Deb at Zapier, here to talk about how much I hate when people automate emails that should be personalized: messages from recruiters, requests to guest post on our blog, stuff like that. Those are things that you really need to personalize for each recipient (beyond a well-placed {{name}} token, I mean). You can have a template, for sure, but don't let a robot hit send.
Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't use automation to help with the process. Chris Mitchell from Intelus Agency found the happiest of mediums, combining automation and the human touch. He uses Zapier to let his team know in Slack whenever someone accepts a LinkedIn request. Then, he says:
We then write our own follow-up notes, since those absolutely should be personalized, coming from a human. The automation allows us to speed up our follow-up process without turning into a soulless robot.
His words, not mine. But also mine.
There are plenty of other things you shouldn't automate: relationships, for example. But email is one of those things where people seem to think being a "soulless robot," as Chris put it, is ok. It's not. Please be a human if you send me an email.
How have you found the balance between human and robot? Let me know in the comments, and we might feature you on the Zapier blog!