First, I create a content plan. I do the research and prepare the materials that will be in the email. Then comes the stage of writing the text and creating the email layout. I work out structurally where everything will be placed, where there will be buttons, banners, and so on. If images or icons are needed, I set tasks for the designers. If the email is for some important occasion, a designer often works with the email’s design from start to finish. I use pre-built templates if it's a regular or a typical email.

Trigger emails are a bit different to create, since I need to prepare the technical part in addition to the email, then create an event, and set a task for developers to transfer parameters for this event.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

For planning, I use:

• Trello for coordinating different team members (copywriter, designer, and so on) when creating an email;
• Google Calendar for setting events;
• Google Sheets for creating content plans;
• ChatGPT for researchers;
• Analytics from ESP to plan the time and date of a newsletter;
• Google Analytics and Looker Studio for analyzing the effectiveness of typical newsletters and adjusting the strategy of future campaigns; 
• Google Forms for surveying users to understand what content they want to see in emails.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

We use Notion in our processes. This is a very handy tool for setting up newsletter plans on a calendar, setting tasks for designers and copywriters, and adding any necessary information. For these purposes, you can also use Google Calendar together with Jira. You can make a newsletter plan in the calendar and attach links to the necessary tasks in Jira on the required dates.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

The ability to simultaneously work on an email at the stage of preparation and approval, to make corrections, comment, send it to everyone for approval and clearly see who wrote what, is really useful. In some areas, there are many comments from customers. All this greatly speeds up the planning stage, especially when several specialists are working on a campaign.

(Olena Zhibul, Chief Email Marketing Expert of Kyivstar)

Usually, the frequency of newsletters and their sending dates are repeated each month. Therefore, we use the plan for the previous month and make changes to it, such as another occasion, additional content or product mailings, changed dates, and so on.

We also use “template” tasks for the copywriter, designer, and other specialists. We have a certain task template where the email marketer simply changes the conditions to the current ones (dates, occasion, discount amount, etc.). This option works well for regular mailings. All this allows you to streamline the production of email newsletters and save time.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

ChatGPT helps me a lot in writing texts, especially when it comes to subject lines and CTAs. I also ask for help from copywriters. The email’s text can be edited while creating the email, because sometimes large paragraphs of text look bad in the design. For example, the button’s name can be too long or too short.

The text can also be partially edited during layout when some long words or blocks prevent the email from looking good. The most difficult thing for me is having to constantly shorten the text, because there is always a desire to write extensively about all the details and news, but the email is not endless and needs to be shortened.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

We work with a content team that proposes good practices regarding email writing topics, email subjects, action messages, and so on. But in general, we do not participate in the final writing of each email, which is the client’s responsibility.

(Felipe Guerra, CEO at iLogica)

Many marketers are now arguing over whether to hire a full-time copywriter or outsource email texts. We believe an in-house copywriter should always write text, since the copywriter must be involved in the product and know all its features to create exceptional and catchy emails. This is what we adhere to in our company. Our in-house copywriter creates all texts, from subject lines to CTA buttons.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

You only need a few tools to write texts for emails. We use Google Docs to write all texts and Language Tool to proofread them. This tool is quite good and allows you to find typos quickly, as well as offering various synonyms to enrich the texts.

(Felipe Guerra, CEO at iLogica)

ChatGPT has become a real discovery for many, including me. This is a really great tool for generating texts if inspiration is at zero. You set a prompt, then choose from the generated options which one is best suited, and tweak it to your liking.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

We mainly work with texts in Google Docs. This is very convenient because you can make your edits or comments and work on the text at the same time as the copywriter.

However, I had an experience when a copywriter wrote the text directly in the email builder. This approach is very convenient because the copywriter immediately sees the email’s big picture and can quickly develop compelling email texts.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

To speed up the process, we use AI to generate some texts. I also use the translation feature in Stripo for multilingual campaigns. In general, the process is well established. I create the main texts, then give them to the copywriter and proofreader. There is also a separate option to give the texts to contractors for translation.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

Knowing English at a native level and understanding the nuances of some regions of the States would greatly improve everything. For example, Texans speak slightly differently from New Yorkers, so you usually have to make several regional options, but our staff work with these nuances.

In addition, creating sales texts is faster and easier with a full-time copywriter with a sales background.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)

There are two options here. If it is a typical email, then I use pre-built templates. I also have all email blocks saved separately as modules in Stripo, which is quite handy. It helps me quickly assemble emails like a Lego set.

I form the whole structure depending on the information I need to include. The task is quite simple if an email consists of one message. There is a conditionally standard structure with which I work, adding details as I go.

