Most job descriptions extend well beyond “send and receive new emails every day,” yet the amount of time allocated to clearing an inbox often far exceeds that of other, more impactful tasks.
An AI email assistant keeps employees from getting bogged down by their inboxes, drafting replies and follow-ups with AI-powered software integrated into a business’ full suite of tools. Podium’s AI Employee goes a step further, consolidating customer communication across multiple channels, automating messages, and following up with leads to keep them engaged.
What Does an AI Email Assistant Do?
The value of a good AI email assistant stems from three main pillars: generative AI, processing email content, and data enrichment. When applied correctly, these set the foundation for successfully guiding customers from that first expertly-crafted welcome email all the way to the point of sale.
1. Generative AI
AI-powered email programs can compose replies to common questions and concerns in seconds, relying on generative AI to identify common patterns in language to contextualize email interactions. Depending on the specific AI tool’s customizable options, generative AI can adjust its settings according to different tones, degrees of formality, and even levels of expertise.
2. Processing Email Content
One of the more useful features of an AI assistant is its ability to read emails well enough to condense, simplify, summarize, and shorten the amount of time it takes employees to catch up on critical information.
3. Data Extraction and Enrichment
Although AI-powered assistants are often thought of as quick solutions for responding to emails, they also serve a critical role in data enrichment—the process of merging incomplete or missing data with authoritative third-party data for more accurate (and more valuable) insights.
The 6 Best AI Email Assistants at a Glance
Plenty of email clients are available to businesses searching for ways to save employee time and reduce the stress involved with keeping pace with their own inboxes. These tools help ensure any incoming customer information isn’t lost in the shuffle, and support more timely replies for a more consistent customer experience (even on the busiest mornings).
Here’s a quick overview of six commonly used email assistants successfully leveraging the power of AI for a variety of businesses and industries:
Semrush AI Writing Assistant
Best used for: Generating quick and easy email content by managing a handful of levers (audience, tone of voice, follow-up options, and so on).
Features: Multiple email types including welcome, follow-up, confirmation, and cancellation, subject line generator, and optimizer
Pricing: Starts at $25/month
Shortwave
Best used for: Shortwave’s feature-packed AI assistant is an email manager, calendaring app, and email search tool. Note that while powerful, Shortwave is currently only compatible with Gmail accounts.
Features: Smart meeting scheduler, AI-driven email search, email thread summaries, auto-generated replies
Pricing: Starts at $8.50/month per user
Microsoft Copilot Pro for Outlook
Best used for: Businesses operating in a fully Microsoft ecosystem and seeking AI-written email content.
Features: Copilot coaching for draft optimization, email thread summaries, AI-written content through OpenAI’s GPT-4
Pricing: Starts at $20/month (not including mandatory Microsoft 365 subscription)
Flowrite
Best used for: Converting simple notes into fully-formed emails, with tons of style preferences for users to play around with and an easier learning curve than most.
Features: Grammar and readability check, AI-built email templates, custom tone options
Pricing: Starts at $15/month
Jasper AI
Best used for: Marketing teams requiring a consistent brand voice. Jasper’s AI is trained by internal branded content to mirror its unique style rules.
Features: AI content writing and auto-rephrasing tools, custom tone of voice input
Pricing: Plans start at $39/month per user.
Mailbutler
Best used for: Users looking to organize their busy inboxes and extrapolate to-dos, appointments, and contact info within the contents of an email.
Features: 1-click email thread summaries and replies, tracking, and scheduling
Pricing: Plans start at $4.95/month
What Are the Benefits of Using an AI Assistant?
The most commonly sought benefits of an AI assistant pertain to processing and extracting data from an email inbox and generating relevant, human-like replies for a more organized workflow. Here are four ways AI-powered programs check those critical boxes:
1. Process and Summarize Email Content
With an AI tool offering condensed summaries of ever-expanding email threads, users are no longer stuck re-educating themselves on months-old dialogue. Instead, the AI assistant identifies the thread’s most crucial highlights and processes potential replies to spur quicker replies.
2. Extract Data From Buried Emails
Searching for a specific piece of information somewhere in an inbox practically bursting at the seams makes for a frustrating use of time. Nobody likes to report spending a half-hour searching emails to remember which day the final trade floor booth designs were due — AI assistants can hone in on specific information via smart search so nothing critical gets buried over the weekend again.
3. Generate Responses
An AI assistant’s capacity to read messages and write emails in response to match the subject matter, context, and tone of the conversation is at the core of any email client’s value proposition. Employees can miss details, forget follow-ups, and make errors. Conversely, AI has perfect memory, prevents details from slipping under the radar, and while not yet fully-perfected, doesn’t suffer from typos or grammatical errors.
4. Organize Inboxes
An inbox where important information is readily available (like what time that meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning) benefits everyone. Clients are treated more professionally, employees are quickly brought up to speed on the latest developments, and daily workflows generally run more smoothly.
How to Choose the Right AI Email Assistant
For today’s AI assistants, managing emails only scratches the surface of their potential applications. While natural language processing programs have opened the door to better email responses (generated almost instantly), but some have also evolved to schedule meetings in ways that optimize an employee’s calendar for maximum productivity, automate internal processes to speed up sales cycles, and even help businesses stay compliant with changing privacy laws.
When seeking out the right AI assistant for your businesses, consider how each of the following factors may impact the tool’s fit:
Data Privacy and Security
Does the software offer adequate privacy measures for your business’ needs? Is it well-reviewed and respected in the industry? How often are its security settings updated to reflect the latest legal requirements?
AI Compatibility with Your Email Client
Does the tool carry any email client compatibility restrictions (e.g. is it exclusive to Gmail or Microsoft email addresses) that may affect its usefulness within your company?
Available Features
Which features are most critical to your business goals? Does an AI assistant have to match these exactly? Is your company paying for more bundles of features than it needs?
Free Trials & Pricing
Does the software fit into your per-user budget? Which plan does your business require to get the most out of the program?
AI Email Writing for Business Growth
It’s important not to lose sight of the larger goal when delving into the technology behind AI-generated email replies; ultimately, an email assistant is a tool built to drive conversions. By saving employees from drowning in their own inboxes, these programs have assumed the role of a valuable assistant, automating tasks that don’t require employees’ express attention and streamlining those high-value tasks that do.
With the right tools filtering out the noise of time-consuming inbox management, employees are free to perform at a higher level and contribute to the growth of the business.
Podium’s AI Employee covers all the essentials you need in an email assistant. It sells, schedules, and communicates with your prospects and customers day and night for more reliable customer service (engaging with your entire base of customers), while compatible integrations and streamlined messaging tools make life easier for your business’ internal operations.
