October 11, 2023
How To
4 Ways To Use Generative AI For Email Marketing
Our goal at Copy.ai is to equip you with the knowledge you need to do more with less.
That’s why we’ve introduced Copy 101, a video series aimed at giving you step-by-step walkthroughs on all of the ways you can use generative AI to make your life easier—and spend less time on the mundane parts of your job.
Let’s dive into the 4 ways the Copy.ai team uses our own generative AI platform to improve your email marketing processes!
Generate a newsletter from your blog posts
Whether you’re an email marketer—or a marketer tasked with doing email—you’ve probably written your fair share of newsletters.
And sharing blog posts or other editorial content is the perfect way to provide more value to your audiences through your newsletter—but what if you can’t or don’t have the time to write your newsletters from scratch?
Good news: you can use Chat by Copy.ai, which lets you quickly repurpose existing content into newsletters, while saving time on email tasks.
Let’s take a look at how you can use Chat to do it.
A step-by-step process for generating newsletter content with AI
1. Choose the blog posts you want to include in your newsletter
Pick the content you want to send out. You won’t need AI for this step. Remember to choose content that’s relevant to your audience and serves up value.
2. Prompt AI to generate your newsletter content
Using Copy.ai, you can prompt our Chat to generate content for you, which will scan your live webpages and generate more specific content.
An easy starting point for prompting Chat could be:
PROMPT:
"Write newsletter copy that shares these three blog posts:
Blog posts:
1. [LINK]
2. [LINK]
3. [LINK]"
3. Review and edit the generated content using Chat
Once you enter your prompt, Chat will generate content you can use in your newsletter.
However, let’s say the copy doesn’t reflect your brand’s tone and voice, or needs a little tweaking, there are a few different options:
Revise your original prompt
More context = better prompts.
Adding additional details to the original prompt will help you go from generic to specific, on-brand content. This includes details like:
- Adding a link to a past newsletter and prompting Chat to use it as inspiration for the structure of how you want your content presented.
- Including a description around tone of voice (or skip this step and use Brand Voice by Copy.ai)
- Use our Prompt Improve feature to get additional ideas for context you can add to your prompt.
The Improve feature will add additional context to your prompt, which you can always optimize by:
- Adding in a description of your brand’s tone and voice
- Providing a specific call-to-action you want chat to use
- Directing chat to make the newsletter copy longer, shorter, easier to read, etc.
3 Prompt examples you can use in Chat to generate newsletter copy
Newsletter prompt example 1: Focusing on word count
“Write a newsletter up to 500 words that highlights 3-4 takeaways from each of the following blog posts:
- [LINK]
- [LINK]
- [LINK]
Use bullet points to call out the key takeaways, and include a call to action at the end of the newsletter that encourages the reader to download our latest eBook: [LINK]”
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Newsletter prompt example 2: Focusing on topic-centric content
“Write a short newsletter about [Topic] using these two blog posts:
- [LINK]
- [LINK]
Highlight 2-3 actionable tips or takeaways from each blog post in a bulleted list.”
Newsletter prompt example 3: Adding context around your audience
“Using these three blog posts, write a newsletter on [Topic]:
Blog posts:
- [LINK]
- [LINK]
- [LINK]
For each blog post, write a 1-paragraph long summary that entices our audience to click through and read the entire blog.
The audience for this newsletter consists of [details about audience].”
Generate a G2 review request email
Using reviews and testimonials in your marketing comms is a smart way to show social proof of your product—but asking for a review can be pretty awkward (at best!).
When you reach out to customers asking for a review—like requesting they leave you a review on G2 or Capterra—how you frame your request is key.
Let’s walk through how you can quickly craft an email to send to your customers requesting they leave a review on G2, Capterra, or other review platforms.
Here’s the step-by-step process to generate review request emails
1. Include all of the relevant information in your prompt
As you’re writing your prompt, include all of the relevant information you need in your email. For example:
- The review platform you want to drive reviews for (I.e. G2, Capterra, etc)
- Any offers you’d like to provide to customers for completion
- Details around your company and the particular platform or feature you’re requesting a review for
- A link to your company’s profile on the review platform
- The tone and voice of the email (I.e. upbeat, fun, and casual vs. professional)
🚨 Hot tip: You can also include a recommendation on length, such as, “Make the email one paragraph long.”
