Manual vs AI-personalized messages

Every workflow step has a mode: Manual (you write one template, everyone gets it) or AI-personalized (Funkel drafts a unique message per lead from the signal that triggered them). Each has a place.

Manual

You write the message once. Variables like {{first_name}} and {{company}} get filled in per lead. Everything else is identical.

Use it when:

• The campaign targets a tight, homogeneous segment.
• You want full control over voice and exact wording.
• You’re testing one message variant against another (A/B).

AI-personalized

Funkel drafts each message from the lead’s scored signal. Different leads get different openings, “saw you joined Acme as Head of GTM last week” for one, “noticed your post about replacing Outreach” for another, but the offer at the bottom is the one you wrote.

Use it when:

• The campaign covers heterogeneous leads (mixed signals, mixed contexts).
• You want each message to cite the specific reason it’s being sent.
• You don’t want to spend an hour hand-writing every send.

Mixing modes within one campaign

Common pattern: AI-personalized for step 1 (the invite note, where the signal-specific opener earns the connection) and manual for step 2 (the message, where you want a clean offer in your own voice). Set each step independently.

Reviewing AI drafts

AI-personalized messages can be set to require approval before sending. Open the campaign’s Settings and turn on Review mode. Drafts queue in the inbox and you tap approve (or edit) before they send.