How to use ChatGPT in B2B sales part 3: Empowering email outreach with AI

Lottie Taylor

March 23, 2023

Fear of the blank page? AI content generation has made it a thing of the past. 

In part 1 of this blog series, we sat down with ChatGPT to explore its general capabilities.

In part 2, we shared some of our best practices for using AI copywriters and a selection of our favorite ChatGPT prompts for sales.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far:

  • AI copywriters can save you tonnes of time on content generation
  • You can experiment with a new tone of voice or approach in just a few clicks
  • The quality of output is heavily dependent on the quality of your prompt.

Most importantly, there’s one thing that especially concerns salespeople:

  • AI copy tools like ChatGPT struggle to create hyper-personalized cold emails or messages without extra data.

In this blog, we’ll address how salespeople can deal with this issue and explore the scope of AI-powered personalization. After all, we wouldn’t be Amplemarket if we didn’t have faith in AI!

AI content personalization & its limits

When ChatGPT dropped in late 2022, one of the reasons it caused such a stir was the diversity of its capabilities; song-writing, coding, debugging computer programmes, translation, playing tic-tac-toe, and much more. It was able to do this thanks to the unprecedented scope of its training and machine learning.

The GPT LLMs (Large Language Models) upon which ChatGPT were fed vast amounts of internet data, even including Reddit discussions, to learn how to predict textual outputs in imitation of a human writer. But at present, ChatGPT (and even the new GPT-4) only has knowledge of events before 2021, so its accuracy on more recent trends is questionable.

Moreover, what many users of ChatGPT and GPT-4 don’t realize is that they do not work like search engines; they cannot conduct research on the internet when answering prompts and rely only on the data described above.

This is why when it comes to creating sales copy, pure GPT models don't have the capacity to personalize for specific prospects. Unless you manually input personalized data, you’ll get very generic responses to your prompts.

And inputting personalized data means doing prior research on your prospect’s job history, role, current interests etc…. So you’re back to square one, and not saving any time at all.

But there is a solution! In fact, in this blog, we’ll cover two:

  1. Use ChatGPT or GPT-4 to prepare re-usable templates.
  2. Leverage Amplemarket’s AI Copywriter that automatically pulls prospect data!

ChatGPT or GPT-4 prompts for templating cold emails & messages

In part 1 of this blog, we looked at how ChatGPT or GPT-4 can be fed specific information to create personalized messaging: 

An example first touch message generated through ChatGPT.

The problem with this kind of prompt is that because it’s highly specific, it’s not appropriate for re-use. The prompt is actually longer than the AI output, so if we were to replicate the process for every prospect, we’d hardly be saving any time at all!

Instead, we can ask the AI to create a template where the bulk of the messaging remains relevant, but we can ask to include variable fields where we can tweak the details later on. Check out a few of our favorite examples below.

1. The first touch

This prompt starts with a basic outline of the sender’s product and value proposition and also includes the context of the copy, length, and variable fields we’d like to include.

2. More specific first touches

You can create more specific templates for different segments of your target audience by playing around with the prompt. Here’s another example for recent job-changers:

3. The follow-up

With a little trial, tweaking, and iteration, you can use this technique to start compiling templates for your cold outbound sequences. Here’s how this sequence might continue with a follow-up: 

If “competitor” is too specific here, you can simply use an interesting case study or champion customer.

4. Referring back

It helps to start with a clear idea of how your sequence will map out so you can create templates that flow naturally and avoid repetition. Below is an example of how you might refer back to previous touch-points in your sequence:

…Etcetera! Our ebook on Sales Sequencing can help you plan your various sequences and avoid missing any important outreach opportunities.

The next step would be to put your templates into action. If you have an automated sequencing tool connected to your CRM, it should be easy for you to copy and paste your templates over and simply check that the variable fields are mapping correctly.

If you’re doing everything manually, you’ll need to populate the variable fields one by one - but at least the bulk of the messaging will be ready.

