What is AI Email Marketing & How to Use AI in Your Next Email Marketing Campaign

AI – the hottest thing since the invention of the internet and the killer of tech jobs?

Okay, I’m pushing the envelope here; hardly anybody has lost a job due to AI. But the technology is certainly scorching hot, allowing you to enhance your marketing efforts beyond what you thought was possible. 

In this article, I detail the topic in the email marketing space, starting with definitions and going to hands-on examples and the tools you could use. 

What is AI email marketing?

AI email marketing uses artificial intelligence technologies to enhance and automate various aspects of email campaigns. 

For starters, I’d like to give you a top-level overview of typical applications and explain the success of Yum Brands’ pilot AI marketing campaign. 

1. Task automation
   • Campaign scheduling: AI determines optimal send times by analyzing recipient behavior patterns, ensuring emails are delivered when engagement likelihood is highest.
   • A/B testing: AI streamlines A/B testing by efficiently comparing multiple email variations to identify the most effective elements to enhance campaign performance.

2. Content personalization
   • Dynamic content creation: AI crafts personalized email content based on individual customer data, such as past purchases and browsing history, making each message more relevant to the recipient. 
   • Subject line optimization: AI analyzes historical data to generate compelling subject lines that can increase open rates.

3. Data analysis at scale
   • Predictive analytics: AI utilizes historical data to forecast future customer behaviors, enabling marketers to tailor campaigns to anticipated actions.
   • Advanced segmentation: AI-driven algorithms create detailed customer profiles, allowing for precise audience segmentation and more targeted campaigns. This can be leveraged for marketing and transactional (user-triggered) emails. 

Yum Brands, owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC, recently launched a pilot AI-driven email marketing campaign to a small predefined user cohort of Taco Bell. The conglomerate understood that recurring customers either place weekly orders and like exploring restaurant menus or order in bulk on special occasions. 

Using that data, AI helped Yum Brands send individual personalized email offers based on factors like: 

• Time of day
• Day of the week
• Email subject lines
• Email copy 
• Past customer behavior (type and volume of orders)

As a result, they saw double-digit increases in email engagement and sales. 

The company didn’t disclose the exact numbers. However, the AI-driven email marketing strategy was so successful that they’ll implement it across all restaurants. Yum Brands also plans to scale the strategy horizontally, aiming to optimize upselling, retention, referral, and win-back email campaigns. 

I have to stress that they used a mix of in-house generative AI and third-party automation tools. For example, the conglomerate improved A/B testing workflows and turnaround times with in-house reinforced learning algorithms on top of natural language generation. 

Sure, this is a highly advanced tactic requiring professionals experienced with ML models. However, you can do something similar, albeit at a smaller scale, with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. Of course, assuming you know how to prompt the AI or create custom GPTs properly. 

AI email marketing use cases

By now, it’s not hard to guess AI email marketing use cases. Nonetheless, I want to make things more granular and give you detailed insights into how artificial intelligence uses algorithms for hyper-personalized email campaigns. 

Email list segmentation

Traditional segmentation methods often rely on basic demographic data (e.g., location and age only), which can result in broad groupings and generalized content. 

In contrast, AI-driven segmentation uses deep learning to examine intricate patterns in subscriber behavior, preferences, and interactions. This approach enables marketers to craft more personalized and relevant email content for each segment.

Here are three general use cases based on the segmentation function.

1. Behavioral analysis:
   • Purchase history: AI evaluates past purchases for each customer or cohort to predict future buying behaviors, allowing for segments based on product preferences or buying frequency.
   • Engagement metrics: By analyzing how subscribers interact with previous emails (e.g., open and click-through rates), AI identifies active and inactive users, facilitating tailored re-engagement campaigns and/or further segmentation. 

2. Demographic profiling: AI processes data points like age, gender, location, and income level to create nuanced segments, ensuring content resonates with each group’s unique characteristics.

3. Psychographic segmentation: AI discerns subscribers’ interests through online behavior, enabling segmentation based on hobbies, values, and lifestyle choices.

