Being an email marketer in the times of Artificial Intelligence (AI) making breakthroughs has got to be one of the best things happening to us.
I mean, at some point, we all wished we had a wizardly wand that’ll magically complete all our mundane tasks so we could focus on the more important stuff, don't we?
This is where AI comes in - as a magical solution.
By using AI in email marketing, we can automate repetitive tasks, understand our customers better and save plenty of time, effort, and money. Sounds like a dream come true! Luckily this has become a reality.
In this article, we’ll tell you different ways of leveraging AI in email marketing to boost your email’s performance and ROI. And we'll also discuss the benefits and limitations that it brings along. So let’s dive in and find out.
What Is AI in Email Marketing?
AI in email marketing refers to all the technologies and algorithms used to perform tasks related to email marketing, such as sending automated messages, segmenting email lists, etc.
Every AI-assisted task is performed in a human-like manner but with a lot more accuracy and efficiency. AI is an umbrella term covering a range of technologies like machine learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and more.
There are a number of benefits of using AI in email marketing. Let’s discuss them in detail.
3 Unavoidable Benefits of Using AI in Email Marketing
If your email marketing efforts are not giving you the desired results, there’s a high chance that’s because you’re still using old-school methods.
But no need to worry because leveraging AI in your email campaigns will enable you to turn them into a huge success. Following are some benefits of using AI in email marketing.
Increased ROI
AI-powered tools and technologies can replace half of your email marketing team and enable you to put many tasks on autopilot. Plus, you won’t even need to go through the hassle of training programs because each software will come with built-in knowledge and expertise.
As a result, your cost of hiring and training people will reduce. AI can also enable you to scale up your email campaigns drastically while costing you much less. How exciting does that sound?
Reduces time to create emails
One fascinating advantage of using AI in emails is the increased efficiency. Many tasks that require days and hours to be completed by humans can now be completed with the help of AI-powered software in minutes.
You’ll be surprised to learn that 64% of executives who have embraced AI in their organization said that it has increased their efficiency and productivity.
This means that with the help of AI you’ll be able to send emails more frequently and improve your relationship with subscribers.
Helps in understanding customers
Another amazing advantage of using AI is that it enables email marketers to understand their subscribers better. This is why 48% of marketing leaders cite AI as the most significant differentiator in how customers engage with them.
You can use your subscribers’ data to craft future email campaigns through predictive analytics. Moreover, with AI, you can send more relevant emails that your readers will enjoy reading.
11 Ways to Leverage AI in Email Marketing for Better Success
Recently, AI has become a buzzword, primarily because of the incredible results it has shown.
Are you thinking about how you can increase your business’ success by using AI in your email marketing campaigns? Then sit back and grab a coffee because we’re about to run you through eleven fruitful ways of using AI in emails.
1. Optimize email subject lines
An email subject line is the first thing that your subscribers notice when they receive your emails. Hence, it’s super important to make them as compelling as possible.
With the help of AI-backed tools that use natural language processing, you can generate personalized email subject lines and increase the chances of your emails being clicked open.
The best part is that AI can also adapt brand voice, so you can write subject lines that keep email branding consistent.
2. Personalize email content
Personalizing email is no walk in the park. But thanks to AI, this task has become super easy.
Predictive analytics can use your subscriber’s data and machine learning to send hyper-personalized emails to your subscribers.
This way, you’ll increase the engagement rate of your emails drastically since your recipients will receive emails they want to interact with.
3. Write email copies
Have your writers experienced creative burnout or had to take off for unforeseen reasons? In such cases, AI-based writing tools hop in like saviors.
With the help of AI-generated writing tools, you can write an email copy in minutes. But be careful; these tools aren’t entirely reliable. So you might still need a copywriter to run by and proofread the text these tools write and make necessary tweaks
4. Send email at optimal times
Have you ever received an email and thought, ‘I’ll read that later’? We’ve all been there. Thankfully with AI, you can optimize the send time of your emails according to your subscriber’s location and when they are most likely to open an email.
For example, AI can detect that subscriber A is most likely to open an email on a Monday and then optimize the send time according to them.
5. To clean up email lists
“A small list that wants exactly what you're offering is better than a bigger list that isn't committed.” – Ramsay Leimenstoll. I can’t stress enough how important this is!
AI-based software helps you to keep your email list up to date by removing all inactive email IDs. Also, it can automatically update any job title, which further helps you segment your email list.
