It seems like no matter the topic, there’s a conversation happening about how AI will soon be improving lives. Marketing is no exception — AI is the perfect complement to a marketing stackthat includes media buy, retargeting, content, lead nurturing, SEO, and social.
We are already starting to see an alignment between artificial intelligence and marketing in the form of iNBOUND iNTELLIGENCE. This is allowing marketers to rely on technology for support with lead nurturing. The latest development: AI in B2B email marketing.
Introducing Phrasee
Phrasee is a tool powered by AI that analyzes email subject lines to create new ones, requiring just 5 minutes per campaign. It uses language that is indistinguishable for human writing. In terms of open rates for emails, Phrasee outperforms human efforts 98 percent of the time.
As AI is a broad term, to understand just how Phrasee work, you need to consider the forms of machine learning it relies on. These include:
- Deep learning — finding meaning in large data sets.
- Natural language generation — writing language like a human.
- Natural language processing — understanding the meaning of unstructured human language.
When developing Phrasee, the founders discovered that their assumptions about what makes the best email subject lines were incorrect. They had believed that subject lines were all about individual keywords, as this is what makes a difference in paid search. However, users don’t read emails subjects like search ads but as sentences, which leads to a distinct emotional reaction.
What matters in subject lines is the context of words. The founders of Phrasee used this discovery to build a deep learning model that can predict what subject lines will win split tests for buckets of users.
The Potential for AI in B2B Email Marketing
The findings of the Phrasee developers just go to show that instinct is never sufficient to create high-performing campaigns. AI in B2B email marketing removes the guesswork with its ability to parse huge amounts of data. When humans try to use this data, they often miss critical insights. Even worse, they may decide to run with a gut feeling rather than following what the data is showing. AI eliminates this risk.
At the same time, using AI saves marketers time, allowing them to focus on other aspects of email marketing, like writing creative copy. As the capabilities for AI grow, technology will have an even greater part to play in this task. For instance, AI will be able to optimize what the marketer creates.
Focusing on email rather than other aspects of marketing has further advantages. For one thing, marketers have more control over emails than an activity like social media, as the marketer decides when the user receives the content. A second advantage is that marketers gain access to first-party data.
The Takeaway
AI already has great potential in B2B email marketing. Simply improving open rates has a big impact on conversion rate, but better nurturing can also shorten what are often lengthy sales funnels. If the trends of today continue, we can expect to see an even stronger connection between artificial intelligence and content marketing.
