Hi, it’s Maria! If you have watched me on Tiktok (or really anywhere I post videos, you will know that I always start with that line – not “Dear Sir/Madam” – can you imagine that?

I want people to know who I am, what I do, and/or maybe most importantly – what I am about. That way I can connect with like-minded people and companies who want to be successful with their link building campaigns and digital marketing.

This whole theory can also be applied when doing outreach, no matter if we are talking about sending out traditional emails, Linkedin mails, DM:s on X or any other platform.

You don’t want to sound like a bot –  but that doesn’t mean you should avoid AI. In fact, you should use it. Just use it in a smart way. And don’t replace the real, breathing human being behind the message.

So in this article I want to talk about what “smarter” outreach really means to me.

Without sounding dramatic, one of my biggest fears is that my emails should feel super generic. Too bland, too “I am a fake plant so please send me straight to the bin”. And then of course, I can’t personalize every email and get into the maze and do 30 minutes in depth research on what a prospect’s favorite dessert is. 

Smarter outreach, for me, starts with a time limit. Five minutes. That’s all I allow per outreach – especially when I have never contacted the person before.  

It also means knowing exactly what you want to achieve with your outreach. I am currently looking to do guest training sessions, so I make sure I mention that (and always with a “why should they care” approach).

Smarter outreach means understanding which AI tools help you connect faster – without sounding like a robot. You don’t have to choose between efficiency and authenticity.

I know very little about cars so if I was going to do an outreach campaign targeting the automotive industry, I would go into ChatGPT, Copilot or Perplexity (or something similar) and ask:

 “What are some challenges and some news happening in the automotive industry? What do people talk about at the moment? “

I actually just did that and this is the answer I got from Copilot:

Instead of spending time paralyzed with confusion and trying to understand a very unfamiliar niche, I ask AI to help me. 

After this part I usually go to Google news and look up some of the keywords, in this case “EV affordability gap”.

I save all of this information in a big swipe file, sort of like a big compost that can later turn into very nutritious soil 🙂

A very important part of any outreach campaign is the subject line. This is another way you can use AI for outreach. Depending on what tone and theme you are going for, what you put in will of course differ. 

So lets say I target companies in the mobile mechanic services and the goal is to appear on their podcast – I used this prompt in Copilot:

“In a playfully existential, observational, and slightly chaotic tone, come up with five subject lines that end in a question – aimed at companies in the mobile mechanic services industry”

This is one headline I quite like:

 “Are spark plugs secretly introverts, or have we just never asked them nicely?“

The goal is ALWAYS to make a person feel like this email was targeted for them specifically. And yes, you can use AI when it comes to personalisation, as long it’s in a smart and conscious way. 

The goal of any outreach effort is to make another person continue reading another sentence….And another sentence…..(and hopefully they will find your efforts worthwhile). 

The focus should always be on the person who receives the outreach message. Their problems, their industry, their pain points, their story etc.  For example, if you are reaching out as a small business owner, it’s often the personal story that resonates most.

I have shared some of my own lessons in 8 Tips for Female Business Owners, and those kinds of lived experiences often make outreach messages feel more relatable and human.

So! Let’s continue with the mobile mechanic services and say that you want to appear on podcasts within this industry. 

Then I would copy the text on the “about page”, add it into ChatGPT and ask it to come up with 5 shower thoughts based on what I pasted. 

This means that, in just a few seconds you will get quirky intro messages: 

Remember the swipe file? 

You can also use information from there and ask AI to brainstorm opening lines that match the tone of the person’s industry. 

How do you make your outreach message stand out?  Try to experiment with AI-generated images in your outreach!

One angle I quite like to do is combining something that is super specific that is going on in a certain industry with another element that is liked by many (yep, for me it’s very hard not to think of plants but you get the hang of it). 

This is the prompt I used to create the picture down below:

“surreal car factory where vehicles grow out of giant flower pots like juicy metal tomatoes, while mechanics water and harvest them like produce. Full eco-industrial fantasy mode”

I like Midjourney but there are many AI tools you can use for this one.

You want to grab attention, make the person on the other side of the screen laugh, smile – feel something – but maybe most importantly – respond 🙂

Visuals like these don’t just make your outreach pop – they crack open conversations.

Another of my big favorites when it comes to how to use AI for smarter outreach is to use humour! Let’s say I have created a template that just sounds…..robotic and generic – you can use an AI tool to make it come up with weird jokes (again, check out the swipe file for inspiration what the jokes could be about).

In this article I have talked about ways you can use AI for smarter outreach, there are many more ways you can use it and I have only scratched the surface. Before I head out and check on my plants – a few things that I don’t let AI touch:

1. Relationship building – focus is always to building trust and real connection – not just getting links or attention. 
2. Strategic Judgement – deciding who to reach out to, how and when – this is for human intuition, experience and emotional intelligence.
3. Personalization – and this is not the same as using someone’s first name and pretending that counts. Do proper investigation! Check out the person’s Linkedin, actually read the “About Page”, do some real digging. 

To finish off, you want to give out real plants, not fake plants. 

Use AI – but in a smart way. And start giving out really cool plants – maybe ones that come out of some cars 🙂