Why you need to put people at the centre of your digital marketing strategy

However, with this automation of business processes, which were previously handled by employees, comes job losses. The jobs that are most vulnerable are those that require repetitive actions. Tasks on the factory floor and in agriculture are the most vulnerable.

for a number of years we've been seeing simple processes overseas that are being taken over by machines. For example, in Germany we saw EU passports not being scanned by customs officials but rather by biometric scanners.

The complexity of creative thinking

Scientists say that there are three parts of the brain that are involved in creative thinking. These are the frontal cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia that have the following functions:

• attentional control network
• imagination network, and
• attentional flexibility network.

Less-complex tasks involve fewer aspects of the brain and can be mapped using a simple process flow diagram. This ability makes it easier for us to teach computers how to do these sorts of tasks.

In addition, for these simpler tasks the outcome is the same. To use the passport example, the outcome is either to let the person through the gates or to deny them access.

Creative thinking (which is the fundamental skill involved in digital marketing) necessitates many, many processes. In addition, the outcome is not consistent.

Depending on the particular digital marketing campaign that you're designing, your output will be varied. In addition, even across the same type of marketing campaign — such as a Facebook social media marketing campaign — what you come up with will be different as the messaging will need to be varied.

So, when designing your digital marketing campaign, it's vital for people to be responsible for putting together the kernel of the messaging and not machines because if you apply a generic solution (what machines are only able to produce at the moment) your marketing won't stand out from the crowd as it should.

For more information, visit www.digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za. You can also follow the Digital School of Marketing on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.