Ever wondered about the challenges email marketers face behind the scenes? According to a recent Litmus study, the biggest bottlenecks in email marketing arise in building (41%), designing (40%), and content creation (34%).
Each email campaign requires a team effort from specialists such as a copywriter, email designer, HTML coder, martech specialist, and project manager.
However, despite this concerted effort, the reality is that email production can be time-consuming. Marketing teams often spend an average of two or more weeks creating a single email campaign.
This prolonged timeline affects agility in responding to market dynamics and increases the operational costs associated with campaign execution.
Is AI going to have an impact here? Absolutely.
While we’re all struggling to streamline email production in the design and coding phase, the good news is that plenty of AI tools are waiting to be implemented.
While AI has long been used for optimizing email copy and subject lines, its role in crafting visually appealing and technically flawless email templates is a relatively new frontier.
Ivan Ilin, CEO of EmailSoldiers & Blocks, reported creating a basic email template from scratch in under 30 minutes.
In this blog, we will discuss the role of AI in optimizing email design and coding to create better and faster email campaigns.
We recommend checking out this recent infographic on optimizing email design and coding with AI.
The insights from 8 leading email marketing experts are a must-read for marketers aiming to leverage AI tools to save time and enhance the quality of their email campaigns.
Top 3 Ways How to Use AI in Email Design and Coding
1. AI for Image Generation
Visual generative AI tools like Dall-E2, are game-changers for creating personalized images in your email marketing campaigns. Here’s how they can add some serious flair to your emails:
- Product Visuals: Breathe new life into product images. Generative AI tools can create stunning and realistic product visuals specifically tailored for your email marketing campaigns, social media posts, or other marketing materials.
- Brand Storytelling: Strengthen your brand identity by leveraging AI to design captivating logos and visual elements that perfectly embody your brand voice. These visuals can seamlessly integrate into your email content, leaving a lasting impression on your audience.
- Eye-Catching Ad Graphics: Stand out in the crowded inbox with AI-generated advertising visuals for your cold email initiatives. These eye-catching graphics can grab attention, boost click-through rates, and drive conversions.
And there’s more! These AI tools can also create personalized recommendations and craft optimized CTAs tailored to your audience’s preferences and interests.
2. AI for Converting Email Designs into HTML Code
While AI isn’t quite a magic button that instantly translates your email design into flawless HTML code, it can be a powerful ally in bridging the gap between design and development.
Here’s how AI is transforming the design-to-code workflow:
- Creating a stunning email design is just step one. Converting that design into HTML code that works perfectly across different email clients and devices is where the real challenge lies. AI tools like Stripo and Chamaileon make this transition smooth. Simply import your design file; these tools generate the HTML code for you, preserving your layout and style.
- Manually slicing design elements into individual images for coding can be time-consuming. AI tools can automate this process, efficiently splitting your design into optimized image assets ready for integration into the HTML code.
- What used to take hours now only takes minutes. AI automates the coding process, freeing up your time for strategy and creativity. Tools like Kombai can convert intricate designs from platforms like Figma into HTML emails quickly and accurately.
- Ensuring your email design renders flawlessly across different devices is crucial. AI-powered tools like Stripo or GetResponse’s AI Email Generator can analyze your design and suggest code snippets or adjustments to achieve optimal responsiveness. This saves developers valuable time while guaranteeing a seamless user experience across different platforms.
3. AI for A/B Testing
A/B testing has long been the cornerstone of optimizing email marketing campaigns.
However, the traditional approach, involving the manual creation of variations and analysis, can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Here’s how–
- AI-powered tools like ShortlyAI and Phrasee analyze your email content and target audience to predict high-performing subject lines. They help you generate multiple variations, testing them against each other to identify the winner with the highest open rates.
- AI tools like Emarsys and Movable Ink personalize email content based on individual recipient data like demographics, purchase history, and website behavior.
- AI automates the entire A/B testing process, from creating variations to analyzing results. Tools such as Adobe Campaign and Optimizely handle everything, saving time and giving clear insights into what works best.
Best AI Tools for Email Marketing
1. ChatGPT
Craft marketing emails faster with ChatGPT. This AI tool uses a chat interface. Just briefly describe your desired email content, and ChatGPT generates a draft copy.
Refine it in a conversation, tweaking headlines, subject lines, and the body itself.
2. Mailchimp
Mailchimp offers advanced AI capabilities designed to enhance your eCommerce email marketing campaigns.
Mailchimp’s AI analyzes your data and industry benchmarks to recommend data-driven improvements for your email content and campaigns.
Choose from various AI-generated content versions that match your brand voice and message.
Mailchimp’s AI uses your existing brand assets to create stunning templates you can personalize for specific audiences.
3. Get Response
GetResponse simplifies personalized email marketing with behavior-based workflows. These workflows reach your audience at key moments with content tailored to their needs.
Using industry data, you can input keywords, phrases, email goals, and tone preferences into GetResponse’s GPT-powered email generator.
To enhance relevance and engagement, you can feature different images, text variations, and AI-generated product recommendations in each email.
The AI subject line generator helps you test and optimize subject lines based on subscriber behavior, ensuring your emails stand out in crowded inboxes.
AI – Your Email Marketing Partner in Crime
The days of email marketing being a slow and manual process are fading fast. AI is revolutionizing how we design, code, and optimize email campaigns.
From generating personalized visuals to streamlining A/B testing, AI offers a treasure trove of tools to enhance your email marketing efforts.
But remember, AI isn’t here to replace us but to boost our efforts. Just like how ChatGPT needs your final touch, AI tools need human insight to shine.
They give us the power to innovate, improve how we connect with our audience, and dig deep into our data for valuable insights.
To make AI work for you, building on solid data foundations and integrating it seamlessly into your workflow is crucial.
This ensures that the insights AI provides aren’t just numbers—they’re actionable strategies that drive real results.
So, as you explore the possibilities of AI in your email marketing journey, remember: it’s a tool that amplifies human creativity and efficiency, not a replacement for it.
By harnessing AI alongside your team’s expertise, you’ll unlock new potentials and take your email marketing to new heights.