Compose With AI Vs Compose Manually: Which One Should You Use?

Last Updated 23/05/2025

When sending email campaigns in Neexa, you have two options for composing your messages: AI Compose and Manual Compose. Both allow you to personalize messages using your contact data, but how they handle that data quite different.

Understanding the difference will help you decide which one to use, depending on your goals and how much flexibility you want in the tone and structure of your message.

This guide breaks down how each works, when to use them, and what to expect.

Compose with AI: Smart & Flexible

AI Compose uses Neexa’s intelligence to rewrite and adapt your message based on the data you provide. It doesn’t just insert the raw information, it interprets the data and adjusts tone, language, and phrasing accordingly.

Example: If a contact purchased on October 25th 2024, the AI might say;

“Thanks for your purchase last year!”

It understands context, like dates, timeframes, tone, and even sentiment, to make your message sound more natural and human. It can also change tone, add empathy, or restructure a sentence based on the instructions you give it in the instructions.

Best for:

• Small campaigns with a limited budget for highly personalized emails
• Promotional campaigns that need a warm, engaging tone
• When your data includes behavior-based actions like purchase dates or usage patterns.
• Situations where you want AI to write “around” the data instead of inserting it directly

Not ideal for:

• Large-scale campaigns (unless budget allows for higher credit usage)

Note: AI Compose uses more credits than Manual Compose since each message is uniquely generate

Compose Manually

Manual Compose is straightforward, it pulls data directly from your contact list and inserts it exactly as it appears. It uses merge tags like {first_name} or {purchase_date} to generate messages that are consistent across all recipients.

Example:

• Raw data: October 25th 2024
• Manual Compose output: “Thanks for your purchase on October 25th 2024.”

No rephrasing, no context-shifting, just clean, literal messaging.

What It Does

• Sends a single, uniform message to everyone in your selected contact list
• Lets you write the message exactly how you want, word for word
• Supports basic customization using merge fields like:
  • [first_name]
  • [email]
  • [source]

Example: “Hi [first_name], we noticed you signed up on [source], here’s what you might’ve missed.”

Ideal When:

• Structured messages
• To reach large contact lists consistently
• To keep credit usage low

Tip: You can still add a personal touch by using merge fields, but the tone and content will stay the same across all recipients.

Summary: Which Should You Choose?

Quick Comparison

Feature	AI Compose	Manual Compose
Handles data contextually	✅ Yes	❌ No
Personalization	Conversational, adaptive	Literal, fixed (merge fields only)
Best for	Small lists, promo campaigns	Standardized messages, large lists
Time-saving	High	Medium
Requires context & instructions	✅ Yes	❌ Not needed

AI Compose shines when personalization and nuance matter most. Manual Compose keeps things simple and scalable. Choose what aligns best with your list size, tone, goals, and how tailored you want the messaging to feel.