Severed Marketing: Are Your Channels Working in Isolation?

With the Severance season finale just released, we couldn’t help but see the parallels between eerie Lumon and the world of marketing. 

Just like Mark S. and his team are trapped in a perpetual work loop, too many brands have marketing automations that run in isolation. Emails, push notifications, and SMS messages fire off without marketers considering the bigger picture. And while automation is a powerful tool, relying on rigid, disconnected workflows can make your marketing feel as robotic as a Macrodata Refinement employee.

So, is your omni-channel marketing truly working together, or simply running on autopilot with little innovation? Keep reading to find out.

The “Innie” Marketing Problem: Stuck in Siloed Systems

Inside Lumon, severed employees complete tasks without any real understanding of their purpose. That’s a little too close to how many brands treat their marketing channels. Emails are scheduled weeks in advance, SMS messages follow a strict cadence, and push notifications are sent on a timer—not because they’re the best way to engage customers, but because that’s just how the system was set up.

Each channel operates independently, following its own automation rules, which brings up a major problem. Your customers don’t experience your brand in silos. They don’t think, First, I will check my email. Then, I will read this SMS. Finally, I will engage with a push notification. Instead, they move fluidly between devices and channels. But when brands fail to connect those touchpoints, they create a disjointed experience that feels repetitive at best and intrusive at worst.

Let’s say a customer browses your website and leaves without making a purchase. If your marketing isn’t working together, they might get an abandoned cart email, followed by an SMS with the same generic reminder, then a push notification that says… the exact same thing. Instead of nudging them toward conversion, you’ve just created noise.

Your customers:

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The “Outie” Marketer: Seeing the Bigger Picture

On the other side of Lumon’s severed floor, the Outies live in a world of context, emotion, and connection. And in marketing, the Outie mindset is what separates forgettable campaigns from truly engaging experiences.

Your Outie self—the one who understands customer behavior, intent, and preferences—knows that omni-channel marketing should be a cohesive experience, not a collection of independent messages. Blasting the same promotion across every channel misses the mark. Instead, you see the need to build loyalty and trust with your customers through personalized, thoughtful interactions, using deep customer insights and predictive capabilities to anticipate their next move before they even make it.

Instead of sending an identical discount code through email, SMS, and push, let the customer’s behavior dictate the next step. If someone opens an email but doesn’t act, a follow-up push notification could highlight a key selling point they missed. If they click a product link in an SMS but don’t check out, a well-timed email could showcase reviews or offer a limited-time incentive.

Automation should be dynamic, not static. Your Outie self knows that customers expect fluid, personalized experiences, not a series of disconnected touchpoints.

Breaking Free

So, how do you make sure your marketing isn’t stuck in a Severance-style loop? By making automation more connected, intentional, and responsive.

1. Ditch the One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Your customers engage with your brand in different ways, and your messaging should reflect that. Instead of sending the same promotion through every channel, tailor your messaging based on engagement. Did they open an email but not click? Follow up with a targeted push notification instead of another email. Did they click through an SMS but leave the site? An email with social proof or a personalized recommendation could be the next best step.

2. Make Data Your Guide
Real-time behavioral data should dictate your marketing flows, not a pre-set calendar. If a customer just made a purchase, they shouldn’t receive an abandoned cart reminder. If they’re actively engaging with your app, they don’t need a generic “We miss you” email. Your automations should adapt based on real actions, ensuring every message makes sense.

3. Connect the Dots Across Channels
Omni-channel marketing isn’t just about using multiple channels, it’s about making them work together. That means ensuring messaging aligns across touchpoints so customers aren’t getting duplicate (or worse, conflicting) communications. If a customer redeems an offer via email, the next push notification they receive should acknowledge that action, not promote the same offer again.

4. Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting
AI-powered automation can help personalize messaging at scale, ensuring customers receive relevant content based on their behaviors and preferences. Instead of relying on static workflows, AI can analyze real-time data and determine the best channel, timing, and message for each customer, making your marketing feel less like a factory line and more like a conversation.

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Don’t Let Your Marketing Become Severed

We love Severance because it dives into what happens when routine overtakes meaning, when repetition replaces strategy, and when people (or in this case, marketing campaigns) get stuck running on cruise control with no way to evolve. 

It’s time to step into the elevator, leave the outdated, siloed approach behind, and embrace a world where your marketing campaigns don’t just run, they evolve. Because when you break free from innie routine and connect outie strategy with execution, your results won’t just be good. They’ll be lumen-ous.