6. Create smart newsletters
We all know that email newsletters are a big hit. In fact, 31% of B2B marketers believe email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads.
But newsletters gain a little more X factor or become smart newsletters when generated with AI.
That’s right. AI helps you create personalized email newsletters according to each subscriber’s interests and preferences. This way, each segment of your smart newsletter is added based on what your subscriber likes to interact with.
Smart newsletters play a huge role in nurturing leads and boosting your email newsletter’s engagement rate. So, it’s high time you try creating one too.
7. Segment email list
Recent research has revealed that email list segmentation results in a 760% increase in revenue. Plus, it also enables you to send personalized emails to your subscribers.
Luckily, AI has made email list segmentation a piece of cake because AI-powered tools can segment your email list according to criteria like gender, purchase history, etc., in minutes.
All you need to do is choose the criteria and leave the rest to AI.
8. Extract user data
One of the most beneficial contributions that AI has made to the email marketing industry is the collection of user data.
AI uses predictive analytics and assesses where your customer is in their journey, allowing you to craft email campaigns that’ll push them further down your sales funnel.
With the help of AI, you can also understand what type of products or content they are most interested in. So in the future, you can design emails according to their preferences.
9. Retarget customers
As a business, it's pretty worrisome when subscribers abandon your cart. But AI has taken it upon its shoulders to solve this problem for you too.
AI helps you determine which customers have abandoned your cart recently and send them re-engagement emails.
Doing so gives your subscribers another chance to purchase a product they were already interested in and increases their chances of buying from you.
10. Customize email promotions
Some customers spend more than others, and identifying how much each customer is ready to invest can help you formulate conversion-worthy promotional emails.
You can send different types of promotional emails according to each customer. For example, you can send discount coupons of 10% off to your high-paying customers and 50% off to those who spend less.
And since AI is a pro at collecting and analyzing customer data, you can also send discounted deals according to your customer’s purchase history, such as sending an email showing discounts on dresses to customers who love buying dresses and so on.
11. Conduct multivariate tests
This has got to be one of the coolest benefits of AI.
The advancements in AI enable you to test multiple variables simultaneously. This means you can test different email copies, headers, footers, subject lines, etc., in less time and find out which brings out the most click-through rates.
A/B testing tools can help you conduct multivariate tests quickly. Not just that, but some tools also allow you to analyze real-time performance and make necessary tweaks there and then.
So, these are some ways to leverage AI in email marketing and turn them into a massive success. But unfortunately, everything is not sunshine and roses, and using AI in emails has drawbacks too. Now let’s discuss them.
Challenges That Come With Using AI in Emails
Since AI is relatively new, there are many complications that come with using it. Some of them are as follows:
Average copywriting
Despite how remarkably AI-based writing tools save time, they can’t replace the level of creativity and finesse with which our human copywriters write emails. Hence, you’d always need a human editor to tweak and adjust the content written by AI-powered copywriting tools.
Lack of knowledge about AI
AI is making waves, but a lot of people need more knowledge to use it.
So, incorporating AI in email marketing will be a learning curve for everyone, and there are a lot of hits and trials in the process.
Insufficient rules and regulations
AI-based tools collect and analyze user data. And an ethical way to go about this is to ensure that every digital marketing team is in compliance with GDPR.
How Unlayer Leverages AI to Design Awesome Emails?
Unlayer leaves no stone unturned in its pursuit to provide you with new and amazing features. So, welcome our following *drum rolls* AI-powered features that’ll help you create awesome emails in no time.
AI-powered smart headings
Want to write captivating headings for your emails? Then use our AI-backed smart heading features.
All you need to do is add a suggestive heading and it will automatically generate a list of relatable email headings to choose from.
Here’s how our smart heading feature works.
AI-powered image generator
We all want to add one-of-a-kind images to our emails, don’t we? Well, Unlayer has made that possible with the help of its new AI-based image generator.
Just add a relevant keyword, and our image generator will automatically generate a list of unique images to choose from. This is how our AI-powered image generator works:
AI-powered smart buttons
Last but not least, our AI-powered smart button feature is also a total steal. Now you can add the most conversion-worthy Call-To-Action button in emails.
Just add a relevant suggestion, and it will automatically generate a list of CTAs to choose from. Look how amazing this is.
Wrapping Up
Gone are the days when you had to spend days crafting and executing successful email marketing campaigns. Now you can use AI in email marketing to make your email campaigns a super hit and drive insane ROI out of them.
With that being said, try our new AI-powered features and start designing amazing emails right away.
