Speeding up email production by up to 60% with Stripo: A case study by Optimal Business Consulting

One of the tasks of marketing automation and CRM consultants, whose goal is to make clients’ work processes more efficient, is to select convenient work systems. Jeff Kemp, certified marketing automation and CRM consultant and owner of Optimal Business Consulting, shares how they chose an email builder for a nonprofit organization and why they chose Stripo.

Interview Expert

Jeff Kemp

Certified consultant, Optimal Business Consulting owner, marketing automation and CRM consultant

About the company

Optimal Business Consulting is a team of expert consultants specializing in optimizing marketing automation, CRM, and CMS platforms. They have been certified consultants for over 10 years and have 30 years of marketing, sales, and business domain experience.

They collaborate closely with client teams, serving as subject-matter expert (SME) consultants and a fractional extension of their workforce. Their approach combines strategic insight with done-for-you (DFY) and done-with-you (DWY) services, allowing them to address challenges and implement proven solutions.

Optimal Business Consulting offers a comprehensive suite of email marketing services. They also specialize in creating and managing marketing automation workflows in platforms like Pardot and HubSpot and optimizing email deliverability to ensure messages reach their intended audiences.

Their diverse client base spans various industries, including business process management, SaaS/software, technology/IT/security, professional services, consulting/business management, nonprofits, and fintech.

Challenge: To find a user-friendly email builder and speed up email production 

One client of Optimal Business Consulting is a large nonprofit organization. They struggled with creating email templates within their current marketing automation platform, Pardot. They relied on Pardot’s native “classic” email builder, which was not very convenient for the required tasks. The organization struggled to create structural layouts and even make basic content changes within their email templates.

Their team created three to six email template variations daily for different segments. Each template contained several links with unique UTMs, adding complexity to their work.

The main issues they faced included:

• difficulty making changes to content, even when the email simply needed to be edited or an image needed to be replaced;
• challenges in creating new template layouts; 
• a slow, laborious email template creation process, even when cloning existing templates. 

All of these struggles reduced their efficiency and productivity. They needed to find a solution to simplify and speed up email production.

The process of selecting the platform for email building

When it came to selecting an email builder for their nonprofit client, Optimal Business Consulting relied on their expertise to identify the best solution. 

Key criteria for the email builder included: 

• an easy drag-n-drop interface; 
• various content elements; 
• reusable content modules; 
• Outlook support; 
• straightforward adjustments for fonts, colors, and sizes;
• mobile-specific settings;
• a user-friendly preview feature. 

Besides that, the builder needed to support full HTML export for integration with other systems, be collaborative, and be cost-effective.

In essence, the choice was between the following options: Continue using the built-in but clunky Pardot Classic email builder, try the newer Salesforce Lightning Email Builder for Pardot, or try an external email builder, such as the Knak email builder or the Stripo email production platform.

1. The selection process quickly ruled out the new Lightning Email Builder for Pardot. The primary reasons were that the Lightning Email Builder was subpar and very limiting compared to external builders, and the client’s IT department was reluctant to implement it due to setup complexities.
2. Initially, the team considered a builder that integrated directly with Pardot. However, they found Stripo’s HTML export functionality so effective that they decided against forcing direct integration, knowing IT approval would be challenging.
3. Optimal Business Consulting conducted a demo of Knak. Although Knak shared many capabilities with Stripo, Stripo was more affordable and suitable for organizations of all sizes. 
4. After consultants evaluated several options, Stripo emerged as the clear choice due to its features and cost-effectiveness. Optimal Business Consulting quickly found that Stripo works very well with the Pardot Classic email builder when Stripo conveniently handles the front-end design aspects and the Pardot Classic email builder is used to apply audience lists and send emails.

This affordability and functionality made Stripo the preferred choice. The pros and cons of each email builder they considered can be viewed in a popular article on their website about the best email template builders for email production.

To introduce their nonprofit client to Stripo, Optimal Business Consulting initially used their Agency account for the first few email builds. The client was impressed with the results. Despite initial hesitations from the IT department, the client eventually secured approval for a Stripo subscription and has been using it successfully for about two years.

Workflow and production: Steps and team collaboration

Using Stripo, Optimal Business Consulting developed an optimized process for its nonprofit client to have a streamlined email production workflow. This process ensures efficiency and accuracy in producing high-quality email campaigns.