2. Use Chat to help you brainstorm appreciation ideas
You don’t have to pigeonhole Chat to generate content for you. It’s also a great brainstorming partner!
If you’re not sure what offer you should give your customers as a thank you for leaving a review, simply ask Chat for ideas. Here’s a prompt example to get you started:
PROMPT:
“Brainstorm 10 ideas for how I can thank customers who successfully leave a product review. This can include notes, gifts, or any other ideas that come to mind”.
Take it a step further by asking Chat to revise its suggestions by including a monetary offer, like a gift card, voucher, or credit to the customer’s account!
Below, you’ll see the results become more specific when I provide further context around what kind of gift or token we can use to show appreciation.
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3. Generate subject lines and CTAs
You can also ask Chat to generate email subject lines and CTAs you can test when sending emails.
For example, if you want to run an A/B test around subject lines, you could prompt Chat to generate subject line ideas.
Need help coming up with prompts to generate a review request email? We got you!
3 Prompt examples you can use in Chat to generate review request emails
G2 review request prompt example 1: Add all of the context
“Write an email that drives reviews on G2 for [Company Name] [Product or Service].
This email will be sent to [Customer Title/Type] and should show appreciation for their business with us. Include a clear call to action that encourages them to leave a review for our company here: [Company G2 Profile Link].
Keep this email brief and to-the-point. Use a [tone of voice] tone of voice.”
G2 review request prompt example 2: Specify how you’re appreciating customers
“Write an email requesting our customers leave a review about their experience with [Company Name] [Product or Service].
Write up to 2 paragraphs and include bullet points when possible. Use a [tone and voice keywords] tone of voice for the email copy.
In the email, be sure to show appreciation for our customers by offering a [Gift/Offer] in exchange for their review on [Review Site]. Direct customers to leave their review here: [Company G2 Profile Link].”
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Try using the Brand Voice feature to have Chat write the email in your brand’s unique tone and voice!
G2 review request prompt example 3: Specify how you’re rewarding customers
“Write an email that asks customers to leave a review of their experience with [Product or Service] with [Company Name].
Keep the email short, writing up to 100 words. Use a friendly, professional tone.
Offer a $50 Amazon gift card in exchange for their review. Make sure the email shows appreciation for the customer’s time and thanks them in advance for their review.”
Generate email subject lines for a range of emails
Sending an effective, engaging email starts with your subject line—the very thing that prompts people to open your email in the first place!
It can be tricky, though, coming up with countless new subject lines, especially if you’re A/B testing elements of your email or have a wide range of email types you send.
Luckily, you can use Chat in Copy.ai to generate subject lines you can tweak, test, or simply use as inspiration for your next email.
Tips on how to generate email subject lines with AI
1. Start with your prompt or try out Copy.ai’s Prompt Library
When using Copy.ai, you can explore our pre-built prompts directly within Chat.
From the Prompt Library, select “Email Marketing” from the list and choose “Email Subject Generator.” Copy.ai will populate a pre-generated prompt into the Chat bar and all you have to do is add in the missing details!
Once you hit enter, Chat will generate a series of subject lines you can choose from.
2. If the content feels too generic, add more context!
Let’s say you’re not happy with the options that were generated for you. That’s where the fun really begins when it comes to using generative AI technology: you can test prompts by adding more context for more brand-centric results.
Some context you can add when generating subject lines include:
- To hone the subject lines so they’re specific to your email, give Chat more context about the topic of your email and the goal (ex. Getting people to download an eBook)
- If you already generated the email copy, add it to the Chat with a prompt like, “Suggest 5 alternate subject lines for the following email copy”
- Apply different techniques to your prompt for varied subject lines; for example you could say, “Write 7 subject lines for the following email that uses a curiosity gap”
These are just a few of the methods our team uses when generating subject lines through Chat. Justin, our Head of Performance Marketing, thinks you should:
“Write your email copy first—whether that’s through Copy.ai or repurposing an email you’ve already written. My preferred method is taking existing email copy and using it to give further context for generating subject lines with Chat.”
3. Generate preview text
Once you’ve generated subject lines you love, you can use Chat to generate preview text that complements your subject lines!
You can also generate subject and preview text lines you can A/B test by using a prompt such as, “Write a series of subject lines and preview text we can A/B test in an email about [Topic]."
