Activate win a trip! Post 2: AI, Allie K. Miller & Your chance to be at Activate

As I build out a new lifecycle program for a new brand partnership, I’ve been using AI to help build my HTML code for snippets I’ll be using across all campaigns. This has been such a time saver for me !

I’m currently building an AI-powered email performance analysis and insight/recommendation tool. Details below:

• It takes a weekly performance report that includes all campaigns within a particular bucket (blast, automated, marketing, transactional, activation, retention etc.), then calculates an “Email Quality Score (EQS)” based on specific metrics.
• It then ranks the emails based on this score and identifies why emails are either performing above a threshold I’ve set, or below, based on the metrics available (an email may have had high complaints, or low clicks, or high conversions, for example).
• It then analyses screenshots of each campaign included in the sheet and is able to “match” them to the campaign data as the screenshots use a unique identifier present in each row of the performance report as the filename.
• Then, based on various areas I ask it to analyse (visuals, language, SL, PH etc.), it provides insights as to why a campaign may have performed well or not so well, then provides recommendations on how to improve the performance of campaigns under the EQS threshold by comparing it with campaigns that have performed above the threshold.

This allows me to hit the ground running each Monday morning by doing all the groundwork for me 🙌

I must add that this is not in production (yet!) as I;m still testing, but it’s looking extremely promising and I just have a few revisions to make to the prompt.

I have used AI embedded into other platforms (such as Iterable). I would like to leverage AI for further automation of our email marketing process, by having AI agents who can help create, organize and review email templates components, for example. 

As mentioned above, using a resource such as OpenAI to help with any HTML for email design or dynamic snippet functions has been an immense time saver.  It’s a great way to cut down production time while increasing personalization. I would highly recommend the use case, especially inputting any reference language you may have, testing, and iterating upon them for desired optimizations. Alternatively, we have also been experimenting with an AI powered two-way sms communication, which has been quite fun to work on. 

I have used AI to help me with data ingestion into our Iterable instance. For example, when my SQL script is meant to be beyond my knowledge, and when using our CDP to make predictive audiences based on conversions.  I have also used AI to help me build and proof copy, subject lines, and images. 

I use AI tools to not only help me create and tailor campaign messaging, but to also analyze the marketing tactics of my competitors. Using prompts to examine why particular campaigns may have been successful in areas like lead generation, engagement, or brand trust can help me find new ways to think about how to modify and improve my own campaign positioning.

I use AI to refine my emails and documentation, ensuring they are professional, clear, and appropriately toned. Whether it’s adjusting the formality of a message or making technical documentation more concise, AI helps me communicate more effectively. This has streamlined my workflow by saving time on revisions and improving the clarity of my writing.

AI features are in many tools/processes these days, seen or unseen to the front end user. Whether that’s proofreading for typos or analyzing customer engagement.. 

One thing I would wish for is to have AI providing optimization opportunities for email campaigns/triggers to have more successful delivery/inbox placement, recommending sending rates based on different certain domains, sending reputation, volume spike impact, analyzing successful deliveries, temporary fails, bouncebacks, blocks, etc.

AI has been a game-changer in how we personalize our emails. I’ve used AI to build dynamic snippets that pull in products based on each user’s profile data, making every email feel like it was made just for them. This level of personalization has improved engagement and directly contributed to revenue growth. 

After completing Iterable's AI Marketing certification, I gained valuable insights into how to target audiences more effectively using historical data. One of the most exciting AI tools we’ve implemented is Iterable’s AI Brand Affinity. By segmenting niche groups and tailoring retail promotions for customers with a strong brand connection, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in open rates, clicks, and overall engagement—all while reducing unsubscribes.

Looking ahead, we’re eager to take things further by leveraging Iterable’s AI to craft smarter, more personalized journeys. We plan to optimize communication across the most engaging channels—whether it’s email, push notifications, or in-app messages. Another exciting tool on our radar is the AI Journey Assist, which helps determine the best frequency and timing for reaching out when a member is most likely to be using their device. I can’t wait to evaluate the ROI of these efforts and showcase their impact to leadership!

Have also used Iterable’s subject line and preheader AI to assist with sparking some creative headlines.