The email creation process includes the following steps:

1. Template creation: The process begins with the creation of an email template in Stripo. The template serves as the foundation for the new message.
2. Content and copy changes: All necessary copy changes, including preheader text, are made within the Stripo template.
3. Link generation: Unique links with UTMs are created using an external tool developed by Optimal Business Consulting. This tool uses structured data for UTMs and includes required fields and calculations to ensure consistency in naming email templates to match email campaigns.
4. Link integration: The created links are added to the email template in Stripo.
5. Preview and testing: The email is previewed in Stripo, with special attention to links and mobile versions for new templates.
6. Pardot integration: An existing similar email is cloned in Pardot, where the sender information, segments, suppressions, and subject line are updated. The full HTML is exported from Stripo and used to replace the existing HTML in Pardot.
7. Text version updates: The text version is updated in Pardot with minor formatting changes. Next, test emails are sent.
8. Approval: The email is sent for stakeholder approval. If revisions are needed, changes are made in Stripo, and the process is repeated until approval is granted.
9. Once the email is approved, it is scheduled for sending.

I trained a couple of email campaign managers at the client over the last two years. One person now handles all the email creation. They were able to be fully trained in about two weeks from start to finish. Now, I only jump in occasionally on rare occasions to help if required based on their workload.

Jeff Kemp,

Certified consultant, Optimal Business Consulting owner.

The team that works on email production is conditionally divided into two groups:

1. The content team provides all the content, including the subject line, preheader text, and body copy. This team is also responsible for final approval.
2. The email campaign manager primarily clones existing templates for email creation and goes from there. With Stripo, the Email Campaign Manager can create new email templates that require entirely new layouts while remaining consistent with corporate style guides. So, they only need one person to create email templates and email messages.

Here’s one example of an email template built into the Stripo editor:

(Source: Email by Optimal Business Consulting)

Issues and resolutions

While using Stripo, Optimal Business Consulting encountered some specific issues that impacted their workflow, which they worked to resolve with practical solutions.

Font link tracking issue: Pardot counts every “@import” font link as a click, affecting email analytic integrity. To maintain accurate data, Optimal Business Consulting needs to manually remove all font links from the HTML for each message and revision.

Title tag issue: Another challenge involves the Title tag in the HTML. If not removed, the Title tag will appear in the inbox preview instead of the preheader text. Despite attempts to leave the Title blank or insert a space, the issue persists, requiring manual removal of the Title tag from the HTML for every message and revision.

Overall, while these issues require additional steps in their workflow, Optimal Business Consulting continues to work closely with Stripo and looks forward to enhancements that could further streamline their email production process.

Results and impact on email production: Building emails 60% faster and with quality

Since transitioning to Stripo, Optimal Business Consulting and their nonprofit client have observed significant improvements in their email production process. 

The most notable change was a dramatic reduction in email production time. Overall, the process is approximately 60% faster, factoring in the use of their custom UTM builder and process optimization. Without the UTM builder, the time savings are still impressive, around 40%. This efficiency has allowed the client to streamline their operations and reduce reliance on external consultants.

The client has also seen enhancements in the quality of their email templates. They now appear clean, vibrant, and mobile friendly, replacing the outdated and stale designs of the past. This improvement in visual appeal has contributed to a more engaging experience for their audience.

The main Stripo features that help to achieve these results are:

• user-friendly features and capabilities;
• an editing HTML module alongside a real-time view;
• the ability to edit overall HTML (including tables, rows, divs, and custom code);
• reusable modules;
• full HTML export.

Highlights of working with Stripo include the ease of adding and resizing columns to fit specific layouts and the ability to integrate blog posts through a data module. These features showcase the tool’s flexibility and power, making complex tasks simpler and more intuitive.

We use Stripo internally, syncing our email templates to ActiveCampaign and HubSpot, and we also recommend Stripo to our clients for Pardot, Hubspot, and the like, and they have all adopted it and have been very happy with it.

Jeff Kemp,

Certified consultant, Optimal Business Consulting owner.

Wrapping up

Stripo has proven to be a highly effective tool for Optimal Business Consulting and its clients. It has significantly enhanced production efficiency, improved template quality, and provided valuable features that streamline the email creation process. The positive impact on workflow underscores Stripo’s role as a vital component in their email marketing strategy.