Set it and forget it. Campaigns that run themselves

By Nathan Prout, Account Director at Force24.

We’ve all seen the social media gurus promising financial freedom with a ‘side hustle.’ Dropshipping, crypto trading, and affiliate marketing. They’re all chasing the dream of making money while they sleep. 

But here’s a thought: what if your marketing strategy, specifically email, could achieve what a side hustle claims to? Not in the gimmicky “get-rich-quick” way that usually has a catch, but by “working smarter, not harder” and is legitimate.  

Marketing in the Attention Economy 

We live in an attention economy. Your customers are constantly bombarded with messages. If your marketing isn’t working for you in the background, you’re already behind. Yet, for many in-house marketers, email marketing still feels like a relic from the past, and we get it. The industry evolves rapidly, and keeping up can feel overwhelming. 

After 12 years in email marketing, I’ve seen it all! I’ve seen shifting audience expectations to inbox policies getting tighter. But one thing has remained the same: the marketers who adapt win, and those who stick to outdated tactics don’t. 

The worst offenders? Batch-and-blast emails. You know the type. It’s one generic message, fired out to thousands, with no segmentation, no automation, and no multi-channel approach. It’s like opening a shop and hoping people just stumble in. 

The stats prove it. Research from Litmus shows that 42% of marketers still send the same email to all subscribers, missing key engagement opportunities. 

The Smarter Side Hustle: Automation & Integration 

The reality is email marketing doesn’t have to be a manual slog. By integrating your marketing automation platform with the right data sources such as CRM, website behaviour, purchase history you can set up intelligent workflows that run in the background—doing the work while you focus on big-picture strategy. 

These workflows become your marketing side hustle, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. And the results? Impressive. A study by Email on Acid found that marketers using automation see conversion rates increase by up to 320%. 

Let’s take a look at automation in action…

Industry-Specific Examples 

• Automotive: Imagine an MOT reminder system that automatically emails customers 30 days before their due date, follows up with an SMS if they haven’t booked, and sends a final push with a limited-time discount. This would make manually chasing customers completely redundant as your automation side hustle has it covered. Studies show that service reminders can increase customer retention by up to 25%  

• Travel & Hospitality: Someone browses flights to Barcelona but doesn’t book. Instead of hoping they return, automation triggers an email showcasing the best deals, sends a follow-up SMS with a discount code, and even retargets them on social media. That’s your side hustle working while you focus on your next campaign. Research indicates that abandoned browsing emails achieve a 60% higher click-through rate than standard promotional emails. 

• Recruitment: A candidate applies for a role but doesn’t complete their profile. An automated journey nudges them with email reminders, sends LinkedIn messages at optimal times, and finally texts them when the deadline is near. No manual chasing needed. According to industry benchmarks, automated follow-ups can increase application completion rates by over 30%. 

Multi-Channel or Bust 

Email alone isn’t enough anymore. Customers move fluidly across email, SMS, social media, and even direct mail. True marketing automation ensures your messaging stays consistent across these channels without doubling your workload.  

The more seamless your integrations, the less time you spend juggling platforms and the more your marketing works for you. Studies show that omnichannel marketing campaigns generate 250% higher engagement rates compared to single-channel campaigns  

The Takeaway: Stop Working Like It’s 2010 

If your email marketing still relies on manual sends with no automation or segmentation, you’re missing a trick. The modern marketer’s side hustle isn’t taking on more work. It’s a smart, integrated system that does the heavy lifting. Invest in the right tools, set up intelligent workflows, and let automation handle the repetitive work. 

Because let’s face it, you’ve got better things to do than manually sending emails all day.