Day 13 of 28 · AI Challenge
Email Marketing with AI
⏱ 7 min
📊 Beginner
Social media is rented land. The algorithm changes, your reach drops, and you're back to square one. Email is land you own. Your list, your audience, your direct line to people who raised their hand and said "I'm interested."
Email marketing has the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel — roughly $36 for every $1 spent, according to industry data. Today you'll use AI to build email sequences that nurture leads and drive sales while you sleep.
The welcome sequence
When someone joins your email list, the first emails they receive set the tone for your entire relationship. A great welcome sequence turns a cold subscriber into a warm fan in 5-7 days.
Here's the standard structure:
Email 1 (Immediately): Deliver what you promised. If they signed up for a free guide, give them the guide. Introduce yourself briefly. Set expectations for what they'll receive.
Email 2 (Day 2): Share your story or origin. Why do you do what you do? This builds connection and trust.
Email 3 (Day 3-4): Deliver pure value. Your best tip, your most useful framework, something they can act on today.
Email 4 (Day 5): Social proof. Share a result, testimonial, or case study. Show that your stuff works.
Email 5 (Day 6-7): The soft pitch. Present your paid offer as the natural next step for someone who's been getting value from your free content.
This structure works across virtually every niche. And AI can write the entire sequence in one sitting.
I'm a freelance social media manager. People join my email list by downloading a free guide called "30 Social Media Post Ideas for Small Businesses." Write a 5-email welcome sequence. My paid offer is a $497/month social media management retainer. Tone: friendly, knowledgeable, not pushy. Include subject lines.
Here's your 5-email welcome sequence:
**EMAIL 1 — Immediate delivery**
Subject: Your 30 post ideas are here 🎉
Hey [First Name],
Here's your guide: [link]
I'm [Your Name], and I help small businesses turn social media from a chore into their best marketing channel. Over the next few days, I'll share my top strategies — the same ones I use for clients who pay me $497/month.
First up tomorrow: the #1 mistake I see small businesses make on Instagram.
Talk soon,
[Your Name]
---
**EMAIL 2 — Day 2: Your story + a quick win**
Subject: I almost quit social media management
Two years ago, I was managing 3 accounts, burning out, and charging $200/month. I was doing it all wrong.
Then I built a system. Same work, better results, premium pricing. Now I manage social media for 8 businesses and actually enjoy it.
The #1 mistake I see small businesses make? Posting without a content calendar. It leads to random, inconsistent content that confuses followers and burns you out.
Quick fix: pick 3 content pillars (topics you always talk about) and rotate between them. That alone makes your feed 10x more strategic.
Tomorrow I'll share the exact framework I use with every client.
---
**EMAIL 3 — Day 4: Pure value**
Subject: The 3-step system behind my best-performing posts
Every high-performing social post I create follows this:
1. Hook — The first line stops the scroll (a bold claim, question, or surprising stat)
2. Value — The middle delivers something useful (a tip, story, or framework)
3. CTA — The end tells them what to do (comment, save, share, click)
That's it. No magic. Just structure.
Try it with one of the 30 ideas from your free guide. Pick an idea, write a hook, add value, end with a CTA. I bet it outperforms your last 5 posts.
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**EMAIL 4 — Day 5: Social proof**
Subject: "She doubled our Instagram engagement in 60 days"
Last year, a local bakery hired me to manage their Instagram. They had 800 followers and averaged 12 likes per post.
60 days later: 2,400 followers, 150+ likes per post, and a 35% increase in weekend foot traffic they tracked directly to Instagram.
What changed? Not the algorithm. Not a viral post. A consistent system: content pillars, a posting schedule, strategic hashtags, and engaging with their community 15 minutes a day.
Systems beat hustle every time.
---
**EMAIL 5 — Day 7: The soft pitch**
Subject: Want me to do this for you?
You've seen the framework. You've got the post ideas. You know the system works.
But here's what I've learned: most small business owners have the knowledge — they just don't have the *time*.
That's exactly why I offer a done-for-you social media management retainer. For $497/month, I handle:
→ Content strategy and calendar
→ 12 posts/month (designed and written)
→ Community engagement
→ Monthly analytics report
If you'd rather spend your time running your business while I grow your social presence, let's talk: [booking link]
No pressure. Just an option for when you're ready.
Want me to adjust any of these emails?
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
Why does the welcome sequence save the pitch for the last email instead of leading with it?
A
Because selling is wrong
B
Because trust must be built through value before someone will consider a paid offer
C
Because the last email gets the highest open rate
D
Because email platforms penalize sales emails
People who just joined your list are strangers. Emails 1-4 build trust by delivering value, sharing your story, and showing proof that you get results. By email 5, you're not a stranger anymore — you're someone who's already helped them. That's when a pitch feels natural, not pushy.
Subject line mastery
Your email is worthless if nobody opens it. The average email open rate is around 20-25%. The difference between a great subject line and a mediocre one can double that.
