AI is everywhere, and not using it could put you at a disadvantage as others use it to work faster and more efficiently.
Email marketing is no different. More marketers are using AI to write copy, analyse campaign performance, and more. So the real question isn’t whether to use AI in email marketing, but how to use it effectively and avoid common mistakes.
Why use AI in email marketing
You may wonder why you need AI for email marketing if you already know how to run successful campaigns. While you can do everything yourself, AI can save you time by handling simple, repetitive tasks. This makes you more efficient and gives you more time to focus on more important work.
Also, your competitors are likely already using it. Not necessarily to write better emails, but to save time which helps them send them more consistently. And consistency is what grows a list.
Ways to use AI in email marketing
Topic research and brainstorm
Finding your next topic is often harder than writing it, but using AI can easily fix this, as it can find hundreds of topics if you give it enough context.
Simply tell who your readers are, what type of content your generally share and maybe also a list of topics you’ve already covered. By doing just this you can generate multiple topic for your next newsletter in minutes.
Another great use of AI is research. Ask it for the information you need such as topic research etc, then review and verify it before using it in your work.
Generating subject lines and preview text
AI is also great at generating subject lines and preview text. Just provide some context or your final draft and ask AI to create them.
Within minutes, you’ll have multiple options for subject lines and preview text to choose from. You can either pick one or multiple options if you also want to run an A/B test.
Also, if you want the subject line and preview text to match your writing style, add a few examples of ones you’ve used before. This will help the AI follow your style of writing.
Proofreading your draft
AI can also act as a better alternative to Grammarly, as it not only checks your spelling and grammar but can also fact-check the things you have written, especially if you are using AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, which have the ability to search the web.
You can also ask AI to edit your content to make it clearer, longer, shorter, etc.
However, to ensure you get the best results, make sure you provide the AI tool with all the context needed so that the edits can match your writing style and brand guidelines. Most AI tools allow you to create a custom project or workflow in which you can create and store all these guidelines.
Image generation
Not all marketers are graphic designers, and sometimes easy-to-use design tools like Canva aren’t enough for certain design needs. That’s where AI can help as a design assistant.
All you need to do it simply give AI a reference image and ask it to do the edits for you, alternatively you can also let AI create the whole image on its own if you give it a detailed prompt to guide on the exact image that you need.
Where to avoid AI in email marketing
Though AI is useful and can do practically most of the things you’d ask it to do, there are a few things that are better done by a human.
Though AI can write the complete email if you ask it to, it’s never original. All the content there is an average of everything the AI has read on the web. AI also tends to hallucinate and invent statistics, quotes, and even product details, which may confuse your readers and slowly degrade your credibility.
Moreover, one thing to keep in mind is that what makes your newsletter unique is you. Everyone now has access to AI, and your subscribers can simply get all this information from it. You are the only reason they subscribed to your newsletter, they want to know your thoughts and read your take on things.
Must-use AI prompts
For topic research: “I write a fortnightly newsletter for [audience] about [topic]. I have already covered [three past topics]. Give me twelve new angles I have not covered, ranked by how useful they would be to a reader who is [specific situation].”
For subject lines: “Here is my email. Write fifteen subject lines under fifty characters, across four styles: curiosity, direct benefit, plain statement and question. No emoji, no exclamation marks. Then write matching preview text for the best three.”
For proofreading: “Proofread my email to find all grammar and spelling mistakes. Also check all claims mentioned in the content and fact-check it to see if anything mentioned is not true.”
For matching your voice: “Here are three emails I have written. Describe my writing style in detail: sentence length, vocabulary, humour, and how I open and close. Then use that description to draft [new email].”
For repurposing: “Turn this blog post into a 250-word newsletter. Keep one main idea, cut everything else, and end with a single call to action linking to the full post.”
For data analysis: “Here are the open and click rates for my last ten campaigns, with subject lines. No personal data is included. Tell me what the three best performers have in common and what the three worst have in common.”
The voice-matching prompt is the one most people skip and the one that changes the output most. Give AI three examples of your own writing, and everything downstream improves.
Frequently asked questions
Does AI improve email open rates?
Indirectly. AI does not make people open emails, but generating and testing more subject line options than you would write by hand tends to improve results over time. The bigger drivers remain list quality, sender reputation and whether people genuinely want to hear from you.
What are the best AI tools for email marketing?
For copy, the general-purpose assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) do everything a dedicated email AI tool does, usually better. For images, Canva's AI features and Gemini's image models cover most needs.
Can AI write my entire newsletter?
It can, and readers will notice. A better split is AI for structure, options and editing, and you for opinions, stories and anything factual.