If I need to convey several messages in the email, such as blog posts and templates, then I prioritize the content. It is essential to understand that the first two screens will always receive the largest number of views.

The second option is if you need to come up with a new email for some special occasion. I collect references and create tasks for the designer where I must designate what information will be in the email, what information must be paid attention to, what to emphasize, etc.

It is vital for an email marketer to be observant, so I often look at other emails on different resources to gather new ideas. Also, the presence of a corporate style and guidelines helps to create new emails quickly and, at the same time, make them diverse.”

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

Our challenge is to present a graphic proposal that is sufficiently attractive to the client with visual, playful design elements, and not only use design components that are very “square” or that can be visually unappealing.

(Felipe Guerra, CEO at iLogica)

I create the layout myself, but in our case, the process is not very complicated since design is not the main thing in our field. Text content is much more important. As a result, I use standard templates. I give the pictures for recommendation blocks and others to a graphic designer, but now, I have started creating graphic content using Midjourney.

(Kateryna Kaliman, Email Marketing Specialist at Astromix)

Figma is one of the most convenient tools for creating email designs. There are features for working in a team, comments on individual blocks, and so on. As soon as the layout is ready, we transfer it to Stripo.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

You can use Photoshop, but Figma is better and more convenient. We use it to design email templates and even individual banners.

(Valerii Oliinyk, Retention Team Lead and Project Manager at Omnicore)

I use Midjourney to generate visual content, as this AI tool allows us to easily create the images, buttons, and banners we need in the shortest possible time without involving extra specialists, but sometimes I still turn to designers to complete the tasks in Figma or Adobe Illustrator. These two tools are the cornerstones of design.

(Kateryna Kaliman, Email Marketing Specialist at Astromix)

It would be great to have a direct integration with Figma and be able to transfer the email from Figma to Stripo in a few clicks. This would greatly reduce the time required to create new emails, since there are now additional staff in this chain (developers that code your email).

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

I compose either in Stripo or in the builder available in ESP, through which I send emails. When I worked at the email agency, I had a separate email designer to whom I delegated these tasks. At Stripo, I sometimes ask our designers to help me create an email or a specific part of it.

During this process, you should consider adaptability and how your email looks on different devices and browsers. Working with indents is also very important. Even the simplest email consisting of an image, a paragraph of text, and a button can look terrible if you do a bad job with indents.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

The whole process depends on the layout you need for the email.

If this is a standard layout, then all the work happens in the email builder. If the layout consists of a non-standard grid of blocks, we use a manual layout where developers create everything from the ground up while I make changes to the HTML code if necessary (replacement of content, and so on).

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

We use the free version of Stripo to create emails, as we don't have many exports from there per month. However, we are extremely pleased with the functionality.

(Kateryna Romanenko: Former Email Marketer at Yakaboo)

As mentioned above, I mainly create emails in Stripo or email editors built into the ESP I use for newsletters.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

We mainly use Stripo. At the moment, it is the best solution for these tasks. This tool is wrapped in a user-friendly and intuitive interface; thus, it is easy to train a junior to use it. Much is intuitive, even for beginners.

In addition, any HTML code editor is suitable if you need to work with the layout, replace some content, and so on.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

Simultaneous editing and comments in the editor (like in Figma) would greatly speed up the email creation process. Stripo is actively working on adding this feature, and there will be news about it soon.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

When I worked in an agency, I had to obtain approval from the department leader and directly with the client. You need to approve emails to:

• not miss any details; for example, in the week while you were making the email, some information could have changed, and it is possible to notice it during the approval;
• add edits that you don’t notice anymore because a fresh look is needed.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

In our process, we create a strategy, because we completely rework the email marketing and branding of the customer’s entire company. We have developed a UI KIT for email marketing for universities, insurance companies, banks, pharmaceutical companies, and many others.

We understand that the most challenging process is approval, because it depends on people who need to check all aspects precisely to match the company’s vision and desires.

(Felipe Guerra, CEO at iLogica)

In most companies, the CMO usually approves the mailing plan and the final version of the email. Moreover, most often, approval is needed for new and special email newsletters. Regular promo and content emails are not approved. Besides that, the marketing team leader coordinates the intermediate stages of preparing the newsletters: occasions, text, graphics, time or day of sending, and so on.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

In most companies, there are no special tools that are sharpened purely for the approval process. So teams usually just use Slack or Microsoft Teams for calls and text communication.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

When I am responsible for the channel and can make decisions myself, it is a fairly quick process. Sometimes the team leader or CMO reviews the emails and makes corrections. Again, this process would be significantly improved by the ability to leave comments in the email and by collaborative editing.