Important Note: This type of digital marketing requires vast amounts of user data. It’s critical to be transparent about data usage and always ask for consent, or the customer relationship will suffer. Also, you’ll need to boost your efforts to safely store and manage customer data and allow customers to exercise the right to be forgotten. 

Email personalization

Highly personalized email content usually gets aggregated through these proactive methods:

• Dynamic content: AI algorithms analyze user data (e.g., browsing history, purchase behavior, and preferences) to generate tailored email copy. This ensures each recipient gets messages relevant to their interests, increasing engagement. 

• Product recommendations: With machine learning, AI can predict products a user is likely interested in, allowing marketers to include personalized product suggestions in their emails. The strategy enhances the shopping experience and boosts sales.

Now, the tiny overview above doesn’t really give you the perspective of how powerful personalization is. To provide a more holistic overview of email content marketing, I’ll use the example of ON Sportswear’s optimization in the e-commerce space. 

Note that this was an enterprise-level integration in partnership with MasterCard’s personalization and automation platform Dynamic Yield. But the logic of it is invaluable even if you’re a smaller brand operating in a different niche. 

So, what did the Swiss brand do?

They employed AI-infused brand-level marketing tactics with the following goals:

• Cross-site product recommendations – Simply, they wanted more people to check out their apparel, not just the sneakers. 
• Deliver dynamic content based on user/customer behavior across different verticals (interests, location, purchase history, etc.). I like that they factored in the weather variable since much of their merch targets different weather conditions. 
• Improve testing – which involved pure marketing A/B tests and probing user interest for new arrivals. 

These tactics are certainly something you can use for email personalization and product recommendations. But, in ON’s case, the implementation methodology was tricky, though future-proof. 

They deployed server-side APIs and client-side scripts to track user interactions primarily at their website and online shop, then trigger related email sequences. And, in my opinion, they have one of the best email opt-in pop-ups in the industry. 

So, it’s not surprising that ON generates 16% of its online revenue from tailored product recommendations alone. Of course, this was after deploying AI-driven personalization.

To that, the company reports a 537% increase in non-shoe product CTR, which exceeded the expectations of just outreach to raise awareness. 

ON was actually able to leverage email newsletters and retargeting emails to attract, support, serve, and manage a whole community of fitness-forward outdoor enthusiasts.   

Email marketing automation

AI enhances email marketing automation by:

• Predicting optimal send times: AI analyzes recipient behavior to determine the best times to send emails, ensuring messages are delivered when recipients are most likely to engage. 

• Automating response workflows: AI-driven systems can automate responses to customer interactions, such as sending follow-up emails after a purchase or re-engagement emails to inactive subscribers. This creates a seamless customer journey and improves the overall experience.

Email spam filters

AI-driven spam filters analyze various elements of an email to determine its legitimacy, thereby improving deliverability. Here’s how AI can enhance spam detection and prevention. 

• Content optimization: AI tools assess email content to identify and modify elements that may trigger spam filters, such as certain keywords or excessive images. By recommending alternative language and balancing text-to-image ratios, AI ensures emails appear legitimate and reach the recipient’s inbox. 
• Avoid trigger words: Utilize AI to scan for and replace words commonly flagged by spam filters. Our in-house deliverability experts found that spam-trigger words, particularly in the email body, aren’t as relevant as they used to be. But this doesn’t mean you should make your emails pushy or overly salesy. 
• Balance text and images: AI helps maintain an optimal text-to-image ratio, preventing emails from being marked as spam due to disproportionate content.
• Enhance readability: AI-enhanced tools like Grammarly improve clarity and professionalism, reducing the likelihood of emails being flagged.

Predictive analytics

As hinted, AI leverages predictive analytics to forecast customer behavior, enabling marketers to optimize future campaigns. Here are a couple of ways how AI can forecast customer behavior. 

