Want to get really good email marketing ideas so you always know what to write about?
Generate quick drafts for those ideas? 🖋💨
And have 20 subject lines to choose from for each idea?
Without having to know any programming knowledge?
And without having to spend anything on pricey tools? 💸
In this guide, I’ll show you how to use Artificial Intelligence to write kick-ass marketing emails superfast.
Here’s what we’re going to talk about:
Ready to have your mind blown? 🤯
Part 1
Artificial Intelligence 101
What the heck is artificial intelligence?
Can anyone without technical knowledge use it?
(spoiler: yes!)
And how can you use it for your email marketing?
How good is it really?
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the simulation of human intelligence by computer programs that can think and act like humans.
These programs are designed to do tasks that usually need human thought, such as solving problems and making decisions.
You can use AI for lots of different things;
- Playing games.
- Driving cars.
- Transcribing speech to text.
- Predicting the weather.
- Providing customer support.
- Automating repetitive tasks.
These are just a few examples, the possibilities are nearly endless.
In this article, we’re going to use a type of AI that is designed to have a conversation with people.
It uses a special kind of AI called a language model to understand what people are saying and to come up with clever responses
So, when you talk to the AI, it’s like having a conversation with a very smart computer that knows a lot of information and can help you with your questions.
Can anyone without technical knowledge use AI?
Yes, absolutely.
I first thought Artificial Intelligence was only for programmers or techy people that can build complex algorithms.
But nothing is farther for the truth.
It’s literally like using a chat 💬
Here’s an example of how it works:
You ask it something by writing a sentence, and it will do whatever you asked.
This is incredibly cool because it doesn’t just copy something it found online- it actually has lots of knowledge about the topic and generates unique answers.
How can you use artificial intelligence for writing marketing emails?
Here are a few ways you can use AI to write better marketing emails:
- To generate ideas for email subject lines that will grab the reader’s attention.
- To help you craft the body of your email, including the introduction, main points, and call to action.
- To come up with ideas for personalization and segmentation, such as tailoring emails to different customer segments or using the recipient’s name in the subject line.
- To help you find the right tone and language to use in your emails, depending on your target audience and the message you want to convey.
- To generate email templates that you can use as a starting point for your own emails, and then customize them to fit your specific needs.
I’ll show some examples in part 2 of this guide.
How to get started
The tool I’m most excited about is ChatGPT from OpenAI.
It’s completely free to use, and can answer almost anything you throw at it in seconds.
(it’s a free research model that they use to make their systems better)
It’s so simple, everyone could use it.
Step #1: create your account
Create a free OpenAI account.
(I’m not an affiliate, just blown away & happy to share)
The model we’re going to use doesn’t need any credits, but you’ll get $18 in free credit for OpenAI in case you want to play around with a different language model.
Doesn’t sound much, but that’s thousands upon thousands of prompts 😋
Step #2: open ChatGPT
Surf to chat.openai.com and start chatting.
Write your prompts in the field at the bottom, and click Reset Thread at the top left whenever you want to start over.
Step #3: write good prompts
As you can see, it’s really like using a chat, and it’s superduper easy to use.
But the trick is to write good prompts, so you get the results you want.
(it can’t read your mind- yet)
Here are some quick tips to help you write good prompts, so you get better results.
- Keep your prompts short and clear.
- Give it context, explain who it’s for & what you want to achieve for more relevant and meaningful responses.
- Keep your prompts natural, pretend like you’re chatting with a (very smart) coworker. It’s easier for ChatGPT to understand you that way.
- After getting a result, you can give it a follow-up prompt to improve the result. It’s really like a chat.
- You can almost use any language for your prompts. You don’t need to stick to English if that’s not your native language.
- Store prompts that helped you in your notes app so you can use them again.
That’s it!
Ready to generate some cool things with AI? 🤓
Part 2
Using AI for email marketing
I’m saving so much time with AI.
Here’s what I’m doing right now.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting a lot with what’s possible.
While there’s definitely limitations in creativity, I’ve found it useful for a lot of things.
Brainstorm ideas
Quickly get inspired
Ever out of ideas of what to write about?
Very normal.
But with AI, not anymore 🤓
Input
Give me 5 ideas for emails I could send that will build trust.
Output
- A “welcome” email that introduces your business, what you offer, and what your subscribers can expect to receive from you.
- A “tips and tricks” email that provides valuable advice and guidance on a specific topic related to your business.
- A “behind the scenes” email that gives your subscribers a look at what goes on in your business, such as a day in the life of a team member or a sneak peek at a new product or service you’re working on.
- A “frequently asked questions” email that answers common questions your subscribers might have about your business, products, or services.
- A “testimonials” email that features positive feedback and reviews from satisfied customers, which can help to build trust and credibility with your subscribers.