The alternative solution: a specialized AI copywriter for salespeople

The ChatGPT techniques outlined above go some way to helping you personalize your sales outreach, but they still take time and effort to trial, iterate, and implement. It’s still up to you to ensure personal data is synced correctly, and by nature of the templates, there’s a limit to how unique or inventive your messaging can be.

What you need is a special AI cold email tool built specifically for sales outreach that creates hyper-personalized messaging automatically.

We’ve made you wait long enough… now meet Amplemarket’s very own AI Copywriter!

Unleash AI-powered personalization with a single click!

Leveraging OpenAI's cutting-edge GPT-4, Amplemarket’s AI Copywriter is a state-of-the-art engagement tool with a difference; it connects with our data-native platform and LinkedIn to pull the most relevant data for connecting with your prospects.

Let’s dive straight into some use cases so you can see how it works!

Hyper-specific outbound approaches

Like everything in Amplemarket, the email-writing AI is designed to streamline your sales processes and save you juggling multiple different platforms. Through the Amplemarket Chrome Extension, you can access the cold email AI tool directly from LinkedIn.

To create a first touch, you simply enter into your prospect’s profile and click the magical “Generate” button:

The AI Copywriter integrates seamlessly into your LinkedIn via the Amplemarket extension.

The AI Copywriter will then create a unique message including the following:

  • A personalized hook (e.g. a recent post or comment by the prospect, mutual connections, or other detail from their profile)
  • Your product or service’s value proposition
  • An appropriate CTA

No need for variable fields, manual research, or generic templates; the AI does the leg-work to make your prospect feel individually-valued and your value proposition natural. Like ChatGPT, you can try different iterations until you find your preferred option:

Ask the AI to reIterate and compare your options to find your preferred hook.

Personalization for ABM strategies

In an ABM strategy (account-based marketing or account-based selling), the emphasis is on creating a highly personalized buying experience for your prospect. There’s no room for generic outbound messaging; you need to show you’ve done some research and can match their particular pain points, interests, or requirements.

Amplemarket's cold email AI ensures your messaging is focused and relevant to your prospects professional interests and LinkedIn activity. Additionally, you can create tailored touches for different personas within the same target account to maximize your chances of making an impact!

One-off approaches

For many sales reps, lead generation is hindered by a lack of scalability; with limited resources, there comes a trade-off between quality versus quantity in cold outreach.

Outside of ABM, the Amplemarket's email writing AI simply makes it easier for you to approach more leads. Unlike the examples above, where you need to spend time refining prompts in ChatGPT, configuring your personalized copy takes just a single click:

  • There’s no need to describe your product/company
  • You don’t have to research or select specific insights about your target prospect
  • You don’t need to describe the context of the message every time you ask

And finally, thanks to the AI Copywriter’s integration with Amplemarket’s lead generation and engagement tools, there’s no need to transfer content back and forth between platforms!

Customize your writing style

Amplemarket's AI Copywriter generates content in an informal and approachable tone by default, but this can be changed to suit your approach. Here are a couple of our favorite examples to show you what's possible:

Warning: use "in the style of William Shakespeare" or "in the style of a pirate like Jack Sparrow" cold approaches at your own risk...

You can also adjust the length of messages, use of punctuation, intentional mispellings etc. according to your style of communication.

Takeaways

Provided you know how to make the most of it, AI copy generation has the potential to revolutionize your sales communication. A manual input tool like ChatGPT is great if you’re looking to start fleshing out your sales sequences and it can save you a lot of time in curating reusable templates.

When it comes to creating hyper-personalized first-touches, however, Amplemarket’s AI Copywriter is superior for its use of contact intelligence. It’s an ideal tool for scaling outbound processes whilst maximizing your chances of engagement with every single prospect.

Learn more about Amplemarket’s AI Copywriter and sign up for a demo here!

Subscribe to Amplemarket Blog

Sales Tips, Email Resources, Marketing Content

💌
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Questions you may have

Frequently asked questions