Translate your email with AI translate

AI translate lets you turn a finished email into a translated, ready-to-send version in minutes. Instead of briefing a translator, waiting for copy, and rebuilding your layout from scratch, you select a language, add some context, and Flexmail's AI handles the rest. The translated version opens as a new message, ready for you to review and send.

This saves you in two ways. You avoid translation agency costs for standard marketing emails, and you skip the time-consuming work of duplicating your message and manually replacing every text element yourself. What used to take hours now takes a few minutes.

This article walks you through how to use AI translate, what to watch out for, and how to get the best results.

Before you start

Make sure the following are in place before you translate your first message.

AI features are enabled on your account 

AI translate is part of Flexmail's AI features, which an account administrator needs to enable before anyone on the team can use them. You can find this setting under Settings > Email > AI features. If you are not an administrator, ask the person who manages your Flexmail account to enable it.

Your account has at least two active contact languages 

AI translate works by translating into one of the contact languages you have configured in your account. If your account only has one contact language set up, the translate option will not be available. Contact our support team if you need to add more contact languages.

You have AI credits remaining 

AI translate uses AI credits, which are shared with AI content generation. The number of credits you have depends on your plan:

• Start: 3 credits per month
• Essential: 10 credits per month
• Pro and Premium: 300 credits per month

Credits reset on your monthly renewal date. If you are on a Start or Essential plan and need more credits, you can upgrade your plan.

Your message is created in the Email builder 

AI translate only works with messages created in the new Email builder. Messages built with other design tools cannot be translated directly. If your message is designed in another design tool, you will need to recreate it in the Email builder first.

Translate your message

Step 1: Finish and save your original message

Make sure your original message is final before you translate it. Changes you make to the original after translating will not carry over to the translated version automatically. You would need to translate again or update the translated message manually.

Step 2: Open the translate option

You can start a translation from two places:

• In the Email builder: click the dropdown next to the Save button in the top right corner and select Translate message.
• In the message overview: open the Actions dropdown for your message and select Translate.

Step 3: Set up your translated message

A translation wizard opens. On the first screen, you configure the basics.

1. Select your target language from the dropdown. Only languages that are active as contact languages in your account will appear here.
2. Give your translated message a name. Flexmail suggests the original name with a language code added (for example, "summer-sale_fr"), but you can change this to anything you like.
3. Select a category for the new message.
4. Check the box to confirm your consent for AI to process your content.

Click Give context to translation to continue.

Step 4: Give context to your translation (optional but recommended)

The second screen lets you guide the AI so the result matches your brand and audience. None of these fields are required, but filling them in tends to produce noticeably better output.

• Writing style: choose between your own custom style or one of the preset options.
• Tone: set the tone to match the original or adjust it (for example, more formal or more conversational).
• Purpose: tell the AI what the email is meant to do, such as inform, persuade, or convert.
• Additional context: this is a free text field where you can give the AI extra instructions. Use it to flag brand-specific terminology, explain your audience, or specify regional language preferences.

Click Translate message to start the translation.

Step 5: Review and send the translated message

Once the translation is complete, the translated message opens in a new tab in the Email builder. Your original message is untouched.

Before sending, take a few minutes to check the following:

• Text: read through the full message and adjust anything that sounds off. AI translation is accurate for most standard marketing copy, but idiomatic phrases or industry-specific terms may need a human touch.
• Links: all URLs in the translated version point to the same destinations as your original. If the translated campaign should direct readers to a different page (for example, a French-language product page), update those links manually.
• Personalization placeholders: placeholders like #firstname# are intentionally not translated. Check that they appear correctly in the translated copy.
• Images: alt text on your images is translated automatically. Verify that the translated alt text still makes sense.

When you are happy with the result, save your message and send it as you normally would.

Things to keep in mind

What gets translated 

AI translate processes all visible text in your message, including button labels and image alt text. The source language is detected automatically.

What does not get translated 

The following are intentionally left untouched:

• Personalization placeholders (for example, #firstname# or #company#)
• Dynamic content blocks
• Custom HTML blocks
• URLs and links

The original message is never modified 

AI translate always creates a new message. Your original remains exactly as it is.

One translation at a time 

Each translation uses one AI credit. If you need to translate the same message into three languages, that will use three credits.

If something goes wrong

The translate button is greyed out or not visible

Check the following:

• Is AI features enabled in your account settings? (Settings > Email > AI features)
• Does your account have at least two active contact languages?
• Do you have AI credits remaining?
• Does your message contain at least one text element? A message with only images cannot be translated.
• Is your message created in the new Email builder?

If all of the above are fine and the button is still unavailable, contact our support team.

The translation failed

Try again. Occasional errors can occur during processing. If the translation consistently fails for the same message, contact support and share the message name so we can look into it.

Some content is not translated

Personalization placeholders, dynamic content, and custom HTML blocks are not translated by design. If other content appears to be missing unexpectedly, contact support with an example.

The translation quality is not what you expected

Go back and use the Additional context field to give the AI more guidance. Explaining your audience, your brand voice, or any terminology to preserve usually makes a significant difference. Remember that the translated message is fully editable, so you can always fine-tune the output directly in the builder.

You have run out of credits

Your credits reset on your monthly renewal date. If you are on a Start or Essential plan, you can upgrade to get more credits. If you are on a Pro or Premium plan and regularly hitting the limit, reach out to our team.

Next steps

Now that you have a translated version of your message, you may want to:

• Set up a segment for contacts with a specific contact language, so you can send each version to the right audience.
• Create a separate campaign for the translated message and schedule it alongside your original campaign.
• Explore AI content generation to draft or refine email copy directly in the Email builder. AI translate and AI content generation share the same credit pool, so it is worth knowing how you are using both.