Get specific ideas
You can also make your output more specific by asking what kind of topic you want to cover.
Input
Give me 5 ideas for helpful emails that are about marketing & automation.
Output
- Automate Your Marketing: How to Set Up Your System for Maximum Efficiency
- Leveraging Automation to Increase Your Content Reach
- Automating Your Customer Service: The Benefits and Pitfalls
- Personalizing Your Marketing Automation: How to Create an Unforgettable Experience
- Automating Your Email Campaigns: Strategies for Maximum Impact
Find interesting insights
The prompt I did below is not even that good, but look at the awesome answer it gave.
Imagine giving it more context about your online business and your target audience.
Input
I have a company that helps people with marketing & automation. What should my main priority be when writing marketing emails?
Output
When writing marketing emails, your main priority should be to engage and build a relationship with your audience. This means crafting a compelling subject line that will grab their attention and encourage them to open the email, and then providing them with valuable, relevant content that will keep them interested and engaged. Additionally, it’s important to make sure that the email is visually appealing and easy to read, and that it clearly conveys the value proposition of your company and its products or services. Ultimately, your goal should be to create an email that will not only help you generate leads, but also help you build trust and credibility with your audience.
Generate unique content
ChatGPT can create 100% unique content for you.
It won’t just copy or spin something it found on the internet.
It will generate content for you based on what it has learned.
Subject lines
With subject lines, I used to use the first subject line that came to mind.
Or I would spend a lot of time brainstorming different subject lines.
Both aren’t ideal.
Now I’m just asking the AI to generate 10 different subject lines for me, and I use or modify the best one.
Here is an example of the prompt & follow-up prompts I use:
Input
I wrote an email about how to use Artificial Intelligence for writing better marketing emails. Generate 10 subject lines that are likely to get people to open the email.
Output
- “10 proven ways to improve your email marketing with AI”
- “Boost your email open rates with AI technology”
- “Revolutionize your email campaigns with AI tools”
- “Use AI to drive better results from your marketing emails”
- “How AI can help you craft more engaging email content”
- “Maximize your email marketing efforts with AI”
- “Take your email marketing to the next level with AI”
- “Unlock the power of AI for your email marketing strategy”
- “Attract more customers with AI-powered marketing emails”
- “Discover how AI can help you write better marketing emails”
Input
Make them a bit more playful & not so businessy
Output
- “AI to the rescue: Better marketing emails in just a few clicks”
- “Make your emails stand out with the power of AI”
- “Say goodbye to boring emails with AI-powered marketing”
- “Let AI do the work and watch your emails take off”
- “How AI can help you become a marketing email pro”
- “Transform your marketing emails with AI magic”
- “Put AI to work for you and watch your emails excel”
- “Join the AI revolution and take your marketing emails to new heights”
- “Become a marketing email rockstar with AI on your side”
- “Use AI to make your marketing emails shine”
Input
Add a fitting emoji to the end of each subject line
Output
- “AI to the rescue: Better marketing emails in just a few clicks ❤️”
- “Make your emails stand out with the power of AI 💡”
- “Say goodbye to boring emails with AI-powered marketing 🚀”
- “Let AI do the work and watch your emails take off 📈”
- “How AI can help you become a marketing email pro 💪”
- “Transform your marketing emails with AI magic 🎩”
- “Put AI to work for you and watch your emails excel 📊”
- “Join the AI revolution and take your marketing emails to new heights 🌟”
- “Become a marketing email rockstar with AI on your side 🎸”
- “Use AI to make your marketing emails shine 🌟”
See how easy that was?
So as you can see, sometimes you need to ask a few follow-up questions to get the desired result.
And when you know better what you want, you can also include that in your initial prompt next time 🙂
Outlines
Writing emails from scratch is hard, but outlines definitely help.
Input
I want to write an email about email marketing for beginners. Write an outline.
Output
- Introduce the topic of email marketing and its importance in digital marketing.
- Explain the key components of an effective email marketing campaign, such as targeting a specific audience, crafting a compelling subject line, and designing a visually appealing email.
- Discuss the benefits of email marketing, such as increased customer engagement and conversion rates.
- Provide tips for beginners on how to get started with email marketing, such as building a mailing list and creating a marketing plan.
- Conclude by highlighting the potential of email marketing and encouraging readers to take the first steps in implementing a campaign.
Complete emails
While I think AI shouldn’t be used to generate all your marketing emails completely, it’s definitely possible.
When I shared this article with my email list, I thought it’s fun to let ChatGPT write it.
Input
I wrote an article to help online business owners use AI to write better marketing emails faster. I cover things like generating subject lines, rewriting text, simplifying text, checking spelling & grammar, those kind of things.
Could you write an email for me that I can send to my email list to let people know about this new article? In the PS, I want to tell people the entire email (including the PS) was written by AI to surprise them.
