Automate Sponsored Deal Email Responses with Gmail and GPT-4

Automate Sponsored Deal Emails with n8n + AI 🚀

Managing inbound emails can be exhausting — especially when your inbox is flooded with sponsored deal requests that don’t always fit your brand. Manually reading, filtering, and politely declining each one eats up valuable time.

That’s why I built a smart n8n workflow that automatically:
Detects sponsored deal inquiries,
Decides if they match my criteria,
Drafts a professional, courteous reply,
Or simply ignores irrelevant messages.

The best part? It runs on autopilot. Let’s break down every single node in this workflow.

🔔 1. Gmail Trigger – “Your Inbox Watchdog”
Polls your Gmail inbox every minute.
Detects new emails instantly.
Hands over each email to the next step for analysis.

✂️ 2. Edit Fields (Set Node) – “Extract the Essentials”
Pulls out the most important parts of the email:
From → Sender’s email address
Subject → The email subject line
Email Body → The main text content
Keeps data structured and ready for AI to process.

🧠 3. AI Agent – “The Smart Classifier”
Powered by LangChain + OpenAI.
Reads the email content carefully.
Outputs two things:
isSponsoredEmail → true/false
reason → why it decided that way
Example:
{ "isSponsoredEmail": true, "reason": "The email mentions a paid collaboration opportunity." }

Structured Output Parser – “Keep It Clean”

Ensures the AI response is always structured properly.

Forces the output into this format: { "isSponsoredEmail": true/false, "reason": "string" }

Prevents messy AI replies from breaking the workflow.

🔀 5. Node – “Decision Maker” Branches logic into two paths:
If sponsored** → moves on to draft a polite response.
If not sponsored** → sends it to “No Operation” (do nothing).

✍️ 6. AI Agent (Reply Writer) – “Crafts the Perfect Response” If it’s a sponsored email, this node drafts a professional reply.

Reply includes:
Thanking the sender for reaching out.
Explaining sponsorship criteria:
Alignment with brand values
Relevance for your audience
Fit with internal planning cycles
Politely declining if the timing isn’t right.
Leaving the door open for future opportunities.

Tone: professional, warm, and courteous.

📤 7. Gmail Node – “Hit Send!” Takes the AI-generated reply.
Sends it directly back to the original sender.
No manual typing, no waiting — just instant professionalism.

🚫 8. No Operation – “Do Nothing, Gracefully” If the email isn’t a sponsored deal, the workflow stops here.
No unnecessary actions are taken.
Keeps your system clean and efficient.

📝 Sticky Notes (Workflow Documentation) To make the workflow easier to understand inside n8n, sticky notes were added:
Email Trigger** → Explains inbox polling.
Extract** → Notes what fields are being pulled.
Process and Validate** → Describes how AI decides sponsorship.
Prepare Email Body** → Documents reply drafting process.
Reply** → Clarifies auto-reply step.
Do Nothing** → Notes what happens if it’s not sponsored.

🌟 Why This Workflow Rocks Saves Hours:** No more manual email filtering.
Consistent Replies:** Always professional and brand-friendly.
Scalable:** Works for 5 or 500 inbound emails.
Customizable:** Easily adapt prompts and conditions to fit your brand.

⚡ Try It Yourself This workflow is built in n8n, an open-source automation tool.
You can import the JSON file into your own n8n instance and customize:
Your Gmail credentials
Your company’s sponsorship guidelines
The tone of the AI-generated replies

👉 With just a few tweaks, you’ll have a smart email assistant running on autopilot!

💡 Pro Tip Even if you don’t deal with sponsored deals, you can repurpose this workflow for:
Job applications
Customer support inquiries
Lead qualification

The same logic applies — just adjust the AI prompts and reply template.