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Intro to AI Snippets (Copywriting) 

The best sales messages today aren’t written entirely from scratch. Instead, SDRs and BDRs personalize only the most relevant parts: the subject line, opening sentence, or a key snippet at the end.

That’s why AI copywriting in Clay isn’t about generating entire messages; it’s about right-sizing AI personalization. Instead of generating full messages, we use AI Snippets to craft personalized sentences or short phrases, one at a time, for greater control, accuracy, and relevance.

In this lesson, we'll explore best practices for generating AI snippets in Clay. 

The Power of AI Snippets 

When it comes to AI copywriting, "AI snippets" are the most effective approach. Instead of generating entire paragraphs or lengthy content, we craft individual sentences or small chunks of text, one at a time. This method allows us to maintain tight control over the scope, boundaries, and parameters of our AI-generated content.

We've learned through experience that when you ask AI to generate multiple sentences or full paragraphs, broad instructions lead to errors. By focusing on snippets, we maximize AI’s strengths while minimizing inconsistencies.

How to Use AI Snippets in Clay

Watch the full guided demo below, or skip ahead for a step-by-step breakdown.

Good news: Everything you learned in the AI prompt engineering lesson will help you create prompts for AI snippets. But let’s explore a few examples below. 

Step 1: Crafting the Perfect Subject Line 

We'll start with the subject line, as it's often the first thing our recipients see. 

Using our research table on individual contacts, which includes extracted thought leadership insights, we craft a single, impactful sentence. 

We follow email best practices by keeping our subject lines under eight words, focusing on the second person, and referencing relevant research about the individual. To guide the AI, we provide a few examples of what we're looking for, often starting with phrases like "Your insights on..."

Step 2: Building the Email Body 

Next, let’s use AI to draft snippets that will make up the email body. 

The first line is crucial, as it should follow up on the insights mentioned in the subject line. We typically start with something like "Just read" or "Just listened to," referencing the type of research we're drawing from.

‍💡Tip: One critical step we never skip is feeding the AI the lines we've already crafted. This prevents repetition and ensures each new sentence adds unique value to our message.

Step 3: Bringing It All Together

Last, using the same formulas you learned how to use in the AI Formulas and Conditional Runs lesson, we string together all our snippets into one, cohesive email tailored to every prospect. 

Notice in the walkthrough below how we don’t ask AI to write one, long outbound email. Instead we sprinkle in our AI-generated snippets in the most important parts. 

Once you craft your personalized copy, you can sync it back to your sequencing tools where you can put it to work and book meetings with new prospects.

Congrats! 

That’s a wrap on the AI snippets lesson. 

Now you can significantly improve your outreach by crafting highly personalized and engaging content, at scale, without losing the human touch that makes it effective. 

Next up: Lead scoring in Clay. 

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