In today’s rapidly evolving digital environment, automation and artificial intelligence have reshaped how businesses approach marketing. These technologies have capabilities to streamline monotonous tasks, generate timely data-driven insights and enhance user experience. It’s exactly what we need to make our businesses more efficient right now as costs of doing business rise. However, as companies rush to adopt the latest tools, we see two vital elements at risk of being left behind: the human factor and strategy.
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation refers to software that handles routine marketing tasks without the need for human interaction, such as email marketing, social media posting and lead nurturing. Some popular platforms include HubSpot, Mailchimp and Klayvio, all of which enable businesses to increase consistency, efficiency, and scalability. Automating repetitive tasks frees up time and decreases workload, so you can devote more time to developing creative and strategic initiatives.
Pitfalls to be aware of:
1. Robotic Messaging That Misses the Mark
Automation can make your content feel cold and generic. If you’re not injecting personality or tailoring the tone, your audience will scroll past – or worse, unsubscribe. People connect with people, not bots.
2. Over-Automating Without Strategy
Just because you can automate a sequence doesn’t mean you should. Without a clear customer journey or funnel strategy behind it, you’re just sending noise into inboxes with no direction or outcome.
3. Ignoring Real-Time Customer Needs
Automation runs on rules, not real-world nuance. A set and forget system in marketing is never a good idea as customer’s situations change constantly, as does the market and without human oversight, you risk losing warm leads through slow or tone-deaf responses.
4. No Personal Follow-Up
Many businesses forget to bridge the automation with personal touchpoints. Automation might get attention, but relationships close deals. Skipping the human follow-up leaves money on the table and is one of the biggest challenges we see going forward as stats show 63% of people between 20-43 are anxious to pick up the phone and have a conversation.
5. Lack of Empathy or Context
Automated emails and messages can sometimes be set up to hit at the wrong time or in the wrong order (for example: during a crisis or sensitive period) because they lack emotional intelligence. Without someone checking in strategically, it’s easy to sound tone-deaf or out of sync, and reputationally, this is not good for your Brand.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence tools have revolutionised marketing practices. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Heygen help marketers and small businesses generate copy, brainstorm ideas and even create graphics and photo-realistic images (although there’s still a lot of work to do here). AI enables faster decision-making, saves valuable time and money and uncovers hidden insights.
Pitfalls to be aware of:
1. It Sounds Smart, But Says Nothing
AI can spit out polished-sounding content… but without a human guiding the message, it often lacks depth, relevance, or real insight. You end up with surface-level, generic fluff, that doesn’t actually connect or convert. Take note when you are reading posts, you will see the following words a lot: “elevate,” “top-notch,” “empower,” “seamless,” “solutions.” Now you will see these words everywhere 😊.
2. Your Brand Voice is Lost As is Your USP
Without a human filtering for tone, you risk sounding like everyone else. Your unique brand personality — the thing that makes people trust you — gets flattened into generic AI-speak .
3. No Strategy = Wasted Tools
AI is a tool, not a plan. If you’re using it without a clear strategy (target audience, offer, goals, customer journey, conversion metrics), you’re just automating chaos. The result? Lots of busy work, little return.
4. Missing the Emotional Intelligence
AI can’t read the room or doesn’t identify opportunities or trends in the market right now. It won’t know if your audience is burnt out, going through a tough time, or just needs a softer touch. Without human oversight, messaging can feel tone-deaf or awkward.
5. You Automate the Wrong Things
Not everything should be automated. Handing over key touchpoints like onboarding, relationship building, or conflict resolution, to AI can make your business feel cold and untrustworthy.
Customer Experience
When it comes to customer experience, data tells us that consumers want more than automation – they want simplicity in a digital landscape that often feels anything but. Data shows that 74 per cent of visitors are likely to return to a site with good mobile UX (user experience). Additionally, 90 per cent of users say they’re more likely to keep using a brand that prioritises good UX when compared to a brand that doesn’t, regardless of their product offering. Automation and AI can certainly help support the increasing demand for simple, intuitive digital journeys, but only humans can ensure design truly meets customer expectations.
Let’s be honest, if you have to click too many times, you are out of there.
The future of marketing lies in striking the right balance between technological efficiency and human insight. Automation and AI provide the tools, but it is humans that breathe life into a strong strategic plan and into build meaningful connections. Businesses that can find the balance are the ones best positioned to lead in an increasingly competitive, customer-focused environment.
Technology might fuel the journey, however, humans and strategic thinking and planning will always be sitting in the driver’s seat.
A Missing Link: The “Human Experience Factor”
Even the most sophisticated tech can’t replicate human empathy or intuition – the “human factor”. With the popularity of automation and AI, many businesses risk falling short of the human touch brands have succeeded with until this point. The truth is, we don’t know yet whether AI can truly replicate human skills and expertise. We do know that human-driven strategies have consistently delivered results thus far, and we mustn’t lose sight of this in pursuit of innovation.
In Australia, the median age of a marketing professional is 35 years old, and they typically have seven years of experience in the industry. What’s more, only five per cent of the marketing workforce is aged over 50 – significantly lower than the national workforce average which sits at 19 per cent. The lack of age diversity may be limiting deeper, experience-driven insight that comes along with time spent in the industry. Emerging marketing professionals may be missing valuable mentorship from seasoned professionals, instead turning to AI to develop their skills.
A Missing Link: Strategic Planning
While automation and AI can help you do more, faster, it’s strategic planning that ensures you’re doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.
Without a clear roadmap, even the best tech becomes a distraction. Strategic planning is the human brain behind the machine — it connects your tools to your goals, aligns your messaging with your customer journey, and ensures your brand doesn’t just show up, but shows up meaningfully.
It’s about asking the bigger questions:
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- What do we want to be known for?
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- Who exactly are we speaking to?
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- What’s the real problem we’re solving?
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- And how do we measure success — not just clicks and likes, but real impact?
In a tight market like Queensland’s, where competition is high and budgets are tight, strategy isn’t a luxury — it’s the lifeline. It allows you to make confident decisions, invest wisely, and adapt quickly.
When AI and automation are paired with clear strategic thinking, that’s when the magic happens. It’s not just about scaling – it’s about scaling with purpose.
So yes, lean into the tools. Use the tech. Embrace the new.
But never stop thinking.
Finding that your marketing is not filling your pipeline or converting as you would like? Let’s have a strategic conversation about why. Contact Michelle today at michelle@ohmarketing.com.au or call 0438 765 718.
