Even if you’re not currently using A.I., you’re probably being used by it. If you have any kind of online presence at all, you’ve almost certainly received many emails like this:
“Hi Joe,
I came by your website and really appreciate how insightful your posts are.
Like you, I’m also passionate about marketing automation, and I think there could be a lot of synergies between us.
Let’s keep the conversation going. When can we talk about how Acme can accelerate your sales pipelines and generate 20% more leads?”
No one’s fooled by this. We all know the message is A.I. generated, and that the person who blasted the email (if there is a person behind it) never saw your website, never read your “insightful” posts.
In other words, the personalization is a lie. This pseudo-personalization, intended to build bonds, may actually dissolve them — none of us likes to be played.
And there’s the danger: the glib insincerity of A.I.-created messaging can undermine your most important assets – the relationships you hold with prospects and customers.
How does this happen?
Temptation! In a matter of hours, a salesperson with even modest skills can now apply A.I. agents to scour your data sets or external Internet sources for qualified prospects, craft an email in “your” voice, and distribute it to hundreds or thousands.
Ironically, the better A.I. is at identifying the right prospects, the more damaging the blast can be: you risk putting off the very people you’re most interested in. The risks are even greater when you’re communicating to current customers who expect at least some genuine respect and understanding on your part.
How to stop this from happening
Don’t let your sales teams establish their own automation systems. They are not qualified to manage data, operate the technology, or craft the messaging. That’s marketing’s job. You need to define the list, set the parameters, and create the content.
If you do allow your sales teams greater liberty, then be sure any programs and messaging are reviewed and verified by a qualified marketing leader. And if you really want to say that you’ve visited a site and read its content, it better be true – and you should be prepared to say something relevant about it.
I’m obviously not denying the value of A.I. tools. But it’s precisely because they’re so powerful that they must be managed appropriately. You don’t want to lose the very people you’d like to keep.
How about you? Have you received silly or insincere emails that turned you off? Or have you found ways to turn the tools into successful communicators?
