Before we start, here is a quick definition to align on terms: personalization is tailoring content to an individual using data such as behavior or preferences, a practice shown to improve engagement in email marketing according to authoritative sources like McKinsey research on personalization.
Next, we’ll begin with a plain‑English overview, then move into architecture, implementation, custom knowledge, and FAQs. I’ll add a concrete next step at the end of each section so you always know what to do next.
AI Email Writer Overview
At a glance, the AI Email Writer is a custom‑trained AI assistant that drafts a unique email subject and body for each subscriber using your prompts (instructions) and your subscribers’ data. The AI content is inserted into your automated email with two variables: {{ai_email_subject}} for the subject and {{ai_email_body}} for the body.
You can name this assistant however you prefer, for example, “AI Email Writer” or simply “AI Email Assistant”.
As part of a LeadsWithDemos Automated Journey flow (a workflow composed of steps), you select this custom AI assistant in the AI Email Writer step immediately before the Send an Email step so the system can place the AI draft into your email template at send time.
Why does this matter for food blogs? The AI Email Writer adapts to why someone signed up (saving a recipe, grabbing your free cookbook), and considers profile details you’ve gathered, such as diet, cuisine, skill level, country, language, or the page where the email capture occurred.
You get personalized, on‑schedule emails without writing dozens of variants. In short, you can build an AI Email Writer for food bloggers that feels handcrafted, even at scale.
To clarify terminology: the AI Email Writer is the custom‑trained assistant that generates copy. The AI Email Writer step is the action in an Automated Journey that runs your assistant and passes its output to the Send Email step that follows. This distinction matters when you test and troubleshoot the quality of the draft created by your assistant.
To make this concrete, here’s what you can expect at a glance:
- Key benefit: Use a single email template with variables that change according to the draft created for each subscriber; no extra versions needed for each audience or segment.
- How it personalizes: Pulls context from your email capture forms, profile data fields, and your custom knowledge base of recipes and posts.
With those essentials in mind, let’s move from the overview into the architecture and setup.
How an AI Email Writer Works in an Automated Journey
The architecture is a two‑step flow inside an Automated Journey. First, add the AI Email Writer step and select your custom‑trained assistant named “AI Email Writer”. Second, add a Send an Email step with an automated email template that includes the {{ai_email_subject}} and {{ai_email_body}} variables. When the Journey runs, the Send step pulls in the AI‑generated subject and body at send time.
In short, the flow looks like this:
- Two‑step sequence: Aside from the Journey’s trigger, it contains an AI Email Writer step, then a Send an Email step (always in that order).
- Inside Journeys only: You cannot run this as a standalone drafting tool; it lives in the LeadsWithDemos automation Journey.
- Timing and delivery: Drafted emails go out when the Journey reaches your Send step, and you can use business‑hours delivery windows on that step.
Where does personalization come from? It comes from your prompt in the AI Email Writer step, the subscriber profile data fields you select, and any custom knowledge you assign to the AI assistant such as recipes, posts, FAQs, and PDF guides. Data fields can include first name, country, language, and interaction signals from forms or your embedded AI assistants, which help shape copy for each subscriber.
Let’s see an example: You can build an AI email writer for you as food blogger to power your welcome Journey. When a new subscriber requests your “Free 30‑minute dinners” cookbook, the AI Email Writer step uses your prompt, includes their cuisine preference and browser language, then the Send step inserts the AI‑created subject and body into your single email template. Each subscriber gets a unique, on‑brand email in their language, with a direct link to the cookbook.
Pro Tip: Keep your email template clean and consistent, and let the variables inject the draft. One template can serve every segment when {{ai_email_subject}} and {{ai_email_body}} are present.
Pitfall: If your template does not include the AI variables, the personalized content will not appear, even if your AI Email Writer step runs first.
Metric to Watch: Compare Journey branches that do and do not use data fields to quantify lift from deeper personalization. Inspect results per subscriber on their profile timeline.
Now that you’ve seen how the flow works, it’s time to create a custom‑trained AI assistant named “AI Email Writer.”
Step‑by‑Step to Create a Custom AI Assistant
Follow this checklist to build an ai email writer for food bloggers quickly and safely.
