This image shows a laptop keyboard and AppStore's ChatGPT displayed on a mobile phone screen. … [+]
ChatGPT may be stuck in 2021, the year the developer last entered training data, but it's still a tireless research and writing assistant.
I use ChatGPT extensively at work, peppering it with questions and digging deeper and deeper as I explore and create content.
And because we're always discovering new ways to use our tools, it's easy to invest $20 a month in a paid subscription.
I recently spoke with one of my clients about how they use ChatGPT. She said she plans to use ChatGPT for email marketing.
Intrigued, I tested the AI and came up with six steps you can take using ChatGPT to get great results in your next email marketing campaign.
Step 1. Feed your campaign summary into ChatGPT
Just like a human assistant, we give ChatGPT a complete creative overview of your email marketing. … [+]
Just like a human assistant, you provide ChatGPT with all the details it needs to strategize and create your email content, including:
- Overview of your company or brand
- Campaign purpose
- Campaign purpose
- Product, service and program details
- customer's voice
- Viewer details
- Campaign start and end dates
- Brand voice, tone and style guidelines
- How do you want your readers to feel?
To test, I told ChatGPT that I was the CEO of a (fictional) coaching company called SaaS and Soul. I said he would begin his two-week email campaign to announce and recruit the next members of the SaaS and Soul Executive Leadership Program. For the first week of the campaign, he said he wanted to focus on information and education in the first week and sales in the second week.
Since this was a test and a fictional company, I searched for executive leadership programs online, selected a random program, and entered its details into ChatGPT. I also entered the content of my blog post so the tool could write as I did.
I asked them to maintain a personal yet professional tone, avoid jargon, use exclamation points sparingly, and use bullet points when presenting more than two items. Ta.
Now that your prep is loaded in ChatGPT, you can start working on your campaign.
Step 2. Ask ChatGPT to outline your campaign
Sure, you can skip the overview and ask the AI to start working right away and create all your emails in one request, but to avoid opaque results, you can stage your campaign. We recommend that you proceed accordingly.
Start with an overview. From there you can refine your approach.
Although I didn't specify what I was looking for, I found it interesting that the tool provided details about the email content in addition to the subject line.
Here are the email results for the first week:
After loading the creative brief for our email marketing campaign, we asked ChatGPT for an overview. … [+]
To save space, I asked ChatGPT to rework the proposed summary to only display the subject line for each day.
Subject line created by ChatGPT for email marketing campaigns.
Step 3. Ask ChatGPT to compose emails one at a time
I then asked ChatGPT to write a concise first-person email to see how they would approach the project.
The first version didn't have a leadership program in place, so we had to request a rewrite.
Asking for a rewrite means telling ChatGPT what went wrong, or pointing out what you'd like changed and asking them to try again. It's good to ask for a rewrite. This is a way to get ChatGPT closer and closer to the desired output.
The second version that follows is much closer to what I envisioned, and perhaps even better.
Email created by ChatGPT as a fictitious company and fictitious email marketing test … [+]
Once you're happy with the first email, move on to the second email, and so on until the last email. Next, optimize your subject line.
Step 4. Ask ChatGPT to provide alternative subjects for A/B testing
The subject line is the most important element of your campaign. If your email doesn't get attention in your inbox, it won't be read or deleted. That's why it's important to do A/B testing.
I moved the first set of subject lines back to ChatGPT and requested another set of subjects for A/B testing.
Second set of email subject lines generated by ChatGPT for use in email A/B testing … [+]
Like the first set, this second set of subject lines hints at the content, grabs attention, and encourages recipients to open the email. Now you're ready for A/B testing.
Step 5. Ask ChatGPT to recommend actions you can take to increase interactions and gain insights.
ChatGPT is more than just writing emails and subject lines. Optimization techniques can also be provided upon request.
I asked the tool to recommend actions that would increase interactions and provide insight into my campaign.
ChatGPT ideas to increase interactions with your email campaigns.
The first option, “Embed an interactive element,'' seemed interesting, so we asked ChatGPT to recommend and elaborate on other elements besides polls that would be appropriate for the campaign.
Ideas for interactive elements in ChatGPT (clickable infographics, interactive quizzes, stories, etc.) … [+]
These ideas offer many opportunities to delve deeper into interactive elements if you're interested.
Step 6. Ask ChatGPT to recommend autoresponder sequences based on behavior
As a final element of this test, we asked ChatGPT to suggest automated follow-up emails based on actions such as clicks and downloads. This allows us to take our readers to the next step and gently guide them toward signing up for our SaaS and Soul coaching programs.
Post-campaign strategies suggested by ChatGPT after an email marketing campaign.
This is just the beginning of how ChatGPT can help with your email marketing campaigns.
You could also ask ChatGPT to complete the following tasks:
- Provide alternate versions of email body copies for A/B testing.
- We provide guidance on integrating personalized elements, including industry-specific content and addressing individual pain points based on segmentation.
- Create compelling CTAs for different segments and stages of the buyer journey.
- I will advise you on the layout, visuals, and typography that resonates with my brand and engages my audience.
- Design surveys and feedback forms to help you gather insights from your recipients about the content of your emails and their perceptions of your coaching program.
- It provides insight into the interpretation of metrics such as open rates and click-through rates, and advises how to adjust your campaigns accordingly.
- Advise on post-campaign follow-up strategies, including nurturing users who expressed interest but didn't sign up.
The bottom line? ChatGPT is a powerful assistant that allows you to create successful campaigns in significantly less time.
Just like we guide virtual assistants and copywriters, we need to guide AI to get the desired results. But overall, the time and tedious work saved is invaluable.
