Flodesk Studio Review and Tutorial: Build Better Emails Faster
Email marketing is a powerful tool, and now, I’m excited to share my Flodesk Studio review and tutorial to show you how to use AI in a human way to make things to much faster! When you’re done, you can read my Flodesk review as well. This post contains affiliate links and sponsored content.
I’m so excited to share with you a new tool that is about to make those of us who love our newsletters so happy. It’s something new from my email provider that I have subscribed to for years, and I’ve been playing with.
Flodesk Studio is an AI email builder for people who want polished emails without spending hours on layout and copy. It both designs visual emails for drag-and-drop editing, has plain text options, and also writes your copy. And the best part? There are human designers behind it that create the foundation, turning AI into a tool to support good design instead of replacing it.
Flodesk Studio fits seamlessly into my existing email workflow with Flodesk, but can also be used as a standalone design tool. It’s such a cool solution for creatives who value humanity, but need to save some time.
What Flodesk Studio is, and what it is not
I’m going to try to outline to you exactly what Flodesk Studio is, because even I, a veteran Flodesk consumer, was confused at first. But to be honest, it’s free in Beta and your best bet is just to give it a swing to see exactly what it can do.
I neglected to watch a tutorial at first, and since the workflow is slightly different, you may find it smoother to learn how to use after reading this full tutorial. But, it’s definitely quite easy to get the hang of.
Flodesk vs. Flodesk Studio
I’ve been using Flodesk for years, as I’ve mentioned. It is an all-in-one ESP that has always leaned more visually pleasing, and focuses heavily on design and aesthetics. It allows you to create forms, collect emails, and send them.
Flodesk Studio is solely a design tool, and while it works seamlessly with Flodesk (export your email to send right to Flodesk) you CAN also export or copy the HTML version of it. And while for now it’s only for emails, they do have form and page builders coming soon – and I honestly can’t wait!
So you can’t send emails with Flodesk Studio – you can just design them and generate the text. You can seamlessly send them with Flodesk.
Flodesk allows you to send emails, and while you can design quite gorgeous emails directly in their platform, it’s all manual, and you don’t have as much flexibility. You also write them manually here.
Who it’s ideal for
If you tend to get writer’s block around emails (as I definitely do) or are short on time and find yourself skipping the design process, Flodesk Studio was made with you in mind.
But here’s the thing: as a designer myself, I am so hesitant with how (not if) I use AI. My personal opinion is that AI should be used as a tool, not as a creator. And I am so pleased with how Flodesk has done this.
It feels human designed because the foundation is human designed – and AI assembled to fit your brand and specific need! So instead of patiently dragging and dropping pre-made elements, it does it for you, and gives you piles of flexibility.
So if you’re a creator who needs to help getting through the more tedious or brain-intensive part of creating an email, but need beautiful newsletters that reflect your brand’s aesthetic, Flodesk Studio can be a real game-changer. Once things are in place, all that’s left to do is proofread and edit as needed, and make those little visual changes you might want to implement.
There are so many tools out there, and I often try new things not really knowing if it’s right for me. Since Flodesk Studio is in Beta now, it really can’t hurt to give it a swing and see if it helps you as much as it helped me.
Step-by-step, build an email in Flodesk Studio
Let’s go through the process of building an email in Flodesk Studio, so you can get a good idea of how to use it and what it can do!
1. Branding and setup
Before you even start writing your first email, when you sign up for Flodesk Studio, you are prompted to input different branding elements. If you’re already a Flodesk user, it’ll load your settings, but you can choose to edit it now.
Later, you can go to the “brand” section on the left panel and even further fine tune, including your style of writing/”tone”, social links, button styles, and more nuance like that.
2. Prompt Flodesk Studio with the email goal content
When you first open up Flodesk Studio, you’re met with a simple chat box, similar to those who use any AI driven chats. But in case you’ve got writer’s block with that too, there are a few buttons you can hit to auto-load a prompt based on the goal of the email.
At this point, you can tell it to do anything. You can give it your topic, details you want to share, what you want to make sure it includes, who your target audience is…
3. Review the generated draft, then tweak as needed
If Flodesk Studio has any further questions, it’ll ask you. Otherwise, it’ll craft your email and give you three versions:
- A full block-style email
- One with minimal blocks and mostly plain text
- A plain text version
You still have a chat box open, so you can ask it to make changes automatically And everything else is easily editable with loads more options and flexibility than I’m used to having in Flodesk (which already offers a lot).
