Issue #173 All About Email

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #173 of All About Email!

Last week, we explored the basics of Email Flows. It was the first of two parts, as we covered things in slightly more detail.

This week was meant to be part two, but then Google did something very unexpected, and so did Microsoft.

Let’s go! 👇

AI That No One Asked For

About four days ago, I was mapping out the second part of “Email Flow Basics“, but then Google dropped this announcement. 👇

🚨 This really did come out of the blue, and my assumption (along with many in our industry) was that:

1. Google did not have many people paying for the Gemini add-on

2. It’s not actually about the money. It’s about the data…our data.

Elon Musk (I’m not endorsing any of his thoughts) and others (Google) claim we are running out or have run out of data to train LLMs.

🤔 (I’m not a fan of Forbes’ content or SEO tactics, but this article details Elon’s claims.)

Gemini Everywhere, Including Gmail

🎮 I’ve been playing with Gemini for about a week with mixed results. I’ve made a video walking you through Gemini for Gmail on your desktop.

(It’s also available in the Gmail App, and the experience is good, but it’s much easier to use on the desktop.)

Gemini can do so much more than write emails or replies for you. I summarise things below if you don’t want to watch the video now. 👇

Key Learnings and Considerations

⚡️ I’ve only been playing with Gemini on my mobile and desktop for about a week now, and if you’ve watched the video, the results can be unpredictable.

However, the results can be equally impressive.

✅ You need to ensure your subject line is optimised as (for now) it is a big part of Gemini’s AI summaries and is copied/read verbatim by Gemini.

So, friend, let’s dig into some of my initial thoughts and the potential implications for brands and marketers. 👇

1. Emerging Tools in Email Marketing 🛠️
   
   

   • Google Workspace's Gemini introduces advanced AI features for summarising and analysing emails, offering efficient ways to extract key information (The prebuilt prompts are an excellent starting point).
     
     

   • These tools are designed to learn from user interaction, indicating a shift towards more personalised content generation and user-specific features (delete your conversation history with caution).
     
     

2. Content Repurposing Risks ⚠️
   

   • Gemini can effectively repurpose email content for different audiences, presenting both opportunities and risks:
     
     

     • Marketers can streamline campaigns and adapt content for specific niches (e.g., e-commerce professionals).
       
       

     • However, the ease of repurposing raises ethical concerns about plagiarism and originality (hello, Grammarly Plagiarism Checker).
       
       

3. Preheader and Preview Text Challenges 🔍
   
   

   • The AI struggles to effectively identify and utilise email preview text, limiting its contextual understanding of email structure (for now).
     
     

   • Ensuring emails include well-optimised preheader text remains essential, as Gemini will eventually not overlook it.
     
     

4. Subject Line Optimisation 💬
   
   

   • Gemini can suggest subject lines based on content analysis, highlighting the importance of compelling and relevant subject lines to drive engagement.
     
     (I don’t iterate much on these subject lines created by Gemini in the video above but you can ask it to regenerate/recycle subject lines.)
     
     

5. Actionable Insights ✅
   
   

   • The tool identifies key takeaways and potential action points from email content, such as leveraging personal brands for marketing.
     
     This can help marketers extract insights from competitors’ campaigns and apply them strategically. 💡
     
     

6. Implications for Content Theft 🚨
   
   

   • The ease with which AI can repurpose and reformat emails (that you did not create) for other uses raises concerns about intellectual property in email marketing.
     
     (Heads-up, friend, you need to have watched the video above to understand this point and what I asked Gemini to do.)
     
     

7. Future of Email Marketing 🔮 
   
   

   • AI tools like Gemini could reshape how content is consumed and created, offering both efficiencies and creative challenges.
     
     

   • The growing reliance on AI might encourage marketers to focus more on strategy, originality, and protecting their creative assets.

TLDR - Key Takeaways from the Gemini Experiment

• Use AI for efficiency while maintaining originality and adhering to ethical standards.
  
  

• Optimise preheaders and subject lines, as they remain critical to email success.
  
  

• Stay vigilant against potential misuse of email content through AI repurposing tools.
  
  

• Use AI to draw insights from competitors’ emails while ensuring your campaigns provide unique value.
  
  

• Regularly update and adapt content strategies in response to evolving AI capabilities and audience expectations.

Closing Notes

• ⚠️ Gemini is turned on by default, but you can turn Gemini off (initially, I thought you couldn’t), and depending on your Google Workspace plan will determine your access level.
  
  (To turn off the Gemini app, you can do this in your Google Admin control panel.)
  
  

• Not to be outdone, Microsoft joined the party simultaneously (I haven’t tested CoPilot in Outlook yet).
  
  

• Dan Oshinsky has an excellent blog post, “13 AI Tools to Transform Your Newsletter“, at the Inbox Collective if you want to take things further.

That’s it for This Week 👋

⏭️ Next week, we will finally conclude Part Six of Email Flow Basics.

That will take us roughly to the halfway mark of our email mini-series, which we started in Issue #165.

See you next week! 😀

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 If you’re interested in sponsoring the “All About Email” newsletter, you can find all the details in this Google Doc. I currently have “Classified” slots and a Main Sponsor slot available.

Email Marketing News & Tips

This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:

• Forgot About This! - The ESP differentiator is a hidden gem. (Naomi West)

• Great Emails - Dan Oshinsky discusses “What I Learned About Newsletters in 2024“. (Inbox Collective)

• Inspired - Escaping the Content Rut...and the Spam Folder! (Lauren Meyer)

• Inbox or Spam - How to Test Email Deliverability. (ZeroBounce)

• Email Breakdown - Lazy Oaf’s Upsell email. (Vicky Smith)

• Cheat Sheet - Email Deliverability 101. (Israa Alwari)

• Do I? - 6 Signs You Need an Email Accessibility Audit. (Sarah Gallardo)

• Reputation - If deliveries dip, complaints skyrocket, or opens plummet, here's what to ask yourself. (Alison Gootee)

• Phishing Alert - Gmail users are issued an urgent warning and told to switch on an important security setting following several phishing attempts. (House of Email)

• Top Tips - The Litmus Team’s Top Email Tips for 2025. (Litmus)

• Most Saved - RGE’s Most Saved of 2024 Collection. (Really Good Emails)

• Sending Guide - The 2025 Deliverability Checklist. (Spam Resource)

If you have a question about this email or email marketing, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week! 👋