Marketing automation checklist: what to automate, what first and what stays human

The checklist at a glance

Work through the three parts in order. Each one takes a few minutes, and each one can stop you from automating the wrong thing:

• Part 1, is this process ready to automate? Five checks on the process itself.
• Part 2, what should you automate first? A simple way to rank the candidates that pass Part 1.
• Part 3, what should stay human? The steps that keep a person in the loop, even in a fully automated process.

Part 1: Is this process ready to automate?

A process is ready when all five of these are true:

• It starts with a clear trigger: a form submission, a deal stage change, a date or a new row. If nobody can say what starts it, an automation can't either.
• The steps are the same every time: if the steps change with every case, write down the standard version first.
• The exceptions can be listed: a short list of known exceptions can be handled or sent to a person; an open-ended list means the process isn't settled.
• The data already lives in a tool: the fields the automation needs are in the CRM, a form or a spreadsheet, not in someone's head or inbox.
• Missing it has a real cost: a slow follow-up, a wrong report or a missed deadline. If nothing happens when the step is skipped, it may not need automating at all.

Missing a box? Fix the process first

Automating an unsettled process usually creates more work, not less: the automation runs the confusion faster and adds a tool to maintain. Write down the trigger, the steps and the exceptions, agree on the standard version with the people who do the work, then run Part 1 again.

Part 2: What should you automate first?

Rank every process that passed Part 1 with two questions, then build one automation at a time:

1. 01List the repetitive tasks that passed Part 1.
2. 02Note how often each one happens: daily, weekly or monthly.
3. 03Note what a miss costs: a lost lead, a late handoff, a report nobody trusts.
4. 04Rank them by how often it happens multiplied by the cost of a miss.
5. 05Start with the top one only, and run it for a few weeks before you build the next.

Part 3: What should stay human?

Automation handles the repeatable steps. These stay with a person, even when everything around them is automated:

• Anything that goes to a client: an automation can draft it and queue it; a person reviews it and sends it.
• Signing, deleting or publishing: steps you can't undo get a person's approval.
• Decisions to keep, change or stop something: reports surface the numbers; people decide what to do about them.
• Steps that change every time: a judgment call has no stable rule to automate.
• Approving any AI output: AI can write a first draft; a person checks the facts, the tone and the names before it goes anywhere.

Before you switch it on: a launch checklist

Once you've picked the first process and built it, check these before it runs on real records:

• Name an owner: one person receives the error alerts and approves changes.
• Test with sample records: include a duplicate and a record with blank fields.
• Prevent duplicates: search for an existing record before creating a new one.
• Alert on failures: a failed run should notify the owner, not fail silently.
• Write a one-page runbook: what it does, where it runs, which accounts it uses and how to pause it.
• Keep accounts company-owned: connections should belong to a company account, not one person's login.

Get the three-page PDF

The PDF version has checkboxes for printing or sharing with your team. It's a direct download: no form and no email address. If you'd rather answer questions on screen, the 2-minute assessment suggests where to start based on your answers.