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In the example above, I asked Chat to provide a set of subject lines and preview text for an email about pet sitting. If I were looking to A/B test these subject lines, we can see that Chat generated some pretty solid options to try out!
3 prompt examples you can use in Chat to generate emails subject lines
Email subject line prompt example 1: Focus on the takeaway
“Write 3 subject lines for the following email copy that highlight the key takeaway of the email
Email copy: [Paste email copy]"
Email subject line prompt example 2: Focus on the audience
“Generate 10 subject lines for an email about [Topic] targeting [Customer/User Type]”
Email subject line prompt example 3: Focus on the topic
“Write 5 subject lines with preview text for an email on [Topic]”
Take it up a notch by providing context around your email recipient, such as your ICP (ideal customer profile) or the specific roles of the people you’re emailing if you do a lot of segmentation.
Example: “Write 4 subject lines and 4 preview text lines for an email about diversity recruiting we’re sending to prospects with titles like Director of Talent Acquisition and Head of Recruiting”.
Generate ideas for your next email newsletter
I’ve written my fair share of newsletters, and it can be tough constantly brainstorming new, compelling ideas for each one. But, GenAI can make that part of the process just a little easier.
Here’s how you can use Chat to brainstorm newsletter ideas
1. Start with the basics
A good starting point is to ask Chat to generate a handful of ideas that you can use as a baseline.
PROMPT:
“Suggest 10 ideas for a newsletter that’s centered around content marketing best practices.”
You’ll notice that the content output can be quite generic. That’s why the more context you give, the better output you’ll get.
Think of it this way. If the events team is running a webinar, and all they provide is the webinar name, the email you generate to help promote the event won’t be as effective compared to having a full event brief with all of the details you need. The same goes for generative AI platforms!
So, let’s flesh out our original prompt for better output:
PROMPT:
“Suggest 10 ideas for my company newsletter that are centered around content marketing best practices.
My company website is: [Insert link]
The audience members are experienced content leaders who are consistently looking for ways to improve their existing processes, uncover new channels they haven’t yet considered, and learn about what others are doing in the space.
The goal of our newsletter is to be actionable, valuable, inspirational, and also fun to read.”
2. Found an idea you like? Create an outline.
Based on the generated ideas, choose the one that you want to move forward with. You can start building off of your generations from there. The next step is to ask Chat to generate an outline for the newsletter based on the idea you picked.
In your prompt, you can specify what elements to include (like sections), sub-topics to cover, and copy ideas.
Here’s what that looks like in action:
3. Generate your newsletter based on the outline
Here’s the best part: you can ask Chat to write your newsletter using the outline it generated! For example, if we ask Chat to “Use the outline you created to write the newsletter”, Chat will go ahead and generate email copy for your newsletter following its outline.
But let’s say you want to make some tweaks.
Consider using Chat as your editor and ask it to:
- Provide an alternate newsletter introduction that’s shorter, or more concise
- Incorporate your brand’s tone and voice into the newsletter copy (you can use Brand Voice for this!)
- Suggest a set of subject lines and preview text lines for your newsletter
🚨 Hot tip: you can also ask Chat to provide examples or suggestions of CTAs for your newsletter if you’re asking your audience to do something, like download an eBook or watch a new video.
3 prompt examples you can use in Chat to generate newsletter ideas
- “What are 10 ideas we could use for a newsletter about [Topic]?” 👉 Try this prompt in Chat
- “Generate 5 ideas for a newsletter about [Topic] that we’ll send to [User]” 👉 Try this prompt in Chat
- “Share 5 ideas for a newsletter about [Topic] that [Role] can use to do [Function]" 👉 Try this prompt in Chat
Let’s take a look at an example of that last prompt suggestion!
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Using these ideas as a jumping off point, we can now ask Chat to:
- Create an outline of a newsletter on the topic, “Personalization techniques”
- Write the newsletter copy for that topic based on the outline it generates
- Suggest CTAs for an eBook I have on email personalization for cold outreach
- Suggest email subject lines and preview text using a curiosity gap
Now, it’s your turn!
From coming up with new ideas to A/B testing, drafting outlines, and brainstorming topics, there’s a lot of potential to leverage AI to help frame up your next email. And while AI can’t replace your human touch, it’s a great starting point to improve your email writing skills and help you craft more compelling emails for your audiences. Try Copy.ai when you’re ready to write your next best email.
