AI for Email Marketing: What It Is & How Does It Work?

The results of your last email campaign are in. 

Only 23% of your subscribers opened this email. Over 30% of your subscribers have unsubscribed from your email list. And you’ve barely made any sales from it.

Does the thought of this send shivers down your spine? If it does, you’re not alone.

Many marketers struggle with improving the results of their campaigns. And when you consider that for every $1 you spend, there’s a $36 potential for return, you know there’s so much you can do with this channel.

But that shouldn't be the case with the barrage of artificial intelligence (AI) tools available in the market at the moment.

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of using AI tools for email marketing, how you can leverage them, and how Jasper’s AI can help you write high-quality email campaigns.

What is AI for email marketing?

In the past few years, the email marketing world has undergone several changes to become what it is today. For instance, automations and hyper-segmentation are solely possible due to the advancements in digital marketing technology. And there’s only one technology to credit here—AI.

AI is a collective term used for a group of technologies like machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and natural language generation (NLG). 

As an email marketer, you know how difficult it can be to write a data-driven campaign. With AI technology, that’s not the case anymore. Writers can A/B test copy, send a previously unfathomable number of emails, and hyper-personalize them.

In a recent Let's Talk Loyalty episode, Sondre Wassås, Partner at CPM Analytics, discusses how to create personalized email playbooks using AI. He says it takes too long to test every variable in an email, which is why it's almost impossible to deliver high conversion rates without AI tools. Plus, AI can assess everything in one go, making it cost-effective.

With the brands' internal email metrics and AI apps, you can create an entire playbook and optimize campaigns to drive conversions.

This is why it's considered the future of email marketing. It allows you to save time while creating compelling campaigns to help your business grow.

How can you use AI tools to create engaging emails?

AI-powered email marketing tools offer a range of benefits. Here are some ways in which email marketers use AI:

• Create personalized content: AI analyzes customer data and creates personalized content that resonates with marketers’ audience. Based on past performance, AI can also automate the writing process by suggesting subject lines, body text, and calls to action.

• Optimize delivery times: Optimize email delivery times based on when subscribers are most likely to check their inboxes. This optimization increases open rates and engagement.

• Conduct A/B testing: AI can automate A/B testing by analyzing performance metrics to determine the most effective campaigns. It can help marketers identify the best elements of their campaigns and replicate them moving forward.

• Segment audience base: AI segments audiences based on customer behavior, demographics, interests, and other characteristics. It enables marketers to create targeted campaigns that speak directly to specific groups of subscribers. For instance, you’ll know which product recommendations to include based on demographics, search or purchase history.

• Predict engagement: AI algorithms can analyze past subscriber behavior to predict which subscribers will most likely engage with future campaigns. For instance, monitor metrics like open rates, click through rates, and purchase history. It can help marketers focus their efforts on subscribers who are most likely to generate conversions.

The idea is to take the guesswork out of the process by using data from your internal campaigns—and optimizing the campaigns based on that. By leveraging AI platforms, marketers can streamline their workflow, save time, and drive more revenue for their businesses..

"Generative AI can be immensely helpful in creating alternate email subject lines for A/B tests," said Michael Alexis, CEO of teambuilding.com. "Split testing tends to involve using subtle variations of the same message, and marketers may struggle thinking up nuanced alternatives, nevermind choosing the best option. AI tools make the process easier and faster by instantly returning dozens of possibilities, so that senders need only to select the strongest vs having to craft each phrase manually."

4 ways Jasper creates powerful campaigns

Jasper is the perfect fit for your workflow if you're struggling with the writing process. Curious about how it works? Here are four ways in which it can help you craft the ideal campaign:

1. Use built-in templates to generate different sections of your email

Crafting the perfect email involves looking after multiple elements. It includes aspects like the following:

• Subject line
• Personalization
• Email body
• Call to action
• Brand voice and tone
• Feature to benefit (for products)

Fortunately, you don't have to do this on your own. Jasper has multiple templates to hasten the process. Just choose the right template, enter the required information, and let the AI do the writing for you.

If you have specific internal data to include, feel free to do that, as our Business plan keeps your data secure and doesn't use it to train third-party AI models.

For instance, let’s use the Personalized Cold Emails template. All we had to do was take the information from our product page, add additional context for the AI, and it generated a base copy in seconds.

You can tweak this copy based on your preferences and ship the campaign.