- Create your assistant: In your LeadsWithDemos site, click AI Assistants in the left‑hand menu, then click “Add AI Assistant” and give it a clear name like “AI Email Writer Assistant” so you can select it in Automated Journeys later.
- Select an AI model: Choose a current language model appropriate for content generation. If you need a refresher on capabilities, see the AI Assistants overview.
- Set tone and behavior: Define voice, goals, and boundaries in the assistant instructions. You can also set guardrails at the Journey step level to protect your brand’s CTA formats and required links.
- Create assistant: After naming, setting the instructions, and choosing a model, click “Create assistant,” then move on to adding custom knowledge.
Ready‑to‑copy prompt template:
# Role You are a helpful assistant specializing in drafting emails. # Audience & Tone - Audience: Food enthusiasts who are new to cooking. - Tone: Use clear, easy-to-understand language while maintaining a professional demeanor. Avoid excessive promotion and do not use jargon.
With your assistant defined, the next step is to equip it with your content so it can write on your behalf and sound like you.
Add Custom Knowledge to write like you
Custom knowledge lets your assistant reference your recipes, FAQs, and meal plans during drafting, which makes outputs specific, helpful, and consistent with your blog. Assign knowledge so it writes like you, not like a generic bot.
It’s a structured, searchable knowledge base that your AI assistants use to retrieve relevant content while drafting email copy. In this tutorial I’ll cover creating a knowledge source using a sitemap.xml URL. You can also use files, individual URLs, sitemaps, or LeadsWithDemos schema files. For more, visit the AI Assistant settings.
To keep things simple, we’ll follow four small steps:
1. Create a Custom Knowledge
To create a custom knowledge (a vector), follow these steps:
- In the left‑hand side menu, click AI Assistants.
- Click Settings within the AI Assistants section.
- In the Vectors tab, click the “Add Vector” button in the top‑right corner.
- In the pop‑up, enter a unique name for the new vector (custom knowledge). For example, “My Recipe Knowledge.”
- Click Continue to proceed.
- Now add knowledge sources to your newly created vector.
2. Create a URL knowledge source
- Open the “Knowledge sources” tab.
- Click the “Add new” button.
- In the modal, select the “Sitemap URL” tab.
- Enter a unique name (e.g., “My Recipe Posts”).
- Input the sitemap URL to include in your knowledge base.
- Set how often the sitemap should refresh: daily, weekly, monthly, custom days, or never.
- Click Continue, then select specific URLs from the sitemap (your blog page URLs that contain recipe content).
3. Sync URLs content to the new custom knowledge
- After selecting URLs, allow a minute for the system to retrieve content.
- At the bottom‑left of the URL source modal, click “Sync with Vector.”
- In the next modal, choose the vector “My Recipe Knowledge.”
- Click Continue to sync.
- Your custom knowledge is now ready to be assigned to your AI Email Writer.
4. Assign knowledge to your AI Email Writer
- Go to “My Assistants” and open the assistant named “AI Email Writer.”
- Click the “Change” button in the top‑right.
- Enable the “File search” toggle.
- In “Select vector,” choose “My Recipe Knowledge.”
Pro Tip: Organize knowledge by use case like Vegan, Gluten‑Free, Breakfast, High‑Protein. This makes it easier for the AI to surface the right content for each audience segment.
Pitfall: Forgetting to update knowledge after a content refresh can cause outdated suggestions. Enable the content refresh schedule when adding URL knowledge sources (daily, weekly, monthly, custom days, or never).
And there you have it! A custom AI Email Writer that can be used in a LeadsWithDemos Automated Journey to write emails on your behalf. Use this process to build an AI email writer for food bloggers that stays accurate and on‑brand over time.
FAQs
What exactly does the AI Email Writer do in my Journey?
It drafts a unique subject and body for each subscriber using your prompts (custom instructions) and data, then inserts them into your email template via {{ai_email_subject}} and {{ai_email_body}}. Add the AI Email Writer step first, then the Send step with a template that includes both variables.
Can I use it outside Automated Journeys?
No, it is designed to work only within Automated Journeys.
Which data fields can I personalize with?
You can insert fields like first name, country, and language, as well as behavioral context such as latest assistant interactions or conversation threads. Here is a complete data fields list you can review. Start small, then expand as you build an AI email writer for food bloggers that grows with your audience.