AI and automation: is this really the future for marketing and sales?

Mark, let's kick off by talking about you.

I'm Mark Bundle. I work in the digital marketing team at Brew Digital, a full-service agency that is part of The Adaptavist Group. Although my title is Senior Email Marketing Manager, I like to call myself the 'email guy'—it's quicker and easier! Although my job title says 'email', I spend a lot of time working with CRM systems, particularly HubSpot, which we use at Brew Digital.


What's your favourite thing about being 'the email guy'?

I love that email is both incredibly old and incredibly new. Our CTO Jon Mort spoke about the staying power of email earlier this year, and they said: '[it's] hardly shocking, especially given its foundation on an open protocol. This openness is unparalleled, enabling us to communicate with anyone, anywhere, hosting our own servers, even. And it's all wrapped in functionality we're all familiar with.' The technology itself hasn't changed much since the 80s—for example, we still work with tables because email clients don't like anything else. But at the same time, you can do really cool stuff now, like using dynamic timers, scratch cards, and interactive elements within the email. So, it's both outdated and innovative, and that's what I love.

Can you tell us about the best email campaign you've seen?

That's tough! One of my favourites was a McDonald's email where they highlighted the features of a new burger and used interactive hotspots within the email. You could click on different areas to learn more about their sustainability efforts, like sourcing patties from British farms. It was an engaging, well-executed campaign. Another example was a shopping cart email that allowed people to complete their purchases directly within the email. I've never seen it live, but I've seen the code, and it's amazing.


What's the best workaround for some of the limitations of email as a platform?

One email I loved was a Halfords email. They worked around the image blocker graphics cleverly by cutting the image into hundreds of tiny parts. If it didn't load, it all stacked up to look like the MOT symbol. Without naming names, I've seen some emails from certain industries that are so image-heavy that if someone has image blockers on, all they see is a blank screen with a broken image icon. It's frustrating, and it's a simple thing to avoid.


What are the benefits of using automation in email marketing?

Automation is absolutely essential, especially for B2C. There are so many emails you need to send out—abandoned carts, account setups, discounts, newsletters, the list goes on. Imagine trying to do all of that manually! Automation saves time and allows for personalisation at scale. You can set up workflows that automatically send emails based on triggers, such as someone starting a purchase but not completing it. It's all about making the process more efficient and personalised. Automation is about making things you should already be doing easier, more personalised, and more effective. This is particularly true when you use dynamic content, which allows emails to be tailored to individual preferences, enhancing engagement and conversion rates. AI gives you a better handle on that. Yes, there is still the risk, and you need to fact-check it yourself, but pulling out multiple metrics from a report is where you'll find real efficiency.


AI is a big topic right now. How do you see it transforming email marketing?

I wouldn't say AI is drastically transforming email marketing strategy—yet. We've had marketing automation for a long time, and AI is just building on that foundation. What AI has done is make everything quicker and easier. For example, HubSpot recently launched Breeze AI CoPilot, which can suggest subject lines, summarise customer interactions, and even help sales teams get a quick overview of a contact's history. AI is making things smoother, but it's not causing seismic shifts in strategy.

But AI is only as good as what we put into it. If we put rubbish in it, it's going to spit out rubbish, and that's our fault, not the AI's. I should mention that Kolekti, part of The Adaptavist Group, has just launched The Adaptavist Group's very first Generative AI platform. It is a really cool solution called narus.ai to help put Generative AI to work with the protection and controls your business deserves. Now, companies will be able to manage those risks.

You mentioned personalisation earlier. How is AI improving the personalisation of emails?

AI isn't revolutionising personalisation, but it's helping collect and process more data, which you can use to personalise your messaging. For example, HubSpot can recognise a customer's previous interactions and prompt new questions based on what you already know about them. That way, you can collect more useful data and personalise emails even further. The best use of AI I've seen is how it summarises contact information, making it easier for sales teams to grasp key details quickly without sifting through messy data. It's not magic, but it makes things more efficient.


Are there any ethical concerns we should be mindful of with AI?

Absolutely. One of the biggest concerns is that most AI models, like the biggest one people are using, are public, which means any data you put into them becomes part of a public resource. You have to be really careful not to feed them confidential information. There's also an environmental concern. I've read that each AI query uses about 20 gallons of water to cool the data centres, although I don't have my source to hand—it's a crazy amount when you think about it.


That's really interesting. How do automation and AI help improve campaign performance?

Automation saves time and improves personalisation, which in turn can improve engagement and conversions. AI can make categorising leads and prospects easier for sales teams. For instance, summarising a client or contact can be difficult when they've moved between companies, have multiple deals, or are linked to custom objects, making it hard for sales teams to get a clear view. In the new CoPilot for HubSpot, you can simply ask for a contact summary to analyse the data and provide a concise overview. This allows salespeople to quickly understand who they're dealing with and make decisions faster. AI also helps pull out insights from data that normally takes hours to sift through manually, allowing for more data-driven decisions.

Do you think AI will change the way businesses approach A/B testing?

Not yet. AI could eventually play a role in test roll-out, but it's still mostly a manual process for now. A/B testing is crucial because it helps refine strategies, and while AI can assist, businesses need to stay hands-on with actual implementation for now. There's a risk of letting AI run unchecked and creating biased results. Humans still need to oversee and guide the process.


Before we wrap up, what advice would you give businesses looking to adopt AI?

My main advice would be to start by asking, 'Do I actually need AI?' Instead of rushing to adopt something new, explore the AI functionalities already available in your current tools. Most tools you're already using—whether it's HubSpot or others—probably have their own AI features. For example, HubSpot's new workflow suggestions feature is a great way to streamline processes without investing in anything new.