2. Use an existing Cold Email Recipe for product marketing campaigns

What if you want to write a sales copy using the AIDA (Attention, Interests, Desire, Action) model? Use our Cold Email Recipe.

These recipes are created by users in Jasper's community. To use this one, go to the "Cold Email Recipe" and click "Run." 

Below, you can see how we input Jasper's landing page copy and ran the recipe. The AI takes the input and generates a list using the AIDA framework. 

Once you have your AIDA list, run the cold email generation step—and then tweak it based on your preferences. You can always re-run the recipe with more context, giving you a tighter and more persuasive copy.

3. Use the Email Campaign Workflow to create a full-fledged campaign

If you’re creating an email sequence for a product launch or something similar, the workflow feature is a better fit. Access the “Email Campaign Workflow” from the “Documents” tab and get started.

Here’s how the workflow runs:

• Provide initial context for the campaign: What do you want it to achieve?
• Generate a company description: What is the campaign about?
• Define the target audience for the campaign: Who is this campaign for?
• Generate a list of pain points: What problems does the product solve?
• Create an entire email sequence: Does it increase awareness over time?
• Generate a list of email subject lines: Will they encourage a click?

We tested this out to create an awareness campaign to increase demo sign-ups. Below is a list of audience personas and pain points the AI-generated based on the initial context. You can modify the output if you already have a persona document.

Since the campaign generated a list of seven pain points, the workflow automatically adds seven steps specifically for writing emails. It also includes the context and specific pain points—saving you time during the creation process.

Once you end the workflow, you can modify the copy and make it more personal or retry the entire process by tweaking the initial input.

4. Use the Dynamic Template format for creating a unique template

What if you need a different output compared to the other templates’ output? In that case, use the Dynamic Template mode.

Generate a unique template based on your needs by giving the AI a prompt. For instance, we wanted a template for cold emails only. So, we gave the prompt "Cold Emails," and the AI generated the template you see below.

We provided additional context about the product and let the AI handle the rest. Notice how the copy is fine-tuned in terms of brand voice and purpose? That's what this template can achieve.

This is ideal for creating email newsletters as they’re more educational and specific in nature.

If you're interested in building a full campaign with Jasper or another tool, check out our Marketing Team's Guide to Generative AI‍

Create conversion-focused email campaigns with Jasper

Ultimately, writing the right copy and accounting for every variable in an email campaign takes time and effort. But, with the help of AI-powered tools like Jasper, the process can be streamlined, saving time and resources while improving campaign performance.

Jasper allows you to create data-driven campaigns by helping you with tight, fluff-free, and personalized email copy that hits the nail on its head. Adding it to your workflow lets you focus on the things that matter—driving impact and not the nitty-gritty of the process.

"AI now plays a crucial role in crafting personalized email content that resonates," said Debbie Chew, global SEO manager at Dialpad. "By combining Jasper.ai’s conversational tone with customer analytics around interests and behaviors, my team can develop subscriber segments and matching value propositions exponentially faster. This tight integration of data inputs and AI writing amplified campaign performance metrics like open and clickthrough rates by over 10 percent. I foresee further leveraging generative tools across the subscriber lifecycle - from personalized welcome series to customer win-back flows - as essential to competing for attention in crowded inboxes."

As you can see, AI has already significantly impacted the world of email marketing. Those who embrace it will reap the rewards of being early adopters—ultimately impacting their bottom line positively. Businesses can stay ahead of the curve and continue to build solid relationships with their audience.

Ready to create your next data-driven and personalized email campaign? Start a 5-day free trial of Jasper today.

AI for Email Marketing: FAQs

1. Can AI be used in email marketing?

Yes, you can use AI in email marketing. Marketers use it to personalize emails, deploy predictive analytics, and A/B test subject lines with ease. As a result, your email marketing campaigns are highly targeted and relevant to each recipient, leading to higher open and click-through rates. Plus, AI helps marketers analyze data on email performance and make adjustments to improve future campaigns.

2. How is AI impacting email marketing?

AI has had a massive impact on email marketing in the sense that marketers have more control over their email campaigns. From writing to testing, they know precisely why something is written or included in the email because they have the internal data to back it up. Plus, the added capability to automate and analyze the results of these campaigns enables marketers to improve in the future—positively impacting their bottom line.

3. What is the best AI for email marketing?

Jasper is the top choice if you're looking for a tool to write personalized and fluff-free copy. It has multiple methods like workflows, templates, and recipes to generate copy that aligns with your expectations. No matter the type of email, it can create a campaign in minutes.