A prompt setup for marketing emails that don't sound like a robot
August 5, 20261 min read
The first draft of any marketing email from an AI tends to sound the same. Smooth, confident, and slightly hollow. Here's how I get past that.
Give it a sender, not a brand
If I say "write an email from our company," I get corporate voice. If I say "write this as Priya, who runs support and has answered this exact question 200 times," I get something a person would actually send.
So I describe the sender first. Their job, how they talk, what they're tired of explaining. Two lines is enough.
Give it a reader who's a bit annoyed
Most email prompts describe the ideal reader as if they're excited to hear from you. They're not. They're busy and mildly suspicious.
I write the reader the same way: "She signed up three weeks ago, hasn't opened anything since, and doesn't remember what we do." Now the email has to earn the open instead of assuming it.
Hand it a list of words to avoid
This is the part that does the most work. I keep a short list and paste it into every prompt:
- unlock, unleash, elevate, supercharge
- game-changer, must-have, seamless
- "in today's fast-paced world"
- "we're excited to announce"
I tell Claude: don't use these, and don't use close synonyms either. The draft comes back plainer straight away.
One more pass by hand
Even with all that, I read the draft out loud before it goes anywhere. Anything I'd never say to someone's face gets cut. Usually that's the first sentence and the sign-off.
A rough test: if you deleted the logo, would the reader still know it was from you? If yes, the voice is working.