You can edit, delete, add, move, change colors, add stickers, swap text, swap layouts or blocks, or go back to a totally different email format at any stage you want. The amount of options there at the side have me absolutely floored – and every single one is well-designed.
This is also the point where you’ll want to plug in any links you want to include in the body. Swap out the placeholder image for your own.
The fact that it’s human-designed really does show. I was also impressed with the tone of the writing. It is far better than any AI writer I used. There were no “feels right” and “why it works” and AI-isms like that. Removing a few excessive details and adding a bit of fact checking made it perfect!
You can copy and paste block styles with the push of a button, making styling emails in Flodesk Studio so easy.
4. Finish the email and send or export it
Once you’re happy with the design, I do recommend sending a test to yourself, checking all links, and making sure it looks great both on your computer and your phone.
When you’re happy, you can export or copy the HTML to use elsewhere, or export it to Flodesk. If you need to edit it further, it’ll reopen in Studio – the email itself will appear as an image. When you send it, it’ll be the same interactive email you got in your test.
The rest of the sending process is exactly what you’ve been doing in Flodesk until now – write your subject line(s), add your audiences and send or schedule your email.
Flodesk Studio review, who it’s best for, and what to watch for
To me, the strongest use for Flodesk Studio is for those of us who get stuck or spend too much time on email creation. I’m a reluctant late-ish adapter of AI, very picky with the tools that I use, making sure I retain that human edge. At the same time, I’m running a small business on a budget, juggling so many balls and need to make sure none of them drop.
Flodesk Studio is perfect for those of us who can benefit greatly from the assistance of AI tools but need it to be well-done. No diagonal text, no extra confetti and stars all over, no humanisms attributed to random things, and not everything feels or works (IYKYK). It really is all of the good parts of AI without the ick.
If you’re a creative business looking to save time and still have gorgeous emails (maybe even prettier than previously) without looking like a bot, this is for you. It will work hand in hand with your brand image and voice, and accommodate your small team.
While there are definitely some features I’m waiting on (such as literally the same thing for Flodesk Checkouts) it’s already robust enough that I’m using it for my emails.
And while you’ll still want to spot check everything as is always the case when using AI, it’s a quick proofread – the kind you should anyway be doing after you write something.
FAQs
- What is Flodesk Studio?
- It is a robust human-designed but AI-driven email design tool that helps creators design and write visually-appealing emails.
- What does Flodesk Studio cost?
- It is free to use during Beta. Pricing has not yet been determined or released.
- Can I use Flodesk Studio without using Flodesk?
- Yes! You can export an HTML of your design.
- Does Flodesk Studio write emails that sound human?
- The ones that I have written using Flodesk Studio have definitely sounded human, but a good prompt helps too.
- Who should use Flodesk Studio most?
- It is really designed for creatives, but I personally think that it can benefit anyone looking to up their email design game.
- Can I export emails made in Flodesk Studio?
- Yes, you can export emails to Flodesk or as HTML for use anywhere that HTML is usable.
- Is Flodesk Studio good for overcoming writer’s block?
- It is one of the key ways I use Flodesk Studio – to help me give more information about my article when I’m tired and done with my day.
- How much design control does Flodesk Studio give you?
- You can really get down to the nitty gritty of your design, with loads of options that you can edit in granular detail – manually or through prompts.
- Is Flodesk Studio better for newsletters, promos, or both?
- It really does work well for both. With both plain text and full design options – and the in-between point – you can do full-on visual promos,or more text-heavy written newsletters.
- Did you use AI to write this?
- No! Well, yes. I use AI as a tool, not as a creative. AI helped me create an outline for this post, as well as bullet points so that I don’t leave anything out. I edited the outline in my own words and totally wrote my post from scratch. I also plan to use AI to help me improve the SEO on this post. But I did type out and write all 2000 words of it manually, from my own brain!
Flodesk Studio Review and Tutorial Summary
In a nutshell… Flodesk Studio is a powerful tool for creating polished and gorgeous emails faster. It writes, it designs, and it does not send. It works with the tools you’re already using to send your emails. You don’t need to transfer your list or start using a new ESP.
The learning curve is very slim, although it’s slightly different than the standard Flodesk email builder. It’s intuitive and easy to learn, even if you’re not overly tech savvy.
As is always the case with AI, it’s not if you use it. It’s how you use it. You’re already starting with a human created foundation here, without the quirks and oddities of AI. You’ll need to finish it off with that final human touch – make sure everything is true, in your own voice. But it’s gotten me quite close already.
Still not sure? Just give it a try and see if it’s the solution you’re been asking for!
