Staring Blankly at a Blank Screen – How This Luddite Launched Her First AI-Powered Campaign
If you’re anything like me, the mere phrase “AI-powered email marketing” likely sends a chill down your spine, immediately followed by a desperate hope that it refers to some futuristic technology you won’t have to touch for at least another decade. As a self-described marketing Luddite who still types with just my two index fingers, the learning curve felt steep. But the statistics and success stories ultimately left me with no choice – it was time to step into the future.
And let me tell you, stepping into that future felt a lot like stepping off a ledge into a dark abyss! At first glance, my campaign seemed doomed from the start. But with some trial-and-error tinkering, a few pulled hairs, and one anxiety attack (only one!), I somehow figured out how to launch a modest yet mighty successful series of AI-generated emails. If I can do it, I swear anyone can. Yes, even you, Grandma!
Now before you start picturing a slick software package with fancy AI buttons executing all the work, let me burst that bubble real quick. The AI I used was disarmingly…simple. After signing up for a basic account with the AI API service Anthropic (shout-out!), all I had to do was type in a friendly prompt asking Claude (that’s what Anthropic named their AI ̄_(ツ)_/ ̄ ) to generate email copy ideas tailored to my list. Almost like magic, full email drafts started populating right before my eyes! Claude even suggested catchy subject lines and included dynamic blocks I could insert into my email service provider.
While the AI did all the heavy lifting creatively, I still had some finessing to do. I tweaked some sentences that felt a tad robotic, inserted extra paragraphs to improve flow, and rearranged a few points that seemed out of order. But truly, an hour of human editing saved me days of writer’s block and effort. And I gotta say, I was pretty impressed with how lively and compelling Claude made my content sound given my own writing resembles a cereal box more than Cosmo.
Once content was good to go, I connected my email provider to import the subscriber list and set up the campaigns. This part made me break into hives because that ominous abyss reappeared. But after a few frantic customer service calls and some very nice technicians patiently walking me through the steps, I miraculously figured out how to launch those babies without catastrophically bungling anything…as far I know.
Now onto the exciting part – results! Going into it, I tried to keep expectations modest, preparing myself for unengaged empty inboxes. But only 2 days in, my open and click rates were already exceeding previous non-AI campaigns by 15% on average. Receiving real human responses from people who typically only glance at my emails brought literal tears of joy. Watching the unsubscribe rate stay lower than normal also elicited some celebratory fist pumps – AI for the win!
While I definitely can’t retire my typing fingers yet thanks to needed human oversight, embarking on an AI-powered email marketing journey proved much more approachable than anticipated for this slow-learning technophobe. So fellow marketing greenhorns, if I can transcend my urge to hide from progress and make this work, I promise with a little perseverance, you definitely can too. Dust off those anxieties and preconceptions because the marketing future is now! Just be sure to keep Claude & friends on speed dial for when the abyss returns…and it will. Over and over again most likely.