How can I write better marketing emails using AI?
Use AI to draft and test, then add your specifics. Give it your audience, offer, and goal, and have it write subject-line variants, opening hooks, and CTAs you can A/B test. AI is excellent at producing options fast, welcome sequences, win-backs, cold subject lines, but generic without real input. Feed it customer language, a clear story, and personalization variables, then edit for voice and accuracy. The winner is decided by testing, not the first draft.
Start with structure and quantity. Ask AI for multiple versions of each element, 10 subject lines, three openings, two CTAs, rather than one 'perfect' email, then test them. For sequences (a 7-email welcome flow, a win-back series), have AI draft the whole arc using a storytelling structure, then refine each message. The strength of AI here is volume and speed for A/B testing, which is how email actually improves.
Personalize beyond first names. Use dynamic variables (industry, role, recent action, product viewed) so messages feel relevant, and have AI write copy that adapts to segments. For cold email, instruct it to avoid spam triggers (excessive caps, salesy phrasing, risky words) and keep messages short and specific. Always keep deliverability in mind, even great copy fails if it lands in spam.
Edit for voice and truth. AI drafts trend generic and occasionally invent details, so pass every email through your brand voice and fact-check claims, offers, and links before sending. Honest tradeoff: AI lowers the effort of producing emails, which means more inboxes are flooded with AI-ish copy, so specificity, genuine value, and a clear single CTA matter more than ever. Use AI for the first 80% and your judgment for the 20% that earns the open and click.
Prompts to try
Copy these into ChatGPT or Claude to go deeper.
Generate a 7-email welcome sequence for my [business] that uses storytelling and AI-personalized variables to drive conversions.
Rewrite this email [paste] to increase open and reply rate. Provide 3 variations and explain the changes.
Build an AI email A/B testing framework with subject lines, opening lines, and CTAs for my [niche] newsletter.
Generate 50 cold email subject lines for [target audience] optimized for opens, avoiding spam triggers.