In agencies, when you have a client, it takes longer and is more difficult because you have to get approval from them. In this case, the ability to leave comments on specific blocks directly in the email with the ability to mark the comment as completed would save a lot of time. Just like it is done in Google Docs or Figma.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

It would be great to get approval faster, but too many factors can stretch the process for a longer period. The busyness of someone who has to approve a process can add extra hours to this stage, so it’s hard to give advice here. The general optimization of all work and email marketing processes will allow you to devote time to approval earlier and spend less time on it.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

The whole process is pretty straightforward. I send a test email to myself and check all the link buttons (do they work, do they lead to the right places), alt-texts on pictures, display on different devices, and so on.

Once tests are done, I choose the segment I want to send in an email and the segments I would like to exclude from the newsletter. Sometimes I send the email right away, and sometimes I use the delayed sending function.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

Of course, we do a number of tests, first on the display of the email since we focus on mobile. Finally, we reread the text and check all the links.

Before that, we also check whether the subject is written correctly, whether the right sender of the email is indicated, and whether the localization is correct.

(Kateryna Kaliman, Email Marketing Specialist at Astromix)

We test emails by sending them to stakeholders or using Email on Acid and Mailtester when creating new templates. At Litmus, we look at which folder the email ends up in, as it is important for us to maintain an open rate of at least 40%.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)

I use mainly Email on Acid and the preview features in Stripo and ESP, and send test newsletters to myself. To send emails, I use Yespo ESP.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

In order to send emails, we use two tools:

• Mailchimp, because it is our first tool and the easiest to set up;
• Yespo, because they have a very important sender personalization feature; other ESPs with such features were much more expensive.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)

For example, email test automation. You pressed a button, and the test started working. The robot scanned for possible bugs (the layout broke, the font in the email was wrong, the link was not working, the email fell into spam, and much more). After that, it would be cool for such a tool to fix the email itself, but this is currently some kind of dream.

(Liliia Sheketa, Communication Automation Manager at Trevolution Group)

I use a lot of analytics in the ESP for newsletters, which gives useful information. Here, you can see the indicators of a specific email (open rate, click rate, unsubscribes, etc.), as well as the number of emails sent for a specific trigger, general analytics for promos and triggers, and the number of opens per month (or for a certain period) for certain types of email.

I often work with RFM analysis, analytics on the growth of subscribers from specific sources (subscription forms, imports, automatically created through registration in the product, etc.), and the number of unsubscribes in a certain period of time. Also, by segment, I can see how this or that segment is actively growing. And I can analyze what percentage of the audience is active, which is not, and why.

In addition, there is Google Analytics. In our case, we build a separate dashboard in Looker Studio, pushing data from Google Analytics. This allows me to look at higher-level metrics, such as the number of subscriptions from a particular email, or in total, over a period, the amount of traffic from certain emails for a certain period, etc. I can also compare this information (for example, how the same trigger was registered during the winter and summer) and, based on this, build hypotheses, test them, and improve or adjust the overall strategy.

(Oleksandr Dieiev, Email Marketer at Stripo)

A mandatory part of the work is the collection of analytics for each email. Product data is also collected in several stages.

• an email marketer collects analytics on a specific task and publishes it to Jira in the same task;
• final conversion indicators are added to the general report after a few days;
• cross-channel analytics are collected;
• dashboards are consulted with analytics on how emails affect further marketing processes and internal analytics with historical data, such as user behavior.

Once all the data is collected, marketers analyze the metrics and consider the results when planning the next marketing campaign.

(Olena Zhibul, Chief Email Marketing Expert of Kyivstar)

We have a non-traditional funnel because we are more interested in responders than clicks, which ESPs usually do not track. Therefore, we upload data about sent emails to BigQuery. The analyst matches this data with whether the email was answered (we track this through the airplane emoji in the email subject on G-suite), and then we add data from our database about whether there were requests and purchases from these customers.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)

In our processes, when analyzing email campaigns, the Yespo ESP dashboard that we use for email newsletters is enough for us.

(Olena Zhibul, Chief Email Marketing Expert of Kyivstar)

Because our analysis process is quite complex, it involves a whole list of tools, such as:

• Power BI;
• G-suite API;
• Tableau;
• Google Sheets;
• Reporting tools from Yespo ESP; 
• Radar App, which is our internal management system.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)

A large number of tools used in the analysis impose inconvenience on the entire process. In this scenario, the only correct solution would be to improve the quality of the data you receive when uploading. Many analytics nuances come from duplicate data, which can make statistics inaccurate when all data is compiled. The fewer duplicates, the faster the reports are generated.

(Galina Panasyuk, Customer Relationship Management Specialist at Voyagu)