Marketing Automation Strategist
Less admin. More of the work that matters.
Chasing leads, prepping for calls, keeping social going, pulling together reports — the repetitive admin quietly eats hours that should go into the work only you can do. I hand those jobs to reliable systems, using AI where it helps, so nothing slips and you get ahead while everyone else is still doing it by hand.
What are AI & automations?
Automation is using tools to handle the repetitive, easy-to-drop jobs for you — replying to an enquiry the moment it lands, chasing a quote, posting to social, pulling your numbers into a report. You set it up once and it runs reliably in the background. As a marketing automation strategist and consultant, I build those systems for small businesses — set them up right, keep them running, and make sure the hours you win back are real.
AI is one of the tools in that box, used where it genuinely helps — researching a lead, drafting a first reply, spotting what to post, watching your competitors. The point isn't to replace the human touch your business wins on; it's to clear the admin and the delays around it, so you and your team spend your time on the craft, the creativity and the customers. And the businesses putting this in place now build a quiet head start: faster and leaner while everyone else is still doing it by hand. Working as a marketing consultant in Cornwall, I put those systems in place for small businesses across the South West and UK-wide.
What's eating
your week?
The repetitive, time-eating jobs you shouldn't be doing by hand — handed to reliable systems, so the hours go back into the work that actually grows the business.
Never miss a lead, a call or a 1am enquiry
Every enquiry gets an instant, helpful reply, every missed call triggers a text straight back, and people can book themselves into your calendar — even at 1am on a Sunday. The business you used to lose while you were busy now turns into revenue.
Know your customer before you call
Before a sales call, get a one-minute brief: who they are, what their business does, the trends shaping their industry, who their competitors are, and every previous conversation pulled from your CRM. Walk in well-researched and ready to position yourself as the expert.
The follow-up that reads the room
More than an autoresponder. It reads each reply, picks up the context and personalises what it sends next — chasing a quote, answering a question, nudging a quiet lead — all within a remit you set, so it stays helpful and on-message. You keep the final say.
Always know what to post next
A steady feed of trending topics, industry news and content ideas relevant to your business, surfaced automatically. You always know what's worth posting and what angle to take — without spending an hour a day scanning for it yourself.
Catch every competitor move that matters
A short weekly digest of what your rivals are up to: a pricing change, a glowing new review, a press mention, a jump or slip in the search rankings. You catch the openings while they're still worth acting on, instead of finding out months too late.
Stop losing a day a month to reports
Your marketing and sales numbers pulled from everywhere they live — Google Analytics, your CRM, SumUp, internal spreadsheets — into one clear report, compiled and shared automatically. The half-day a month you lose to building it by hand, handed back.
An experienced marketing lead, without the full-time cost.
I'm Josh. I run Arda Studio single-handedly, working with small, owner-led businesses across Cornwall and the South West. I've spent fifteen years on the practical side of marketing — the strategy, the analytics, the copy, the small changes that quietly move the needle.
In around 60% of jobs, at least a third of the day-to-day tasks could already be automated with today's technology (McKinsey). That's hours a week you could win back.
More about how I work →A free 20-minute call. Find out what you could stop doing manually.
- Where you’re trying to get to and what’s been getting in the way
- Where I’d focus first, and why
- An honest outside perspective from someone who’s worked across multiple industries with businesses like yours
- Clarity on where to start — not a list of everything, just the one or two things that’ll actually move the needle
- A one-page summary of our conversation with a clear recommended next step — yours to keep, no obligation
Will this turn into a sales pitch? No hard sell. I’ll act as a sounding board, give you a clear outside perspective and ideas worth acting on. If I think there’s potential for us to work well together, I’ll mention it — but there’s no agenda beyond that. These calls are useful for me too: I get to understand your business properly, and be there when the timing is right.
Automation questions.
The things people most often ask before getting started. Don't see yours? Drop me a line — happy to talk it through.
Automation is using tools to handle the repetitive, easy-to-drop jobs for you — replying to a new enquiry instantly, chasing a quote, posting to social, pulling your numbers into a report. You set it up once and it runs reliably in the background, so nothing falls through the cracks and you win back hours.
AI is one of the tools in the box, used where it genuinely helps — researching a lead before a call, drafting a first reply, spotting what to post, keeping an eye on competitors. I use it to remove grunt work, never to replace the human judgement or personal touch small businesses win on. It runs in the background.
Used well, it does the opposite. A lead who gets an instant, helpful reply at 9pm feels looked after, not processed. The goal is to automate the admin and the delays, so you have more time for the conversations that actually need a human — not to put a robot between you and your customers.
Only if you want them to. You decide what runs fully automatically and what waits for your nod. AI does the research, drafting and prep; you keep the final say on anything that matters, so it stays within a clear remit and never oversteps.
Plenty. The usual wins are instant lead responses and missed-call text-backs, follow-ups that personalise to each reply, pre-call customer research, social content ideas, competitor monitoring, and marketing and sales reporting pulled from all your tools. If it's repetitive and currently eating your time or getting forgotten, it's a candidate.
Usually not. Most small businesses can be automated with affordable, off-the-shelf tools — and often the ones you already pay for. I keep the stack as light as possible and only add a tool when it clearly earns its place, then set it up so you're not dependent on me to keep it running.
No — if anything, the opposite. The tools are cheap, proven and no longer just for big companies, and adoption is climbing fast. The businesses putting simple automations in now are pulling ahead on speed and cost, and it's far easier to start small today than to play catch-up later.
It depends on how much you want to automate. Most engagements start with a one-off build of your highest-value automations, then an optional light retainer to maintain and extend them. Book a free call and I'll give you a clear quote based on what's actually needed.