My writing style is like this;
- Each sentence on a new line.
- A fitting emoji at the end of a few sentences.
- My name is Max.
Output
Hey there!
Are you looking for ways to write better marketing emails faster? 🤔
If so, you’ll love my new article on how AI can help you do just that! 🤖
AI isn’t just the technology of the future, it’s here and ready to help you out.
You’ll learn how to use AI to brainstorm ideas, generate subject lines, rewrite text, simplify explanations, and check spelling & grammar.
Check it out here
I’m sure you’ll find this article helpful 🤗
Best,
Max
P.S. This entire email, including this PS, was written by AI – how cool is that?! 🤖
Input
Can you generate 5 subject lines for this email?
Output
- Make Writing Better Marketing Emails Easier with AI 🤖
- Writing Better Marketing Emails Just Got Easier 🤓
- AI: The New Way to Write Better Marketing Emails 🤗
- Automate Email Writing with AI 🤩
- Create Engaging Emails with AI 🤩
Freakin’ insane, this isn’t even half bad.
Maybe I’ll be out of a job soon, lol 😋
Improve your writing
Rewrite sentences
Super useful when you’re a bit stuck on a sentence.
Input
Rewrite this sentence three times so it’s more playful:
You might automatically make assumptions of what someone knows, while it’s easy to overestimate that.
Output
- Be careful not to assume too much – you never know what someone might know!
- It’s all too easy to think someone knows more than they do – be mindful of that.
- Don’t be too quick to judge – it’s simple to overestimate what others know.
Check your grammar & spelling
English is not my first language, and I make a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes
While you have great tools like Grammarly, you could also consider asking an AI to check your spelling and grammar.
Input
Is the spelling and grammar of this email correct?
The cat chased it’s tail
Output
In this sentence, the possessive pronoun “its” should be used instead of the contraction “it’s,” which is a combination of the pronoun and the verb “is.” The correct sentence would be “The cat chased its tail.”
This is just a simple example, but you could also paste a whole email in there.
And instead of the AI telling you what’s wrong, you can also change your prompt to get the fixed text back right away.
Ask for general improvements
Want some feedback on your text? Easy!
Input
How can I improve this text?
It’s scary how good Artificial Intelligence is getting. I’m stoked to see that literally anyone with an internet connection can get access to this now. It feels like having a personal copywriting assistant that’s good, fast, ánd free.
Output
One way to improve this text could be to provide more specific examples of how AI is becoming more advanced and how it is benefiting people who have access to it. Additionally, you could expand on the idea of a personal copywriting assistant by explaining how it can help people with their writing tasks. Additionally, you could consider revising the text to make it more concise and clear.
Tone & emotion
Not sure, or just curious, what the tone & emotion of your email is?
Input
What is the tone & emotion of this text?
Sarah, a small business owner, tries email marketing and receives a flood of orders from new and existing customers, leading to a boost in sales. She continues to use email marketing and her business thrives thanks to it.
Output
The emotion of the text is that Sarah is thrilled by the success of her email marketing campaign and the positive impact it has had on her business. She is likely feeling happy, excited, and grateful for the results.
Or just ask it to change the tone all together
Input
Change the tone of this to make it super boring & formal. Use lots of fancy words normal people don’t understand.
Sarah, a small business owner, tries email marketing and receives a flood of orders from new and existing customers, leading to a boost in sales. She continues to use email marketing and her business thrives thanks to it.
Output
Sarah, a proprietress of a humble enterprise, endeavors to utilize electronic mail advertising and is met with a deluge of requests from both fresh and returning patrons, resulting in a surge in revenue. She persists in employing electronic mail advertising and her business flourishes as a consequence.
Lol 😅
Translate
Need to translate your emails to other languages? No problem.
Google Translate is good, but this AI might be even better because it understands the context of what you’re writing.
Input
Translate this text to Dutch: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Output
De snelle bruine vos springt over de luie hond.
Find & distill information
It’s almost scary how much ChatGPT knows 😅
Get answers to questions
The last few weeks, I already had a few times that I just asked the AI for an answer instead of googling it.
Input
How is yoghurt made?
Output
Yoghurt is made by introducing a bacterial culture to milk and leaving it at a warm temperature until the mixture thickens. The bacteria ferments the lactose in the milk, creating lactic acid which thickens the mixture and gives it its signature tart flavor.
Input
Could you summarize this in less than 10 words?
Output
Yoghurt made by fermenting milk with bacteria.
While it’s often correct, you sometimes need to validate if the answer is good.
I noticed that it’s sometimes not completely sure what the right answer is, and it gives me one anyway.
Get explanations everyone understands
It’s hard to explain something to someone who knows nothing while you’re an expert.
It’s easy to underestimate what you already know, and overestimate what someone else knows.
