Almost no one has this data even though it’s sitting right under your nose.
As marketing ops pros, we’re great at tracking who engaged and when—but how often do we truly understand what our contacts actually engaged with?
That’s a critical gap in email marketing reporting today. Without a clear view of the content itself—its type, purpose, tone, and call to action—we’re flying blind when it comes to optimizing content.
At Motiva AI, we’re actively closing that gap. By using advanced language models to analyze the content of every email, we’re prototyping a system that builds a per-contact content profile—a dynamic picture of what kinds of messages resonate with each person on your list.
Here are the five most important content features we’re focused on right now—and why you should care about every single one of them.
1. Email Type
Examples: Newsletter, Resource Share, Case Study, Webinar Invite, Direct Sales Appeal
Why it matters: Email type sets expectations. A newsletter feels different from a one-to-one sales message, and different contacts prefer different formats. Some want digestible, informative content. Others are only interested in invitations or direct offers. When you understand which types perform best with which contacts, you can stop guessing and start sending the right format to the right people, every time.
How to use it:
- Segment audiences by preferred email format
- Optimize content calendars by balancing type variety
- Identify fatigue patterns (e.g., too many invites in a row)
2. Email Asset
Examples: Whitepaper, eBook, Product Demo, Case Study, Blog Post, Event Access, Discount
Why it matters: The asset is the “what’s in it for me” of your email. It’s the thing you’re offering, and it directly impacts a contact’s decision to engage. Over time, you’ll discover that certain contacts gravitate toward specific kinds of resources—some want in-depth thought leadership, others respond to events or discounts.
How to use it:
- Tailor nurture streams around preferred assets
- Map the buyer’s journey based on resource interaction
- Stop promoting low-performing content types
3. Email Value Proposition
Examples: Increase revenue, Decrease costs, Improve productivity, Gain competitive advantage, Innovate faster
Why it matters: Every email promises value—even if it’s not stated outright. You might find that a subset of contacts is more responsive to ROI-focused messaging, for example, while others prefer innovation or competitive insights. If you want to convert contacts into MQLs and SQLs, you need to match the value your company or product delivers and with the value your contacts are looking for.
How to use it:
- Align value messaging with personas or buying stages
- Refine positioning language in high-converting emails
- Diagnose underperforming campaigns by mismatched value props
4. Email Call to Action (CTA)
Examples: “Register Now,” “Read the Case Study,” “Book a Demo,” “See the Results,” “Try It Free”
Why it matters: The CTA is where the rubber meets the road. It’s the moment of truth—the action you’re asking someone to take. But not all CTAs land the same way. The language, clarity, and even tone of your CTA can make or break a click. Some contacts respond best to clear, benefit-driven CTAs. Others prefer exploratory or low-commitment language.
How to use it:
- A/B test CTA language by segment
- Match CTA strength to contact readiness
- Identify which CTAs are overused or underperforming
5. Email Tone of Voice
Examples: Formal or casual, Respectful or irreverent, Matter-of-fact or enthusiastic, Serious or humorous
Why it matters: Tone is one of the most overlooked—but most powerful—elements of email content. A message that works for one audience might fall completely flat for another based solely on tone. Over time, tone becomes a key differentiator—especially in crowded inboxes.
How to use it:
- Match tone to brand personality and audience preference
- Use tone data to personalize automated campaign streams
- Avoid tone mismatches that hurt engagement or credibility
Why Content Datapoints Matter
Most MAPs can tell you what happened. Opens. Clicks. Conversions.
But they can’t tell you why it happened. That’s where this new layer of content intelligence comes in.
When you can connect content features to contact-level behavior, everything changes:
- You start planning campaigns based on evidence, not assumptions
- You reduce waste by focusing on what actually works
- You build smarter segments that evolve with your audience
- You send fewer, better, more relevant emails
- And most importantly, you build a better experience for your contacts
Looking Ahead
At Motiva AI, we’re currently experimenting with an AI technology that can automatically mine this data for you. We’re prototyping a system that can automatically detect and analyze these five core content features for every email you send, and map them against contact-level engagement behavior.
If you’re as excited about that future as we are, stay tuned. Or better yet—check out our blog post on Per-Contact Content Profiles and get in touch.
- Artificial Intelligence, Automated, Best Practices, Campaign Planning, Campaign Strategy, Content Optimization, Email Marketing, Email Optimization, Generative AI, Marketing Automation, Marketing Effectiveness, Natural Language Generation, Natural Language Processing, Reporting, Results, Segmentation
