How Artificial Intelligence is redefining email marketing

Artificial Intelligence or AI has emerged as one of the most promising technologies to push the email marketing campaigns’ envelope even further. The key to a successful email marketing campaign is delivering the right content at the right time to the right people, and recently AI has gone to great lengths to help email marketers achieve that. 

Gone are the times when you needed human resources to create specific and relevant content for individual subscribers. When AI’s intrusion is getting deeper into email marketing, the automation workflows are at an all-time high. They are smoothening the process of sending personalized emails according to subscriber behavior. Hence it came as no surprise when Accenture reported that “AI has the potential to boost rates of profitability by an average of 38 percent by 2035 and lead to an economic boost of US$14 trillion across 16 industries in 12 economies by 2035.”

Today, I’ll tell you how Artificial Intelligence can make all the difference to your email marketing campaign and why it is the next big thing for you as an email marketer. But first, let’s get through the basics.

How Artificial Intelligence functions

AI is a tool backed by Machine Learning (ML). ML works on the principle of processing large amounts of data, known as Big Data, and studies patterns in it. Detecting and analyzing these patterns enables ML to predict future behavior, eventual outcomes, and provide other insights about that particular data, hence developing an ‘artificial’ intelligence.

Having cleared the basics, let’s see how Artificial Intelligence can make your life earlier as an email marketer.

Automation

Well, you saw this one coming, didn’t you? The biggest prowess of AI is the convenience of automation. AI-powered programs have made automated or drip campaigns a reality. These campaigns are created on customer data insights and are based on what stage the user is in their customer journey. This process mines and then eventually leverages data from recent purchases, interests, and browsing behaviors to fabricate customized automated campaigns bound to nurture your leads.

Make AI your partner in the email marketing campaign’s journey. It would suggest to you the kind of content and images that will make the most impact while drafting different types of emails such as welcome emails, order update emails, retention emails, and beyond. This is done by studying the users’ database and correlating it with the type of email you intend to send and then working out the best possible way.

Can’t figure out a way to deploy Artificial Intelligence for your email marketing campaign? Well, you can always rely on professional services like Mailchimp email specialists or Marketo certified experts. They are the best for any assistance to craft your ideal email marketing campaign.

Do you remember getting emails from OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even Hulu for that matter? According to Forbes, in 2017, Netflix saved $1 billion by using Machine Learning.

I am making the point that the emails you receive from Netflix or any other content platform suggesting the ‘Top Picks” for you aren’t just a spray and pray methodology. There is sheer science backing those recommendations up, and above all of them, there is Artificial Intelligence that is continuously studying your behavior while you finish off that series. 

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Source: Really Good Emails

Subject lines

Here comes the tricky thing—the most prominent concern or the best bet of email marketers – subject lines. Well, Artificial Intelligence can take care of that as well. AI tools can generate subject lines all by themselves by deploying Natural Language Generation techniques or NL. These tools learn your branding content by the data you feed them and then craft those specific subject lines which bring higher CTRs and generate more revenue. 

AI algorithms also study the results of your past email marketing campaigns and hone the subject lines as per the insights derived from that data. They analyze patterns in the data and understand which subject lines are the most effective for your particular subscriber base. Then, these algorithms learn from them to come up with even better subject lines.

Looking for the perfect email templates to complement these ‘on-point’ subject lines? Well, then you should definitely try out Pardot email templates or Salesforce email templates. They would not only elevate the appeal of your email but would also boost the CTRs. See for yourself!

Automated testing

Testing used to be a two-dimensional process, but now A/B testing has transformed into an omnichannel hyper-targeting paradigm that enables you to carry out complex testing. You can test a plethora of variables in different permutations and combinations. This sort of bandit testing helps you get an idea of the spectrum that your traffic and CTRs would fall in. If you find one specific version to be a better performer, bandit testing will increase that variant’s frequency for better results.

Customized promotions

One great way to persuade more customers to sign up and eventually increase sales is by offering them special promotions through your email list. This can be further leveraged by customizing promotions according to individual customers. Sounds tedious? Well, AI & ML would determine the optimum offer for each of your individual customers.

For instance, if a customer would potentially be delighted at the chance of a 10% discount, you wouldn’t want to offer them a 50% discount, right? But for that, it’s crucial to know that 10% is what satisfies that particular customer as a discount. These sorts of insights into customer behavior and shopping patterns are not possible with deploying Artificial Intelligence. They would help you save a ton of money as a business owner and enhance customer retention and customer engagement in the long run.

Wrapping Up

Artificial Intelligence is changing the way we perceive, process, and pass on information without us even realizing it. In marketing and that too email marketing, it is opening a whole new horizon of possibilities. With better insights than ever before, marketers are far more empowered and can deliver exceptional value campaigns. Hence, if you have not boarded the Artificial Intelligence bandwagon, it’s the perfect time to do so because the future is about embracing intelligence.

About The Author:

Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free responsive HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.

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