• Data analysis: AI processes vast amounts of historical data to identify patterns and trends in customer interactions.
• Behavioral predictions: To reiterate, by analyzing past behaviors, AI predicts future actions, such as purchase likelihood or churn risk, allowing for proactive marketing strategies.

Content optimization

AI analyzes audience engagement data to determine which types of content resonate with different segments, enabling marketers to tailor emails effectively. Here’s how AI enhances content optimization. 

• Audience analysis: AI examines metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to identify content preferences across various demographics.

• Content personalization: As mentioned a few times before, AI can understand individual subscriber behavior to facilitate the creation of personalized content that aligns with specific interests, enhancing relevance and engagement.

Here’s our hands-on example of how to use GPT for email content ⬇️

Subject line generation

Crafting compelling subject lines is crucial for high open rates. AI tools assist by generating engaging subject lines tailored to the target audience. Here’s how AI assists in subject line generation. 

• Data-driven insights: AI evaluates successful subject lines from past campaigns and industry benchmarks to understand what appeals to specific audiences.
• Automated generation: AI-powered tools create multiple subject line variations, allowing marketers to select options that best align with their campaign goals.

AI email marketing tools

Mailtrap’s video team has already done a deep dive into AI email marketing tools, covering each aspect you might need for an AI-driven email campaign. Hit the play button below for detailed tool reviews, implementation tips, and tricks. 

However, I’d like to give you a digest overview of the tools in their respective categories, focusing on each tool’s key features and benefits. 

Heads-up: Some tools appear in a couple of categories. 

Written content creation 

1. Copy.ai

Provides advanced tools for automated workflows, brand voice customization, and prompt optimization. The cool thing about this copywriting service is the team collaboration feature with shared project folders and support for up to five users. It’s suited for creating refined email drafts with minimal errors.

2. Jasper AI

Jasper’s highlights are the support for 25+ languages, seamless integration with Grammarly and SurferSEO, and diverse templates. The service is good at producing varied, SEO-friendly email content and other short-form copies.

3. Writesonic

Writesonic’s intuitive interface stands out, making it suitable for novices. The service also offers built-in SEO optimization and robust integration capabilities. 

4. Rytr

Like Jasper, Rytr generates short-form content well. It features 20+ predefined tones and supports 40+ use cases. And it’s great for concise and targeted email messaging.

Visual content creation

1. Unlayer

Offers advanced AI tools for generating text blocks, tone-specific buttons (e.g., CTAs), and unique images. The service includes grammar correction, rephrasing, and tone adjustments. It combines comprehensive AI features with an intuitive design interface. 

2. Stripo

Stripo’s email templates library is hard to rival. It’s compatible with multiple platforms, like Mailchimp and Outlook, and the service streamlines email design with a user-friendly editor.

3. Designmodo Postcards

It enables in-editor customization with previews across devices, which can help simplify the email campaign design review and customization process.

4. Kombai

Transforms Figma designs into maintainable front-end code to bridge the gap between design and development.

Personalization

1. Warmer.ai

The service generates highly tailored emails by analyzing company goals and prospect data. It offers LinkedIn-based personalization and content scoring through a dashboard. Plus, it supports email sending via Mailshake and similar platforms.

2. Autobound

Integrates with CRMs to support direct personalization. And there’s an Autobound Chrome extension, which allows for faster workflows. 

3. Salespitch

Salespitch highlight is the quick setup with intuitive AI for personalization that doesn’t require extensive business knowledge. It’s among the most accessible and easy-to-use for teams needing straightforward personalization solutions.

Segmentation and analytics

1. Brevo

It allows for combining up to 100 conditions for segmentation, and you can categorize segments into folders. Segmentation features are available even in the free plan, making it highly competitive.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers extensive segmentation options, but they’re available only on paid plans. Overall, it’s a good choice if you’re already using this email marketing software. 

3. Instantly.ai

Instantly provides straightforward segmentation features with almost no learning curve. So, it suits small teams looking for a simple, but not simplistic, solution.

