Elon Musk has already made it clear AI is going to take over and replace us entirely at some point. It’s true that technological advancements have made automation the new norm across almost every conceivable industry. Hopefully, we’re still a long way off from any dystopian robot overlord-containing future. For now, computers are still working for us – and for many of us, it’s in the form of automated marketing.
Automating some of your processes can be a genius-level move, saving you time and money and helping you to be more responsive to potential leads and existing patients. But before you pat yourself on the back, let’s make sure you’re not going too far with the whole automation thing. Do your part to improve your odds of gaining new patients (and help stave off the imminent robot takeover) by taking a balanced approach to marketing automation.
When Automation Gets Annoying
Go overboard with automation and you’ll drive your potential patients away with great efficiency. Automation is supposed to make less work for you and improve your reach, not stress you out and send your leads running in the opposite direction. Email blasts are great, but they shouldn’t be done too often—and they should be done carefully. Nobody’s saving time if you’re sending out corrections, apologies and otherwise doing damage control from rushing out a poorly automated e-blast every other day.
Good Automation Needs a Solid Foundation
Sure, automation enhances your marketing strategy. But what if your marketing strategy is terrible? Automation is meant to enrich your existing marketing strategy. It is not meant to BE your marketing strategy. If your marketing game is weak, automating it will just magnifying all that awfulness. Before you start automating, make sure you have the quality content and solid strategies to support it.
I. Am. A. Ro-bot.
Here’s the thing about automated content: it shouldn’t seem automated. While we’re cool with letting robots vacuum our floors or (eventually) drive us around, it turns out we don’t really like talking to them. And there’s also that whole robots turning against us thing. For whatever reasons, humans still prefer the company of other humans. Personalized replies are much more likely to impress a curious potential patient, and emails that don’t seem auto-generated always get a better response in this spam-weary day and age.
More Automation Isn’t Always Better
This is one of those “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” things. It’s kind of like cosmetic surgery. The most beautiful results complement or enhance a person’s natural beauty; they aren’t over-the-top or “fake.” Think of marketing automation in the same way, if you will. A great marketing automation strategy is one that complements and enhances your overall marketing plan.
You can’t fake being authentic. That’s kind of the whole point of authenticity. People don’t want to feel like they’re getting some kind of pre-packaged marketing script when they reach out to you. Look alive out there. We can’t let the robots win.
