A few months ago, our Monday morning production meetings at Local Marketing Group looked a lot like yours probably do. We had a mountain of client data to parse, creative briefs to draft for Brisbane businesses, and the ever-present ‘admin grind’ threatening to swallow our most productive hours.
Fast forward to today, and the atmosphere has shifted. By integrating AI not just as a 'toy' but as a core team member, we’ve reclaimed roughly 15 hours per week per strategist. We aren't just doing things faster; we’re doing them with a precision that was previously impossible for a boutique agency.
Here is a look behind the curtain at the exact tools and automations we use to keep our engine running lean.
1. The 'Context Window' Secret for Local Relevance
Most business owners use AI like a search engine—asking a single question and getting a generic answer. We treat it like a senior consultant.
When we’re building campaigns for a client in New Farm or Fortitude Valley, we don't just ask for 'ad copy.' We upload a 'Context Pack' to a private Claude or ChatGPT instance. This pack includes the client’s brand voice, past winning headlines, and a demographic breakdown of the local area.
The Quick Win: Create a 'Brand Bible' PDF. Every time you start a new chat with an AI, upload that PDF first. It ensures the AI knows you’re a family-owned plumber in Chermside, not a multinational corporation in New York. This prevents the static ads that often fail because they lack local soul.
2. Automating the 'First Draft' of Client Communication
We use Make.com to connect our CRM to OpenAI. When a new lead lands on our site, AI doesn't just send a 'Thanks for your enquiry' email. It reads the enquiry, checks our current service availability, and drafts a personalised response for our account managers to review.
This isn't about replacing the human touch; it's about removing the 'blank page' syndrome. By having a drafted response ready in the CRM, our team can respond in 5 minutes rather than 5 hours. This is one of the most effective ways to stop the admin grind and focus on high-value strategy.
Our Favourite 'Quick Win' Prompt:
"Review this transcript from my latest client meeting. Identify the 3 most urgent pain points mentioned and draft a follow-up email that addresses them using a professional but supportive tone. Use Australian English spelling and avoid corporate jargon."
3. From Scripted Bots to Intelligent Agents
We’ve moved away from the old-school 'Press 1 for Sales' style of chatbots. Internally, we use generative AI agents to handle our internal knowledge base. If a staff member needs to know our specific policy on Google Ads bidding for seasonal Queensland events (like the Ekka), they ask our internal bot.
This shift from scripted flows to generative agents has drastically reduced the time spent on internal Slack messages, allowing our seniors to stay in 'deep work' mode.
4. Practical Data Processing for Small Budgets
You don't need a data science degree to use AI for analytics. We use ChatGPT’s 'Advanced Data Analysis' feature to find patterns in our clients' Google Sheets.
Example Scenario: A local retailer has 2,000 rows of sales data. We upload the CSV and ask: "Which suburbs in Brisbane have the highest average order value, and what time of day do they typically purchase?"
Within seconds, we have a heatmap of where to spend our next $1,000 in Meta Ads. This turns raw data into actionable local intelligence without the need for expensive software.
How to Start Your AI Journey Today
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don't try to automate your whole business by Friday. Start with these three steps:
1. Audit your 'Ugh' tasks: What is the one task you do every week that feels like a chore? (e.g., writing social captions, responding to FAQs). 2. Build a Prompt Library: Don't let your team start from scratch every time. Save your best-performing prompts in a shared document. 3. Human-in-the-Loop: Always have a human review AI output. AI is a brilliant co-pilot, but it’s a terrible solo flyer. It can hallucinate facts, so the 'Brisbane sniff test' is essential.
At Local Marketing Group, we’ve found that the real power of AI isn't in the technology itself—it's in the time it gives back to our team to think creatively and connect with our clients on a deeper level.
Ready to streamline your marketing? Contact us at Local Marketing Group to find out how we can help you implement these automations in your own business.