Among email marketers using artificial intelligence (AI), written content is the most common use case, according to a report [download page] from Litmus in partnership with Oracle. However, AI-generated content/copy ranks low on the list of elements that contribute at least some performance improvement to email campaigns, per the report’s findings.

That may be due to low adoption levels. Only one-third (34%) of respondents indicated that AI-generated content/copy had boosted their email performance, though equally as many reported even using generative AI for that purpose (suggesting that those using it are finding good returns from it).

Instead, there are more widely used tactics for which email marketers report performance improvements. The top 2 relate to subject lines: more than three-quarters (77%) indicate that subject line personalization has helped their performance, while close to three-quarters (73%) credit improvements to emojis in the subject line.

Personalization isa high priority for email marketeres and subject line personalization isn’t the only area in which they’re seeing some benefits. More than two-thirds (68%) also report some performance improvements from personalization with dynamic content (something that some marketers are achieving with the help of AI). A recent analysis found that emails with personalization in the body of the email had considerably higher click-through rates than those without personalization in the email body.

Separately, 90% of email marketers surveyed said that email segmentation boosted their performance. Other tactics and technologies that showed much improvement for them included action-triggered emails, universal holdout groups for testing, and advanced performance analysis.

For more, download the report here.

About the Data: The results are based on an October and November 2023 survey of more than 480 email marketers worldwide.