It can be difficult (and time consuming) to create engaging email campaigns that convert. Fortunately, you can use AI tools to save time and improve efficiency. But you might be wondering whether these services are good enough to write your sales emails.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of using AI content. Then, we’ll compare five AI tools to see how good they are at writing sales emails. Let’s get started!
The Pros and Cons of Using AI Tools to Create Content
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has affected many industries, but it’s taken the sales and marketing sector by storm. With a strong reliance on Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI tools are able to replicate human conversations and text.
One of the most common ways that businesses are implementing AI is through chatbots. But, you’ll also find AI content generators that can produce entire articles, social posts, sales emails, and more.
Naturally, AI tools provide an easy way to speed up your workflow, enabling you to save time and improve productivity. Additionally, they can help you conduct cold outreach messaging more effectively.
All you have to do is feed your AI platform the right information, and you’re able to create tailored email campaigns using personalization. This is very valuable for building trust and loyalty with customers.
However, it’s important to be cautious when using AI tools to write sales copy. If your platform isn’t properly trained, the content may not accurately reflect your brand voice or existing messaging. This can create an inconsistent User Experience (UX).
What’s more, AI-generated content can lack the creativity and flair that a human writer can provide. And, since AI gathers information from publicly available resources, there’s a chance that your content may be flagged for plagiarism.
Should You Use AI Tools for Sales Emails? Testing 5 AI Tools
Now that you know a bit about AI tools, let’s assess whether you should use them to write sales emails.
1. ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a large language model which generates outputs based on prompts. It’s able to recognize keywords to generate relevant responses. And, it’s completely free, so all you need to do is create an account.
It’s important to be very specific with your prompt. For example, aim to include any relevant details, the purpose of the email, and the tone or mood that the writing should reflect:
As you can see, ChatGPT does a fairly good job of producing an engaging sales email that’s tailored to the target audience and meets the tone requirements. The email also closes with a clear call to action (CTA) and asks a question to encourage the prospect to respond.
Of course, you may want to edit the AI copy to make it more effective. For instance, you might want to make the opening line less generic. Still, overall, ChatGPT delivers an appropriate, engaging message that retains the feel of a human writer.
2. HubSpot’s AI Email Writer
HubSpot’s content assistant includes an AI email writing software to help you draft, send, and track emails in one place. Better yet, you can use (and customize) templates, and edit emails using the slash and highlight commands.
Fortunately, you can get started with HubSpot for free. Then, you’re able to use the AI assistant to improve your email marketing campaigns.
The process is a lot more in-depth (and time-consuming) than ChatGPT and consists of five stages:
But unlike ChatGPT, you’ll get more control over the selling points and call to action. And, even though HubSpot suggests some useful CTAs, there’s also an option to add a custom CTA.
Then, you can review the finished email:
Right away, it’s obvious that the subject line isn’t as catchy as the one generated by ChatGPT. Additionally, while we set the tone as “friendly,” the result reflects more of an informative, sales-y tone which lacks a human touch.
What’s more, the AI tool contains no suggestions, so the output is based entirely on your prompt. This means the email is limited to a list of key selling points and a call to action.
Additionally, the call to action for this email (Learn More) is simply stated at the bottom of the email with no further questions or a lead-in to soften the sale. Therefore, it’s not the best if you want to generate creative content that resonates strongly with your audience.
3. Copy.ai
Copy.ai can help you create all kinds of content like long-form articles, product descriptions, ad copy, and more. Better yet, it even offers a brand voice feature to ensure your messaging is consistent across all touch points.
A key feature of this AI tool is that you can browse through useful prompts to help you generate your sales email. For example, you can adopt specific models like “attention-interest-desire-action” and populate the fields with relevant details:
We used the same prompt that we used for ChatGPT and received the following response:
The output here is clumped into pretty large paragraphs that aren’t the best for readability. As such, you’d likely want to break up the content into smaller paragraphs beneath subheadings, or add some bullet points.
However, the content does a good job of matching the tone and appealing to a human reader. Copy.ai even suggests a relevant CTA which is incorporated naturally into the email. Plus, it includes a space for you to add your website URL to drive traffic towards your pages.
4. Reply
Reply is a dedicated sales email assistant that prioritizes human-like content and personalization. It includes suggestions to help you maximize conversions (such as making sure your text is actionable).
This AI assistant (Jason AI) is powered by ChatGPT, so you’ll need to enter your prompt earlier. You’ll also see a link to improve your prompt, which makes it easier to specify the tone, language, length, and formality level:
Then, you can review the results:
At first sight, the email looks similar to that produced by ChatGPT, which makes sense. However, the CTA isn’t as strong since it doesn’t do a lot to motivate the reader to act.
But, as Reply stated, the content is reflective of a human writer and it does a good job of matching the tone and formality requirements. You can then add multiple emails to create a campaign sequence, add contacts, and enable the AI assistant to reply to all responses.
5. Rytr
The final AI tool that we’ll use to write sales emails is Rytr. This is a very simple tool that works fast, making it ideal for beginners.
Like with Reply, you can determine a set tone for your email. But, you’re also able to create multiple variants (with different creativity levels):
As you can see, the email does a great job of understanding the reader’s pain points and presenting the product as a solution to the problem. What’s more, it includes a bulleted list of results that can be achieved by using the service.
Additionally, the email reads as though it could be produced by a human writer. Still, the CTA could be more specific, or include a targeted question to prompt a response. But, you can edit the content directly in the platform (add headings, lists, links, and images).
Conclusion
With AI tools, you can write high quality email campaigns in seconds. But, some options are only suitable for certain instances like sales outreach or customer replies. Plus, you may need the most expensive plans to access the best features. That’s why it’s best to use these services to assist you with your writing (rather than replacing human writers entirely).
Do you have any questions about how to use AI tools for sales emails? Let us know in the comments below!
Image credit: Unsplash.