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I started in retail. Store manager, then customer service, then marketing. No college degree. Everything I know about ecommerce, I learned by doing the work for 20+ years.
So when AI showed up, I did what I've always done. I tried it on real work.
In my work leading marketing and customer experience at a DTC wine and spirits retailer, I've built 18 AI workflows. They handle email builds, QA testing, fact checking and reporting. Together they save my team about 20 hours a week.
Here's what I've learned. AI is fast at the first draft. It is not good at knowing your customer.
It doesn't know which email your best customers open every time. It doesn't know that a discount in week one trains people to wait for the next one. That part still takes someone who has watched real customers for years.
So I split the work. AI drafts, checks and organizes. I decide what goes out.
The holiday email series below is a sample I built for an invented winery, with Claude. AI did the drafting and layout. The strategy, the calendar and the product placement came from me.
I'm not hiding the AI. I think it's the reason a small team can now do what used to take a whole department.
If you want that for your brand, I'll help you build your calendar and show you how to run it on repeat, so your overhead stays low.
How are you using AI in your marketing right now? What's working, and what still needs a human?
started in retail. Store manager, then customer service, then marketing. No college degree. Everything I know about ecommerce, I learned by doing the work for 20+ years.
So when AI showed up, I did what I've always done. I tried it on real work.
In my work leading marketing and customer experience at a DTC wine and spirits retailer, I've built 18 AI workflows. They handle email builds, QA testing, fact checking and reporting. Together they save my team about 20 hours a week.
Here's what I've learned. AI is fast at the first draft. It is not good at knowing your customer.
It doesn't know which email your best customers open every time. It doesn't know that a discount in week one trains people to wait for the next one. That part still takes someone who has watched real customers for years.
So I split the work. AI drafts, checks and organizes. I decide what goes out.
The holiday email series below is a sample I built for an invented winery, with Claude. AI did the drafting and layout. The strategy, the calendar and the product placement came from me.
I'm not hiding the AI. I think it's the reason a small team can now do what used to take a whole department.
If you want that for your brand, I'll help you build your calendar and show you how to run it on repeat, so your overhead stays low.
How are you using AI in your marketing right now? What's working, and what still needs a human?
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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