A Stripo case examine — Stripo.electronic mail

At present, we need to share a case examine of how we doubled the open charge (OR) and reached a median OR of 30% for all sorts of emails that we ship out to our subscribers. Learn the way life like that is and what steps assist a SaaS product obtain such outcomes by studying the case examine.

I’m Oleksandr. I’ve been an electronic mail and digital marketer at Stripo for two.5 years. As all emails from our model are created by me, I want to take this chance to thank everybody who reads them and offers suggestions. You’re the greatest.

Scenario: Every part is okay, however could possibly be even higher

Stripo is an electronic mail design platform. In our electronic mail newsletters, we replace subscribers about new product releases, share electronic mail advertising and marketing information, and compile digests of useful weblog posts.

Now, we have now greater than 130,000 subscribers in complete. Our database consists of contacts—customers of our product (the paid or free plans)—and those that subscribed to the e-newsletter to obtain useful info by way of our weblog and firm information.

In 2021, our e-newsletter’s common OR was 12–15%. It is a typical indicator for our area of interest, however we wanted extra. So, in the beginning of 2022, we determined to take steps to enhance the state of affairs and improve the OR to twenty–25%.

Initially, the indications have been as follows:

7 steps we took to make clients need to open our emails

The OR is an electronic mail advertising and marketing metric that exhibits the share charge of emails opened amongst all delivered messages. Curiosity within the electronic mail topic and confidence within the sender have an effect on the worth of the OR on the whole. 

Listed here are the steps we determined to take to enhance our OR:

Step 1. Totally different codecs 

Sending content material of the identical kind is a direct path to oblivion. You threat changing into uninteresting to subscribers. 

Due to this fact, we determined so as to add new content material classes to make our electronic mail newsletters extra various. Beforehand, we solely despatched emails sharing our new templates, new releases, product modifications, and generally new articles. Now, we have now launched a brand new content material rubric.

One among these is the weekly thematic digest, during which we compile useful supplies on a single matter. For instance, ideas for making ready emails for the New 12 months holidays—from topic strains to electronic mail content material.

Topic line: Ho-ho-ho, it’s the Christmas Digest 🎄

(Supply: Stripo electronic mail e-newsletter)

Along with distributing weblog content material, we started creating extra content material for newsletters, which we had not performed earlier than. To know what subjects are of curiosity to our subscribers, we performed a survey during which we requested recipients to reply a number of questions on the kind of content material they want to obtain in these emails. We added new concepts to the content material plan thanks to those responses.

Emails have thus change into various in format and size. We now create quick emails, with just one button and CTA, in addition to fairly lengthy informative emails.

Step 2. Identification by sender names 

It’s higher for the OR to make use of totally different sender names for various electronic mail teams. Due to this fact, we divided the e-mail addresses into conditional teams and created a sender title for every group. 

For instance, emails about new product releases, promotions, and particular presents come from the Stripo Group, whereas advertising and marketing digests come from Stripo Weekly. For emails from assist, we created private addresses, reminiscent of Kyril from Stripo. On this method, subscribers instantly see the model title, however on the similar time, they perceive who precisely the e-mail is from and what to anticipate from it.

Some emails are despatched from the CEO, whereas others will be despatched from somebody from the staff. In these circumstances, we use that individual’s signature. On this method, we personalize not solely our emails but in addition the sender.

Step 3. Focused work with segments

I create electronic mail templates in Stripo, export them to Yespo, and ship them to totally different segments of contacts. For segmentation, Yespo has an unimaginable RFM instrument that analyzes subscriber exercise: segments are created by the variety of emails opened and the final time they have been opened.

Now we have created segments of contacts who didn’t open any emails, who opened emails a very long time in the past, and who open the emails often.

That is how I take advantage of these segments:

• to probably the most energetic readers, I ship all our emails;
• to those that learn them sooner or later however stopped studying them, I ship them emails about improvements, such because the creation of a signature generator in Stripo;
• to those that don’t learn our emails typically, I ship fewer emails—largely digests—to arouse curiosity within the matter;
• electronic mail addresses which have an error are misplaced contacts, so I take away them from the database in order that they don’t have a damaging impact on the metrics and the stats change into clearer;
• those that haven’t opened our emails for the final 3 months (dynamic section), I exclude them from the overall database and ship them solely particular emails.

