# Automating Your Entire Email Sequence with AI Personalisation
In the competitive Australian digital landscape, generic "blast" emails are no longer enough to cut through the noise. To truly engage your local audience, your communication needs to feel personal, timely, and relevant—but as a small business owner, you don't have the hours to manually research every lead. AI-driven personalisation allows you to scale that "hand-written" feel, ensuring your Brisbane or interstate customers receive content tailored specifically to their needs without you lifting a finger.
By the end of this guide, you will have a framework for an automated email sequence that uses AI to adapt its messaging based on user data, industry, and behaviour.
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What You’ll Need Before Starting
- An Email Service Provider (ESP): We recommend platforms like Klaviyo, MailerLite, or ActiveCampaign that support dynamic tags.
- An AI Writing Tool: OpenAI (ChatGPT Plus) or a dedicated personalisation tool like Lyne.ai or Lavender.
- A Lead Magnet or Data Source: This provides the initial information (name, business type, website URL) for the AI to work with.
- A Zapier or Make.com Account: To bridge the gap between your AI and your email platform.
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Step 1: Define Your Data Points
Before you can personalise, you need data. Standard forms usually only ask for a Name and Email. To make AI personalisation work, consider adding one or two more fields to your signup forms, such as "Website URL," "Industry," or "What is your biggest business challenge?"
Screenshot Description: You should see your form builder interface with a new custom field titled "Business URL" or "Industry" added below the email field.
Step 2: Set Up Your AI "Persona" and Context
AI needs context to write well. Before generating emails, create a "Brand Voice Profile" in your AI tool. Tell it who you are (e.g., "A Brisbane-based digital marketing agency helping local tradies") and who your target audience is. This ensures the automated output doesn't sound like a generic robot from Silicon Valley.
Step 3: Create the "Master" Email Template
In your ESP, draft your sequence. Instead of writing fixed text, use placeholders for AI-generated content. For example:
Hi [First Name], I was looking at [Company Name] and noticed [AI_Personalised_Observation].*This structure allows the automation to plug in specific sentences generated by the AI later.
Step 4: Connect Your Lead Form to AI via Zapier
Log in to Zapier and create a "Zap." Set the Trigger as "New Lead" from your website form. The Action should be "Send Prompt to OpenAI."
In the prompt field, write something like: "Based on the website URL [URL] and the industry [Industry], write one short, professional sentence about a potential marketing improvement they could make. Keep it under 20 words and friendly."
Step 5: Clean the AI Output
One common mistake is letting AI output raw text that might include "Sure, here is your sentence:" or unwanted quotation marks. Add a formatting step in Zapier (Formatter by Zapier -> Text -> Replace) to strip out any unwanted characters or prefixes, ensuring only the personalised sentence remains.
Step 6: Feed the Personalised Data into Your ESP
Add another step in your Zapier workflow to "Update Subscriber" in your email platform. Map the AI-generated sentence to a "Custom Field" you created in Step 1 (e.g., AI_Observation).
Screenshot Description: In Zapier, you will see a mapping screen where the "Output" from the OpenAI step is being dragged into the "Custom Field" box of your Email Provider step.
Step 7: Build the Automated Sequence Logic
Inside your ESP, set a trigger: "When Custom Field AI_Observation is updated, wait 5 minutes, then send Email 1." This ensures the email doesn't go out before the AI has had time to process the data and save it to the profile.
Step 8: Design the "Bridge" Content
The most effective AI sequences use a "Hybrid" approach. Use your human-written expertise for the bulk of the email, and use the AI for the "Hook" (the first two sentences) and the "P.S." line at the end. This maintains your brand authority while proving you’ve done your homework on the lead.
Step 9: Testing with an Internal List
Before going live to your entire Australian database, run a test. Use your own email and a few colleagues' emails. Check if the AI correctly identified the industry or website details.
Warning: If the AI can't find information on a specific URL, it might "hallucinate." Ensure your Zapier logic has a fallback (e.g., "If AI fails, use default text: 'I've been following your work lately'").Step 10: Monitor and Refine Prompts
Check your sent folder once a week. If the AI sounds too aggressive or too vague, tweak your Zapier prompt. Refining the prompt is an ongoing process to match the evolving Australian market sentiment.
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Pro Tips for Success
- The "Local" Touch: Instruct your AI prompt to use Australian English (e.g., "optimise" instead of "optimize"). This small detail builds trust with local Brisbane businesses.
- Keep it Short: Personalisation works best when it's punchy. A 300-word AI-generated essay feels fake. A 15-word specific observation feels real.
- Don't Over-Automate: Only use AI for the parts of the email where it adds value. Your core offer and contact details should always be static and human-verified.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring the ABN/Business Name: In Australia, many businesses have a legal name (PTY LTD) and a trading name. Ensure your AI prompt asks to use the "Trading Name" if possible, as using a legal entity name in a friendly email feels cold.
- Bad Data In, Bad Data Out: If a user enters "asdf" as their website, the AI will produce gibberish. Use Zapier filters to only run the AI step if the URL field contains a ".com" or ".com.au".
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Likely Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Email feels "robotic" | Prompt is too generic | Add "Use a casual, professional tone" to your AI prompt. |
| Personalisation is blank | Zapier delay | Add a 2-5 minute delay step in Zapier to allow the AI to finish writing before the email sends. |
| Wrong industry info | AI is using old data | Ensure you are using the GPT-4o model or a tool with live web-browsing capabilities. |
Next Steps
- Audit your current lead form: Does it collect enough info for AI to use?
- Set up a ChatGPT API key: You'll need this for the Zapier integration.
- Draft your first 3-step sequence: Focus on a Welcome, a Value-Add, and a Call to Action.
Need help setting up the technical plumbing for your AI automation? Our team at Local Marketing Group specialises in making complex tech simple for Brisbane business owners. Contact us today to discuss your automation goals.