Email Onboarding Series
The Email Onboarding Series stands as a pivotal digital marketing initiative aimed at fostering meaningful connections with new leads within their initial 30 days of employment.
Brand Strategy
The Email Onboarding Series was built on three core pillars: awareness, engagement, and conversion. These pillars guided prospects from initial brand introduction to showcasing our expertise, driving conversions, and fostering long-term engagement. This comprehensive campaign operates through an automated user-centric program, strategically designed to educate and guide new leads towards key actions, thereby enhancing long-term subscriber satisfaction.
Audience
Targeting global prospects seeking talent acquisition solutions, our strategy was designed to resonate universally while allowing for localized customization.
Specialty
UX Design: Enhancing user experience
UI Design: Crafting intuitive interfaces
Email Newsletters: Creating engaging content
Digital Design: Merging aesthetics with functionality
Design Software
Adobe XD: Wireframing and prototyping
Adobe Illustrator: High-fidelity visuals
Adobe After Effects: Motion graphics
Project Scope/Timeline:
Weeks of Feb 5 & 12:
The Marketing Operations Team revisited the existing brand strategy, engaging in heuristic evaluations and exploratory research to uncover insights for leveraging new brand imagery, email layouts, and frameworks for elevated design.
Week of Feb 19:
The Marketing Manager presented the creative strategy, employing user personas and journey maps, to key stakeholders, awaiting approval from the Senior VP of Marketing for sign-off.
The Marketing Operations Team delivered the Email Onboarding Series Strategy, utilizing design thinking methodologies, to the Marketing Director, facilitating the communication of project deliverables and the development of a Creative Brief.
Week of Feb 19:
The Creative Designer received a request for 4 cohesive emails, incorporating Cielo's brand strategy, leveraging design systems and wireframes to ensure consistency and usability.
Design iterations, featuring animations and microinteractions, were presented to the Marketing Director for feedback and subsequent approval by the Senior VP of Marketing.
Week of Mar 25:
Leaders conducted usability testing, employing heuristic evaluations and user interviews, reviewing and approving the designs, creative brief, and campaign strategy.
Weeks of April 1 – April 8:
Designs were passed from the Creative Marketing team to the Marketing Operations Team for building, employing responsive design principles, testing, and deploying the new Email Onboarding Series, ensuring cross-device compatibility and accessibility.
Identifying Key Problems
Exploring Solutions
The initial iteration of the Email Onboarding Series lacked a user-centered design approach and failed to integrate a unique, consistent feature across all communications. This redesign addressed these shortcomings by incorporating engaging visuals, interactive animated content, and directive copy, effectively aligning with the overarching goal of fostering long-term user engagement.
The redesigned Email Onboarding Series emphasized cohesive visual and copy elements, enhancing the user experience and propelling recipients through the brand journey. By prioritizing engaging content, the series successfully nurtured leads and conveyed essential knowledge about Cielo's services. Key design principles such as visual hierarchy, consistent typography, and responsive design were employed to ensure the content was not only appealing but also accessible across various devices.
Email 1: Welcome and Consent
Onboarding Email 1: Welcome + Consent
Employing user-centered design principles, establish a positive emotional connection through a simple welcome message.
Utilize progressive disclosure techniques to set clear expectations and outline the value proposition of subscribing.
Offer valuable resources, employing content strategy frameworks, while ensuring GDPR compliance and providing opt-out options in accordance with privacy standards.
Purpose: Introduce leads to Cielo's company culture and offerings, employing user personas and scenario-based design.
Theme: Reflect Cielo's brand promise and commitment to subscribers, employing emotional design principles.
Features: GDPR compliance, personalized content, clear opt-out options, employing interaction design patterns.
Email 2: Inform
Onboarding Email 2: Inform
Personalize content using data-driven insights, employing segmentation and personalization techniques, to showcase Cielo's industry expertise and breadth of solutions.
Strengthen brand image through consistent visual design elements, employing style guides and design systems, to reinforce brand recall and user trust.
Enhance engagement by providing clear call-to-action opportunities, employing persuasive design principles, to encourage further exploration and interaction.
Theme: Showcase Cielo's industry expertise and solutions, employing user journey maps and visual storytelling techniques.
Features: Personalized content, contact opportunities, brand reinforcement, employing responsive design principles.
Email 3: Connect
Onboarding Email 3: Connect
Foster community engagement and social connectivity, employing social proof and social influence techniques, by encouraging users to connect via various social channels.
Highlight the value proposition of community engagement, employing persuasive messaging strategies, to incentivize users to join and participate.
Provide quick access to relevant resources and events, employing information architecture principles, to streamline user navigation and enhance usability.
Theme: Foster community engagement and social connectivity, employing social proof and gamification techniques.
Features: Encourage social channel connections, highlight value, provide quick links, employing usability testing and user feedback.
Animated Banners and Brand Strategy Alignment
To reinforce the brand strategy, I designed and implemented a series of animated banners within the Email Onboarding Series. These banners were meticulously crafted to communicate Cielo's core values and strategic messaging while enhancing visual engagement.
Visual Consistency:
Design Approach: The animated banners maintained visual consistency with Cielo's overall branding by using the company's color palette, typography, and iconography. This alignment ensured that each touchpoint within the onboarding emails resonated with the brand's identity.
Impact: Consistent visual elements helped reinforce brand recognition and trust, making the emails immediately identifiable as part of the Cielo ecosystem.
Dynamic Engagement:
Design Approach: By incorporating motion graphics and subtle animations, the banners captured the recipient's attention and directed focus to key messages. Animations were designed to be smooth and unobtrusive, enhancing the user experience without overwhelming the viewer.
Impact: Animated content significantly increased engagement rates, as it provided a dynamic and interactive element that kept users interested and encouraged them to explore further.
By integrating animated banners into the Email Onboarding Series, I effectively communicated Cielo's brand strategy while enhancing the visual appeal and user engagement of the emails. This approach not only reinforced brand consistency but also created a more immersive and interactive experience for users, driving long-term engagement and loyalty.
Conclusion
The Email Onboarding Series blends UX design methodologies with marketing strategies to engage and nurture global prospects joining Cielo's ecosystem. Through user-centric principles and creative storytelling, the campaign ensures a seamless brand journey, fostering long-term subscriber satisfaction.
Crafted by the Marketing Operations Team, the series aligns with Cielo's brand pillars—awareness, engagement, and conversion—nurturing prospects from initial contact to active engagement. Design systems ensure consistency and coherence, enhancing brand recall and trust.
Looking ahead, the series offers opportunities for further optimization. By leveraging predictive analytics and ongoing user feedback, Cielo can personalize content delivery and refine the campaign to meet evolving market dynamics.
In summary, the Email Onboarding Series showcases the synergy of UX design and marketing, driving meaningful connections and sustainable growth for Cielo.