What to know when using AI for email marketing

It’s been just over one year since OpenAI came out with ChatGPT, but already artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. While AI is reshaping the business world in many ways, perhaps no line of work has been impacted as much as marketing.

Not only is AI being used to create digital content at an unprecedented rate, but machine learning has also become a powerful tool for informing marketing strategies. At RareCircles, we’ve seen that email marketing is one of the most effective uses for AI in the world today.

What is Happening with AI in Email Marketing?

Content Creation 

When it comes to writing, platforms like ChatGPT can be used to generate new ideas or craft entire emails. With ideation, AI is used to generate outlines and drafts, which writers then expand on to develop actual content. It’s also possible for AI to write entire email messages, although this content should always be edited with a human touch. 

Data Management  

Keeping an email list updated and curated is a critical email marketing best practice. Yet, manually managing large amounts of data can be time-consuming and exhausting. If you’re unsure whether email addresses are valid, artificial intelligence can assess your current email marketing program lists and analyze metrics to gauge the likelihood that an individual email address or an entire list holds value. 

Campaign Strategy   

Since machine learning is all about analyzing large amounts of data in a short time, AI is invaluable for developing effective email campaign strategies. By tracing important metrics like click-through rates and comparing them across data sets, AI can help you revise your future strategy for maximum impact. 

What are the Benefits of Using AI for Email Marketing? 

Whether it be crafting content, analyzing data, or informing strategies, AI is a big time saver for marketing teams. Especially when it comes to tracking large amounts of data and managing email marketing ecosystems, AI saves time with mundane tasks like segmentation, A/B testing, and scheduling.

If used correctly, AI can also help writers generate more compelling email content. Since AI can cut down on the amount of time it takes to generate new ideas, writers can spend more time perfecting their craft. In turn, better research, writing, and editing should lead to stronger content in the end. 

Can AI Replace Some of My Marketing Team? 

Since time savings is the primary benefit of AI, this technology allows marketing teams to do more with less. In larger organizations that employ 5-10 copywriters and strategists on a single team, time savings related to AI might lead to a situation where downsizing occurs.   

It’s important to remember that AI can save time with certain tasks, but simply can’t replace a human being when it comes to skill diversity and critical thinking. 

What are Some Challenges for Using AI in Email Marketing?  

When it comes to writing, AI-generated content could miss the mark with the personalization required in effective email marketing. Additionally, there's a risk of AI-generated content appearing robotic or lacking authenticity. As such, you should always edit AI-generated emails with a human touch. 

Since AI can collect and analyze large amounts of user data, there are also privacy concerns with this technology. As AI becomes more a part of our daily lives, legislation like the Privacy Act will likely need to be updated to account for this new technology.