What works:
- Curiosity: "I made a $3,000 mistake last week"
- Specificity: "The 11-minute morning routine that changed my business"
- Direct benefit: "How to get 5 clients this month without cold calling"
- Personal: "Quick question for you, [Name]"
What doesn't work:
- Vague: "Monthly newsletter — March edition"
- Clickbait that doesn't deliver: "You won't BELIEVE this"
- All caps or excessive punctuation: "HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!"
AI is excellent at generating subject line variations. Ask for 10, test the best two. Over time, you'll learn what your specific audience responds to.
Knowledge Check
Which subject line is most likely to get a high open rate?
A
"READ THIS NOW — IMPORTANT!!!"
B
"Newsletter #47 — Updates and News"
C
"The pricing mistake that cost me $2,000 (and how to avoid it)"
D
"Hello from [Your Business Name]"
It combines curiosity (what was the mistake?), specificity ($2,000), and a clear benefit (how to avoid it). The reader feels compelled to open because there's a story and a practical takeaway waiting inside. Generic newsletters and all-caps urgency both get ignored.
Newsletters that people actually read
Beyond welcome sequences, a weekly or biweekly newsletter keeps your audience engaged long-term. The key is to provide consistent value, not just promote your stuff.
A format that works for almost any business:
1. One insight — A tip, lesson, or observation from your week. Keep it practical.
2. One resource — A tool, article, template, or recommendation your audience would find useful.
3. One story — Something personal, a client win, or a behind-the-scenes moment. This is what makes people feel connected to you, not just your expertise.
4. One CTA — What should they do? Reply, check out your offer, read a blog post, follow you on social media.
AI can draft your newsletter in 10 minutes. You spend another 10 adding your personal stories and specific details. Twenty minutes, every week, keeps you top-of-mind with your entire audience.
Draft this week's newsletter for my email list. I'm a freelance social media manager. This week's insight: I tested posting at 6 AM vs 12 PM for a client and the morning posts got 3x more engagement. Resource: I've been using Metricool for scheduling. Story: I landed a new client through a DM conversation on LinkedIn. CTA: I have 2 spots open for new retainer clients.
Subject: Morning posts get 3x more engagement (I tested it)
Hey [First Name],
Here's what's working, what I'm using, and what happened this week:
📊 **This week's insight**
I ran an experiment for a client: same content, same format — but one batch posted at 6 AM and another at 12 PM. The morning posts got 3x the engagement. Not a fluke — it held across 2 weeks of testing.
My theory: early-morning scrollers are in "discovery mode" — browsing, saving, engaging. Lunchtime scrollers are distracted and moving fast. If your engagement has plateaued, try shifting your posting time earlier. It's a free fix.
🔧 **Tool I'm loving: Metricool**
I switched to Metricool for social media scheduling and I'm not going back. Clean interface, great analytics, and their "best time to post" feature actually works. Free plan is solid for 1-2 accounts.
💬 **Behind the scenes**
I landed a new client this week — and it started with a DM. I commented on a local restaurant owner's LinkedIn post about struggling with social media. She DM'd me, we talked for 10 minutes, and she signed a retainer the next day. LinkedIn isn't just for posting. It's for conversations.
🚀 **Two spots open**
I have room for 2 new retainer clients this month. If your business needs consistent, strategic social media content — let's chat: [booking link]
Talk next week,
[Your Name]
↻ Replay conversation
Automating the machine
The real power of email marketing is automation. Your welcome sequence runs on autopilot. Your weekly newsletter takes 20 minutes. And you can create targeted sequences for specific actions:
- Someone visits your pricing page but doesn't buy? Trigger a 3-email follow-up sequence.
- Someone downloads a specific guide? Send them content related to that topic.
- A subscriber hasn't opened emails in 60 days? Send a re-engagement sequence.
AI can write all of these sequences. You set them up once in your email platform (ConvertKit, Mailchimp, Beehiiv — whatever you use), and they run forever. One afternoon of AI-assisted writing creates a sales machine that works while you're sleeping, eating, or taking on new clients.
Final Check
What makes email marketing's ROI so much higher than other channels?
B
Email open rates are always above 90%
C
People check email more than social media
D
You own the audience directly, messages land in their inbox without algorithm interference, and automation lets you nurture leads 24/7
On social media, an algorithm decides who sees your content — usually 5-10% of your followers. Email lands directly in someone's inbox. You own that relationship. And automation means your best sales pitch, your welcome sequence, and your value emails run on autopilot for every new subscriber, forever. That combination drives the highest ROI in digital marketing.
📧
Day 13 Complete
"Email is the channel you own. A welcome sequence, a weekly newsletter, and smart automation — AI helps you build all three in an afternoon."
Tomorrow — Day 14
Your Content Machine
Tomorrow we wrap up Week 2 — you've built a complete content and marketing system.