Our first experience with artificial intelligence in email marketing was optimizing delivery times. It is a machine-learning technique to send emails when recipients are likely to be engaged based on their past opens and clicks.

Apple’s iOS changes to privacy have made it less reliable. However, this strategy used to work well. Mailchimp and Iterable are among the email platforms that offer send-time optimization. IBM Watson Campaign, now Acoustic, is also one of them.

AI is a major disruptor of email marketing. Grammarly, ChatSonic ChatGPT Jasper, and other platforms can quickly generate personalized content.

ChatGPT was asked to, for example, “write a paragraph promoting the new 20% discount on my retail brand and mention the socially-responsible program we are introducing in which some of our profits will be donated to the community.”

Here is the answer:

We have some exciting news to share! Save big on your favorite products when you shop at our retail brand. Enjoy a 20% discount in-store and online for a limited period. With every purchase, you are not only rewarding yourself but also helping the community. We are proud to announce a new socially-responsible program, whereby a portion of our profits will be donated locally to non-profit organizations. You can feel good about your purchases knowing that you are helping to make a difference while also saving money on high-quality products.

Impressive! It took less than three seconds to respond. The foundation is good but needs some rewriting.

ChatGPT responded in less than three seconds to an inquiry for marketing copy. Click on the image to enlarge.

ChatSonic’s response is better than the original prompt, adding details like a discount code or informal language.

Welcome to [Retail brand], where you can find the best products that will make your life easier. For a limited period, we’re happy to announce a 20% discount on our entire collection. Just use the code DISCOUNT20 during checkout. We’ve also launched a socially responsible program to sweeten the deal. A percentage of your purchase will go directly to local charities. Do your part by shopping with us!

ChatSonic added details like a discount code or informal language. Click on the image to enlarge.

Pros and cons

The AI tool is powerful, but not perfect. The best results are achieved when AI output is combined with input from humans. Here are the pros and cons of using AI in email marketing.

Pros

• Efficiency. AI can analyze data much more quickly than humans and produce a quality copy.
• Personalization. AI can personalize content.
• Optimization. AI can optimize campaigns and test copy variations to improve engagement and conversions.
• Scalability. AI can automate and analyze huge volumes of email, helping businesses to save time and freeing them up for other tasks.

You can also find out more about the Cons

• Lack of creativity. AI-generated content may lack the creativity of humans.
• Limited understanding of context. AI (yet to) cannot understand language, tone, and context.
• Errors. AI-generated copies contain errors and omissions.
• Dependence. Businesses that depend on AI will struggle to adapt when the technology becomes outdated or unavailable.

Future of AI

Neil Patel is an influential author who believes that Google will “crush ChatGPT”. Patel stated in a LinkedIn posting that “chatGPT will not be able to compete once Google starts to use their data to develop/train AI tool of their own.”

Patel may be referring to DeepMind, which is a subsidiary company of Alphabet’s parent Google and one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence laboratories. (DeepMind CEO recently discussed the platform’s goals.)

AI-generated content will be only as good in 2023 as the data that it is trained on. AI is a boon for marketers, but human reviews are critical to avoid mistakes and differentiating brands. Email marketing is successful because of the human factor.