Step 4. Up to date electronic mail design

In 2022, we redesigned the Stripo web site, and it was logical to replace the design of our electronic mail e-newsletter. As well as, our electronic mail editor is growing on a regular basis, so we determined to get probably the most out of its new options.

Under, you possibly can see some examples of outdated and new variations of our emails.

We modified the fonts, the form of the buttons and labored on the construction. Emails have additionally change into extra accessible and readable. And, as we have now already talked about, we made new templates for brand new electronic mail codecs: digests.

When redesigning the emails, the designers made probably the most steadily used components, which I saved as modules in my private Module library within the Stripo editor. Due to this fact, I don’t have to contact the designer to create every electronic mail now. I make all the next emails simply and rapidly utilizing Stripo’s modular structure.

Altering the design impacts the OR in the long term. In fact, customers can’t see the modifications in electronic mail design earlier than they open the e-mail, however as soon as they do and see that the e-mail is structured and formatted, they may need to open your subsequent emails.

Step 5. Private electronic mail signature

In digests and promotional emails, we started to make use of a private signature. This permits me to speak with subscribers like a fellow electronic mail marketer who shares thrilling advertising and marketing information and useful instruments and assets.

The tone of voice of our emails has modified, too: it has change into friendlier. For instance, as a substitute of “we advocate,” I say, “I discovered some cool stuff for you.”

For vacation digests, the identical signature is used, though it’s barely custom-made to the theme. For instance, a witch’s hat was added for Halloween and a Santa’s hat for Christmas. So even with one signature, you possibly can create totally different variations by making minimal modifications.

Step 6. A/B testing of the very best ship time and topic line

The topic line and electronic mail ship time are key parameters that immediately have an effect on the OR. Due to this fact, I made a decision to do A/B testing for them.

Our subscribers reside in several international locations and time zones, so the very best ship time for the US and Europe will fluctuate. The best for the American viewers was the morning hours earlier than the beginning of the working day and the center of the day—most definitely, the lunch break.

Due to this fact, in case you have an viewers that’s unfold over many international locations as we do, ideally, you’ll use the Sensible Ship possibility, which is obtainable in some ESPs.

Within the topic line, I examined totally different codecs:

• query;
• affirmative sentence;
• using emojis.

The best for us have been topics that intrigued, have been phrased as open questions or humorous headlines, and promised a solution to a query that the readers have been undoubtedly eager about. For instance, “ideas and tips on learn how to improve the open charge” will work higher as a topic line than simply “open charge in electronic mail advertising and marketing.”

By the way in which, to make A/B testing straightforward, you possibly can rapidly export emails from Stripo to greater than 75 ESPs.

Step 7. The resend trick

After sending an necessary or thrilling electronic mail, I group all of the subscribers who’ve but to open it in a separate listing, and after 2 days, I ship them the identical electronic mail with a distinct topic line. This can develop your OR. Nonetheless, it’s best to not overuse this methodology in order that your emails don’t go to spam.

Outcomes

Stripo’s performance helped me cut back the time I spent creating emails and allowed me to spend extra time on advertising and marketing experiments.

Since June 2022, we have now achieved and are sustaining the next ends in electronic mail advertising and marketing:

1. The OR has doubled and now averages 27–34%. On the similar time, the OR is 29% for digests, 33.6% for promo emails, and 60–70% for webinars.
2. Site visitors to the location from electronic mail newsletters additionally elevated by 10% when evaluating the outdated electronic mail advertising and marketing technique with the brand new one. As well as, we obtained 225 registrations for the paid model of our product from new electronic mail subscribers.

Essential conclusions

Our experiment proves that electronic mail advertising and marketing works in a posh method and that one ought to take a long-term strategy to rising the OR. When subscribers open our emails and see that they include a lot of fascinating info that’s useful to them, they may open future newsletters extra typically.

E-mail advertising and marketing is a protracted recreation, so don’t anticipate prompt outcomes. You will want to ship at the very least 4–5 emails earlier than you see any enhancements in your campaigns’ efficiency, and it takes round 6 months for these enhancements to change into evident and noticeable.

Concentrate on greatest practices, implement them, and see the outcomes.

This use case was coauthored with Alina Samulska-Kholina, a copywriter at Stripo.