(the curse of knowledge)
Now with AI, that became super easy for me!
I just ask it to explain a topic to a 5-year-old!
Input
In two sentences maximum, explain to a five year old what artificial intelligence is.
Output
Artificial intelligence is when computers and machines can think and do things on their own, just like people. It helps them to make decisions and solve problems without needing a person to tell them what to do.
Super handy! 😄
Code
Turn emails into HTML
If you don’t create your marketing emails in HTML, this isn’t interesting.
But I do, and it’s very useful for me to turn a text into a HTML email.
Input
Convert the email below into HTML with these settings:
– Maximum width of 580 pixels.
– Font size of 16 pixels.
– Line-height of 28 pixels.
– Only use inline CSS.
Hey Sarah!
I hope you are doing well!
Kind regards,
Max van Collenburg
Output
Here’s one way to convert the email into HTML with the specified settings:
<html>
<body style="max-width:580px;font-size:16px;line-height:28px;">
<p>Hey Sarah!</p>
<p>I hope you are doing well!</p>
<p>Kind regards,<br>Max van Collenburg</p>
</body>
</html>This code sets the maximum width of the email to 580 pixels, the font size to 16 pixels, and the line height to 28 pixels using inline CSS. It then creates three paragraphs, each containing a line from the original email. The third paragraph also uses a <br> tag to insert a line break and create a proper salutation with the sender’s name on the next line.
Code something specific.
I’m not a programmer, so it’s super handy to ask it to write code for specific things.
Input
Show me how to highlight a text in a html email
Output
You could highlight text in a html HTML email like this:
<span style="background-color: yellow;"›This text is important</span>Go crazy
I’m barely scratching the surface of what’s possible here 🤷♂️
You can ask anything you want, it’s only limited by your imagination of what to ask.
So go crazy, and experiment 🥼🔬
I’ll keep playing around with it myself too, and will expand this article whenever I find something interesting.
Part 3
Conclusion
Is it worth giving Artificial Intelligence a try?
Or should you skip it?
It’s scary how good Artificial Intelligence is getting.
(honestly, it blew my mind when I first started using this)
I thought this is something only big corporations with huge development teams can use.
I’m stoked to see that literally anyone with an internet connection can get access to this.
It feels like having a personal copywriting assistant that’s good, fast, ánd free 🤯
And while I’m not using it to write complete emails, it definitely makes my life heck of a lot easier by not having to come up with everything from scratch.
Plus, you don’t have to use this exclusively for only email marketing of course. I’m also using it to assist me with videos & articles.
What about you?
Would love to hear in the comments if you’re going to use AI after reading this? 🙂
Max, do you know if the information provided is original or is it copied, i.e. is duplicate copy?
Hey Greg! In most of my tests, it seemed completely unique & I couldn’t find the text it generated anywhere online.
It generates answers based on what is has learned, it doesn’t just copy answers of things it found online.
But I guess it could happen that it cites or uses something that it has learned in the answer it gives.
When in doubt, it’s always smart to check;
For fun, I also asked ChatGPT if it generates unique & copyright-free content:
“As a language model, I am not capable of generating completely unique content, nor can I guarantee that the content I generate is copyright free. My function is to assist users in generating text based on prompts and input provided by the user. The resulting text is derived from the vast amounts of data I have been trained on, but it is not necessarily unique or original in the same way that a human-generated text might be. Additionally, I am not able to access external information or perform research, so I cannot guarantee that the content I generate does not infringe on any existing copyrights. It is ultimately the responsibility of the user to ensure that any content they generate using my assistance is original and does not infringe on any copyrights.”
Hope that helps! 🤗
Awesome post Max. (I assume your wrote it yourself 🙂 ) It is very bizar what is possible these days.
As for the copy-part and worry about uniqueness: don’t we all base our writing on what we know and once have read? Even creativity is based on knowledge. So why can’t an AI app not be creative.
As a writer and blog coach I’m curious what this will bring in the future. I bet a lot of folks (lazy dogs…) will use this to produce a lot of blogs not even caring what the output will look like. But for the real writers, will the output be really what they want to say?
Hey Bastiaan! I think it’s really cool that we’re living in a time when AI is advanced enough to do things like generate writing. It’s definitely a little weird to think about, but it’s also kind of fascinating.
As for the idea of uniqueness in writing, I think you raise a good point. We all base our writing on what we know and what we’ve read before, so it makes sense that an AI program could do the same thing. And who knows, maybe it could even come up with some creative ideas that we wouldn’t have thought of on our own!
I’m definitely curious about how AI will impact the world of writing in the future. I bet some people will use it to produce a lot of low-quality content, but I also think it could be a useful tool for writers who want to come up with new ideas or improve their writing. It’ll be superduper interesting to see how it all plays out!