If something that needs doing can be done for me, or someone can simply tell me what I need to know without me hunting for it, count me in. But not every brand or service gets automation right - here's a personal rundown of who does, and who doesn't.
Key findings
- Good automation works because it's built on a genuinely accurate understanding of behaviour - not generic guesswork.
- The best examples (a credit card app surfacing relevant offers, a parking app handling payment and notifications automatically) save real time without adding friction.
When Automation Works
A credit card provider that knows spending patterns well enough to surface genuinely relevant offers, rather than generic ones, earns its place. A parking app that lets you schedule and pay in advance, suggests where you'll find a space based on your location, and proactively notifies you when a top-up is needed removes friction rather than adding it - this is what good automation should feel like: invisible until it's useful.
The Marketing Lesson
The same principle applies directly to marketing automation. When it's built on genuine knowledge of a contact's behaviour and acts on it sensibly, it feels helpful rather than intrusive. Get the targeting wrong, or rely on guesswork instead of real data, and it just becomes more noise - the exact opposite of what automation is meant to achieve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes automation genuinely good rather than annoying?
Good automation tells you something useful without you having to go looking for it, and acts on real, accurate knowledge of your behaviour - rather than generic, poorly-targeted nudges that feel like noise.
Andrew Nicholson
Co-founder & CEO at Kulea. Guest lecturer in digital psychology and behavioural economics at the University of Buckingham.