It was 2019, I found myself sitting in a large audience listening to the speakers at the search marketing expo in San Jose, California. They were going on about the frustrations of automation and how we (marketers) were losing control over our advertising thanks to Google’s technological advances in bidding, dynamic options, and responsive ad variations that were pushing expanded text ads (ETAs) out for good.
It seemed daunting at first. I had just landed a job where I was managing a few hundred thousand dollars through Google ads and I wanted to make sure I was well posed to continue delivering exceptional results for my employers and contracts. But here I was being told that my job was potentially at risk by technology and that automation would continue outperforming a human.
Well, needless to say, I was nervous. What would I do if I computer took my job? What did I just spend years working on and getting better at if I were to be put out of a job in the next few? It seems silly now but at the present moment, I was a bit pessimistic about my future in marketing.
Marketing automation isn’t a replacement for jobs but a replacement for tasks. With the use of automation, my job pivoted and my skillset grew. And it makes sense that it will stay that way because ultimately we are marketing to humans, not computers. We will always need human minds, creativity, and problem-solving to craft marketing messages and leverage technology to reach the right person at the right time with the right message.
So I’m not nervous. I just remind myself this is why I got into marketing, to begin with. Digital marketing evolves so fast and moves so quickly that I am forced to keep my student mentality to learn and grow with it.
If you’re feeling like I did back in 2019, don’t be (easier said than done). Because as long as you’re willing to stay educated and learn, there will always be new things to try.