Automation

1. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s AI Automation Builder simplifies workflow creation with prompt-based actions. It includes robust A/B testing options, combining intuitive automation creation with detailed testing capabilities.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s highlight is the pre-built automation journeys with customizable templates. It also has a wide variety of templates for different marketing needs. 

3. Brevo

Features classic and drag-and-drop editors for building automation workflows. What I like best are versatile editing options that enhance usability.

Deliverability

1. Mailivery

It offers AI-generated warmup emails without platform-specific signatures and includes a free plan. The tool has specific warmup strategies to ensure optimal deliverability and maintain the sender’s reputation.

2. Warmbox

Much like Mailivery, Warmbox has customizable warmup strategies with detailed monitoring for email deliverability. And it’s easily adaptable to various email campaigns.

3. Lemwarm

Provides tailored warmup strategies with collaboration features for teams. It’s good for scaling email deliverability within collaborative environments. 

Bonus Pro Tips: 

1. Not all AI-driven email marketing tools are created equal, and some can actually block your marketing efforts. Mailtrap’s video team has already wasted some time, so you don’t have to 😀. Check the video below. 

2. There are also AI tools that help you with email management. Check the detailed video review below. 

AI email marketing cost

The cost of AI marketing largely depends on your current tech stack and how you plan to use the software. For instance, many email marketing services incorporated AI tools into their paid plans. So there’s a chance that you don’t need to pay more. 

On the other hand, if you’re a HubSpot user, you may need a dedicated tool like Seventh Sense to optimize email deliverability further and improve engagement. 

The bottom line is that AI email marketing costs are nuanced and largely specific to your business and marketing needs. So, I’ll introduce some structuring and give you ballpark estimates based on your business size and needs. 

Integration with existing tools

If you’re a small to medium-sized business, I suggest opting for email marketing platforms that offer AI capabilities with their existing pricing plans.

To stress, this should not require you to migrate to another email marketing tool; you should just opt for a higher tier. For example, if you’re on Mailchimp’s Essentials plan, moving to the Standard plan with generative AI, automation, and advanced segmentation is only $7 more expensive per month. 

Better yet, Mailtrap Email Marketing Platform offers an AI-powered template builder even on a free plan, including the following features:

• Smart Headings 
• Smart Text
• Smart Buttons 
• Magic Image

Overall, these features help you iterate on your email campaigns faster, improve A/B testing, as well as the effectiveness of your emails. 

Investment in new software

Implementing advanced AI solutions requires investing in dedicated software or services, which can escalate costs. The overall implementation and maintenance price depends on business size/requirements, complexity level, and app features.

Here’s a quick breakdown: 

Small businesses:

• AI email marketing tools are around ~$50 monthly. For instance, ActiveCampaign’s Plus plan, priced at $49 offers AI Generative Content and AI automation builder. Keep in mind that this is part of a larger email marketing solution suitable for 1000 contacts and 10K emails a month.

Medium-sized businesses:

• Plans may range from $80 to $200-$300 per month, offering more advanced features and higher email-sending limits. To use ActiveCapaign again, their Plus plan pricing for 10K contacts and 100K monthly emails is $189. 

Enterprise-level businesses:

• Advanced AI platforms for large enterprises can start at around $2,500 per month, with costs increasing based on customization and scale. And if you want to combine that with in-house solutions, like Yum Brands did, the cost could escalate to tens of thousands of dollars. 

Now, I don’t want the numbers above to scare you or anything. Initial investments in AI can be significant, and you should be aware of it.  

However, all the money you spend gets offset by improved campaign efficiency and effectiveness. This goes double should you incorporate AI into your entire marketing pipeline. (Refer back to the Yum Brands and ON examples I covered earlier.)

Wrapping up

Without a doubt, AI is here to stay and it’ll only keep evolving into an indispensable tool in your marketing arsenal. So, the sooner you adopt it, the faster it will streamline your workflows, boost engagement, and improve campaign outcomes.

Take the time to assess your current approach and identify areas where AI could provide meaningful improvements. With this article, you have all the knowledge to do it the right way.