign-
- Segmentation
One area where automation is really helpful is segmentation. Taking large samples of an audience and breaking down into smaller clusters is something a digital marketer would generally take a lot of time to do.
Segmentation is the process of dividing a large audience into smaller segments. This division takes place based on a number of different factors such as location, age, education, interests, historical factors, cultural factors, and sociological factors. Other more powerful factors can include interests of the audience, activity of users on social media, and areas visited by users on a brand website (the brand being promoted).
With automation, digital marketers can segment large audiences into smaller groups in a small period of time. This is a very important part of every marketing campaign.
- Messaging
Based upon the different segments in which the audience is divided, marketers have to figure out the right messaging strategy. This is the part of the process where automation has to take a backseat and marketers have to create cutting edge personalized marketing messages.
Each segment of the audience will point to certain common attributes. These attributes have to be the main deciding factor in framing the right message for the given segment of the audience.
- Monitoring
Once the message is sent out through a channel best suited for a given segment, the next part of a campaign is to be monitored both through automation and human analysis. Automation helps collect data in a marketing campaign and digital marketers can help draw conclusions based upon the data.
Reacting to Shifts in Modern Day Marketing
Automation will not be the last technology changing the digital marketing landscape. AI is slated to bring a whole host of changes in every field of work fathomable. How will digital marketers react to AI then? Would there again be talk of personalization going down the drain?
A marketer must embrace any change that improves a marketing process. Rather than figuring out their own position as marketers, professionals should instead analyse how new tech can be used to create new opportunities in marketing.
Do check: what is Digital Marketing?
In Conclusion
In conclusion, this article covers how personalization and automation are interlinked and can be used for sustainable growth in marketing.
About the Author – Well known in the digital marketing industry, Gaurav Heera is a trainer and entrepreneur with more than ten years of experience in the field. He currently heads work at DelhiCourses.in, an institute best known for its digital marketing course in Delhi.
