by Christina D’oro Hooley :::

Let’s skip the fluff: people aren’t ghosting your campaigns because your subject lines suck.

They’re ghosting everything because they’re tired.

Not emotionally tired. Not pandemic tired.

We’re talking admin-induced system fatigue.

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What the hell is that?

It’s what happens when modern life feels like you’re trapped in a never-ending customer service loop.

You didn’t evolve to manage 87 login credentials, 6 different verification apps, and three different inboxes asking for attention while your smart fridge pings a firmware update.

We are cognitively overloaded by systems that pretend to be convenient.

Every “quick feedback form”

Every “log in to track your parcel”

Every “just confirm your email”

— it’s all friction.

Multiply that across banks, insurance, ecommerce, healthcare, school portals, government sites, and your job’s 47 dashboards?

You’ve got a population running full mental RAM — just to exist.

And then you send them a newsletter

Your campaign hits an inbox that’s already on fire.

Your automation flow — however clever — becomes just another layer of unpaid admin.

“Personalised offers”? Feels like a trick.

“Last chance to act”? Feels like a threat.

“We noticed you didn’t finish checking out…” Yeah, maybe because I had to re-enter my birthdate for the fourth time this week and couldn’t remember my mother’s maiden name.

Marketing automation assumes attention is free.

But attention now costs energy, and energy is scarce.

 So what do we do?

You stop thinking like a funnel. You start thinking like a load manager.

 1. Minimise steps. Ruthlessly.

If your CTA leads to a form, and that form leads to a password, and the password leads to a confirmation email?

You’ve already lost.

 2. Speak human, not automation.

Don’t fake warmth with “Hi [FirstName]!”

Deliver actual clarity. Real benefits. Fast.

People aren’t stupid — they’re overstimulated.

 3. Respect context.

Not every moment is the moment to sell.

In a crisis week, be useful. In a launch week, be brief.

Marketing is relationship maintenance, not performance theatre.

4. Automate with empathy.

If your workflow saves you time but drains the end user?

It’s not automation — it’s outsourced admin, and people can smell it.

Final thought

We’re not in an “attention economy” anymore.

We’re in a nervous system economy.

And if your marketing doesn’t reduce cognitive load?

It becomes part of the problem.

Market like someone who knows how it feels to be tired.

Because your customers already are.

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Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-white-t-shirt-sitting-on-floor-6756549/