I really enjoy using AI, but I don’t fully trust it yet. Especially when it comes to third-party learning models, privacy, and accuracy. Proprietary data security is a big concern, so I’m lucky enough to be able to leverage internal AI tools to avoid risks like data exposure and compliance issues. It’s also important to be aware of AI hallucinations and bias—you can’t just take the first output at face value. Challenging AI results is key here. You have to maintain critical thinking and human oversight. That said, AI has definitely helped streamline parts of my workflow, particularly in content creation and testing.

I’ve used internal AI tools for copywriting and A/B testing, which have saved time and improved engagement by making it easier to test different messaging approaches quickly. It’s helped speed up iteration cycles and refine email content based on real-time performance. I’ve also tested AI for troubleshooting handlebar logic (even when I provide documentation). More recently, I’ve started using AI for stats and performance analysis, which has potential to make reporting faster and uncover trends more efficiently.

Beyond internal tools, I’ve also leveraged Iterable’s AI-powered features like Send Time Optimization (STO) and BrandAffinity labels to improve segmentation and engagement. Eventually, I’d love to see more AI improvement in reducing repeatable mundane tasks to short cut implementation. 

ChatGPT helps me write clear, helpful documentation, making it easier for teams to understand processes and execute efficiently.

GitHub Copilot assists me in building SMS and email transcripts that integrate Iterable and Salesforce, saving time and improving accuracy.

The impact has been faster execution, fewer errors, and better team communication. AI isn’t just a tool—it’s an efficiency booster.

I’ve used generative AI to help assist with email and landing page copy. It’s also helped aggregate customer insights from surveys and interviews that we conduct since we have a small team. This informs our product development and how we go to market.

The following Iterable AI tools have been a game-changer for streamlining workflows.

• Channel optimization improves campaign engagement by alerting customers on the channel where they’re most likely to see it. 
• Frequency Optimization caps the number of email, SMS, and push notifications we send daily to ensure that we don’t over message our customers.
• Journey assist significantly reduces production time by generating new journeys after providing a short description of the type of experience we want to create.
• Prior to having an in-house copywriter, Copy Assist helped craft compelling messaging for new campaigns by providing creative copy suggestions. 

I deeply appreciate the ability to use OpenAI to help me understand the scope of work from another perspective.

I’m familiar with Catalogs from a previous role but my current team is trying to kick-off using the tool for the first time. I took for granted the access I had to a data team who was familiar with the tool. It’s taken a lot of effort to understand what needs to happen on the backend in order to get this initiative off the ground. OpenAI has been able to provide me with resources and explain processes effectively to someone without a technical background in Snowflake or data warehouse management. 

While I have yet to use Iterable’s shiny new AI features, I feel one step closer to streamlining my work because I have the power of OpenAI.

AI has helped me so much when I’m troubleshooting HTML or just want to crank out snippets quickly. I’m still in the building phase, but I’m looking forward to using it within Iterable to learn my user’s message channel and send time preferences to optimize relevancy and engagement.

Incorporating AI into content strategy and user lifecycle comms creation has been a game-changer. It helps streamline user engagement communications by crafting clear, compelling messages that resonate with the audience. I also use it to create templates, which saves time and ensures consistency across different projects. Beyond that, AI has allowed me to explore some more creative ways of leaning in, such as taking AI notes from presentations, uploading a persona audiencce, and crafting different comms to specific segment groups. Videos for implementation, Help Center articles for support, I also appreciate that sometimes AI sparks ideas or phrasing I wouldn’t have thought of on my own, all while using our company’s brand voice. The impact has been significant; it’s improved efficiency, allowing me to focus more on strategy while ensuring the content stays high-quality and tailored to the audience’s needs. It’s like having a supportive, innovative partner in my workflow!

I’ve incorporated AI into my workflow to help me refine creative briefs, assist with HTML and SQL-related tasks, and streamline geo-targeted segmentation by efficiently populating zip code strings. It’s helped save time on manual work, improve accuracy, and enhance personalization in campaigns. The impact has been a smoother workflow and more effective targeting, allowing for better audience engagement.

AI has been a huge support in many of my day-to-day tasks like copy suggestions, data analysis and SQL generation, plus html support to enable more flexible templating. 

But I’ve also used AI to completely transform some of our lifecycle touchpoints - specifically at the top of the funnel. We created an AI chatbot that educates and qualifies users when they land on the page, then use that information to curate more targeted retargeting emails. We also prompted the bot to a bit of the selling in order to prequalify users and move them further into the sales funnel. This was a total game-changer that completely transformed funnel performance.