Should You Use AI to Write Your Marketing Emails?
You’re a busy business owner, and AI can spit you out a marketing email in seconds. It is soooo tempting.
Especially when days are long and you can’t be bothered to create content, it feels enticing to let AI do the lifting for you.
I’m a business owner too - truly, I get it!
But should you really use AI to write your newsletter, sales emails, or other email copy?
In this post, I’m going to explain why I think using AI as your primary email writing tool may not be your best bet, and how writing your own emails or working with an email marketer (a human one 🙂) can benefit your business!
Using AI in Your Email Marketing: Yay or nay?
It’s no secret: you can do almost anything with AI. If you wanted to have it give you a full email marketing strategy complete with the emails themselves, it could.
And depending on how good you are at prompting, it could do a decent job!
I wouldn’t blame you at all for doing this. It makes perfect sense to utilize this technology as a busy business owner. After all, as I often say, you didn't create your business to create content full-time to market it.
This isn’t to say not to use AI at all (I do in my business; check out my AI disclosure to learn more about that). But I DO want to show you how writing your own emails (or hiring someone to do it) can prove more beneficial than writing content with AI.
(So, yay or nay on using AI to write your marketing emails? Usually nay. I’ll let you in on the “yay” later!)
The Case for Writing Emails Without AI
As I mentioned, AI can definitely write you an email, and it could even write you a good one.
But I’d like to gently push back on it being the best option for you. (and I’m not going to touch on AI ethical or environmental concerns, that’s a whole other topic.)
That is, it is an option, but probably not the best one. 😉
Let’s see why:
Emails are a real-time relationship
Email marketing is a relationship-building tool: that’s why it has high ROI.
People don’t share their email address with anyone; they trust you to be in their inbox, and they’re interested in hearing from you.
It’s not easy to grow your email list, so if your subscriber could go to ChatGPT for their answer instead of you, why would they stay on your list?
Well, likely they want to hear YOUR perspective, your stories, your business details…NOT something that any AI chat can spit out at them.
Ideally, your emails will prompt some subscribers to reply and actually talk with YOU…that’s where sales are made.
When people reply and they see that you talk to them just as your marketing emails do, their guard is let down. They understand that you care enough to speak to them directly in your marketing and on a personal level.
That’s something AI will never be able to replicate: relationship-building and genuine connection.
Writing emails helps you understand your target audience / ideal client better
Speaking of relationship building, writing your emails without AI helps you understand your target audience or client better.
The more you truly sit and think about your ideal client avatar and what they need to hear from you, the sharper your messaging gets.
(Pro-tip: use AI to understand your audience and analytics better, and use those insights!)
(Pro-pro-tip: Use your ideal client’s “anti-vision” to understand them better!)
The more you can get real-time feedback from your subscribers (replies, open rates, etc.), the more in tune you are with what they need from you.
Of course, you can input your ideal client avatar into your favorite AI chatbot and have it write emails that speak to that client. But even if you refine the draft and personalize it, it still will sometimes feel like it misses the mark.
Why’s that?
Read on.
AI content sounds like AI content
Emails are different from other forms of marketing because they are more informal and conversational.
That’s why I don’t like the “give value” advice you see everywhere online.
Sure, you should educate your audience and prime them to become customers, but emails are different.
They’re a place for you to be you. Again, subscribers let you into their personal inbox! They want to know why they should buy from YOU.
And let’s be real: AI content sounds like AI content. 🤷♂️
People are getting better at spotting it, and this has become so acute that people now hire copywriters to make sure they don’t sound like AI.
You can and should use AI to help you refine your audience, brainstorm, and get inspired. But to wholesale write your emails from a prompt?
I’ll repeat:
It’s an option, but it’s not the best one. 😊
Worried that not using AI will cost you too much time?
Yeah, I don’t blame you. After all, AI IS a time-saver in so many ways.
But what if I told you that I write my weekly newsletter in 20 minutes or less without using AI?
After you’re done reading this post, head to this one to see exactly what I do to stay consistent with emailing my list without compromising my time or energy!
Working With Me As Your Email Marketer
One way I serve my clients is through Welcome Email Lab. We get on a call, you tell me all about your business and target customer, and I write your welcome email sequence.
This is one of my favorite email marketing sequences because it’s so human. It’s a relationship-building tool, 24/7 salesperson, and a messaging strategist all in one!
Through my 4C Approach, I write a welcome sequence that turns subscribers into clients ready to book your service. If you’re ready, apply to work with me!
And no, I don’t use AI to write your emails, nor did I use it at any point in writing this blog post to drive the point home. 😉
For ongoing practical email tips, I also send a weekly newsletter to help you improve your email marketing without adding more complexity to your week. See you there!
In case we haven’t met…
👋 I’m Dom—an email marketing strategist who believes email can be simple & profitable for your business!
If you enjoyed this post or got something out of it, here are other ways we can connect:
📧 Subscribe to my newsletter. I send a short email every Tuesday to help you build an email marketing strategy you can feel good about.
👉 View my services. Are you my next client?!
📚 Read the rest of the blog. Here, you’ll find in-depth posts about email, marketing, business, and more!
🛠️ Check out the tools & resources I use in my business. I keep this page updated with the tools I use and recommend (some with full reviews!). If you’re looking for a solution for your business, it’s worth perusing!
☕️ Buy Me a Coffee. If you found this post helpful and feel like saying thanks, you can leave a little tip. Never expected, but always appreciated! ❤️