This post is part of G2's 2025 digital trends series. Read more about G2’s perspective on digital transformation trends in an introduction from Tim Sanders, VP, research insights, and additional coverage on trends identified by G2’s analysts.
As AI automates emails, its effectiveness without personalization is in question. To keep emails from becoming obsolete, new innovations must revive genuine engagement with people.
The landscape of email software has been evolving due to the rise of AI email assistants, automation of email management, and the overwhelming number of communication channels available for business users.
People can be called, texted, video called, or emailed by businesses looking to engage users, and the recipients are expected to answer all of them. What makes it even harder to field a response, especially within email usage, is the use of AI, which makes communication seem geared towards mass messaging—lacking a tailored experience for the recipient.
The result? Emails are at risk of becoming obsolete, and their effectiveness is in question.
AI has helped transform email communication into a quick and efficient system by automating responses, generating content, and using AI writing assistants to give it a voice. However, as more businesses use these automated email platforms, a sea of uniformity forms in email messaging.
The cost of churning out content quickly results in content lacking individuality, and customers are noticing. Personalization used to be what made email communication so effective. Now, recipients wade through the impersonal emails flooding their inboxes, finding no real reason to engage with the senders.
The influence of automation doesn't stop at content creation; it extends to how emails are delivered and perceived. Advanced AI algorithms in email verification software are designed to detect spam and flag emails that appear to be generated by AI, impacting their deliverability.
Marketing and branding professionals who rely heavily on AI writing assistants for email campaigns risk losing their emotional connections with customers due to the lack of tailor-made content. Business development representatives (BDRs), who depend on personalized email outreach to engage potential clients and build relationships, now face even more resistance from customers.
Personalization is especially important with BDRs, as prospects need a reason to want to invest time, money, and energy into a company that is willing to stand out to them. However, the environment created by automating email content diminishes the effectiveness of BDR outreach, making new businesses harder to source than ever.
As email use fluctuates, G2 data helps provide more context for what is happening currently in the software market. From August 2023 to August 2024, email software users report staggering data about how quickly they see a return on investment (ROI).
Despite being the standard tool for businesses, email software is reported to take an average of one year for users to achieve ROI.
Surprisingly, there have been a few months in the past year when users reported a shorter time to ROI. This aligns with the expectation that daily use of email software should yield quicker returns. However, the fluctuating data trend complicates this idea because users have found their ROI to be above seven months for most of the year.
The primary reason for the rise in ROI times is the frustration with the effectiveness of email software. As AI integration makes email communication more automated and less engaging, recipients have less reason to open and respond to email campaigns.
Email is no longer the primary form of communication it used to be. This becomes clear as users struggle to see immediate benefits when they purchase the software.
The integration of AI into email communication presents both opportunities and challenges. AI-powered productivity tools can significantly boost efficiency and streamline processes, but they also jeopardize the personal touch crucial for effective email interactions.
Embracing AI’s capabilities and benefits is important, but maintaining authenticity and engagement in email communication is equally crucial. To do this, businesses must invest money into sourcing accurate first-party data to better understand individual customer needs.
As communication continues to evolve, the future of email will hinge on how well businesses manage this collaboration, ensuring that their emails remain personal and impactful in a world increasingly dominated by automation.
Learn more about the state of email software on G2.
Edited by Jigmee Bhutia
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