our journey to 1 million customers — Stripo.electronic mail

Why do you do what you do? How usually do you mirror on why you selected your job?

Individuals normally have a number of potential causes, however usually, in a technique or one other, all of us need to be useful. If we glance past this, we need to do one thing that may assist others — and if we dig even deeper, to create one thing that can change the world. Ask your self: Do I need to go away a mark in historical past? Sure? How?

In 2016, in a fantastic metropolis on this planet’s bravest nation, Ukraine, an entrepreneur with a need to unravel the issues of a large number creates a product…

I’m certain many books about unimaginable manufacturers begin this fashion. However this isn’t a e book; that is only a easy sketch, and it began very in a different way.

Stripo historical past: The way it all started

Q: Dmytro, why did you create Stripo? Did you need to make one thing unimaginable to assist many professionals?

Okay, you may say, “That is simply the story of an peculiar startup.” Perhaps — however give it an opportunity!

Dmytro Kudrenko: Had been there every other editors apart from ours? Completely! However in some unspecified time in the future, every of them began branching out in numerous instructions, and it was the editor itself that received misplaced. We selected the trail of working particularly with the editor and bettering it.

I as soon as realized that to create a really nice product, you should do the next:

• deal with one factor (in our case, it’s electronic mail advertising and marketing);

• perceive your person’s downside;

• discover a option to remedy it;

• and remedy it in such a means that the person can’t think about their workday with out your resolution.

Whenever you’re constructing a product, essentially the most difficult half is creating one thing that didn’t exist earlier than. Crucial second is fixing the person’s downside in such a means that they will grasp the answer and begin actively utilizing it. And essentially the most fascinating story tells us the best way to transition from complexity to simplicity.

This has been Stripo’s principal purpose from the very starting and our focus all this time.

I’ve been concerned in advertising and marketing for fairly a while, and what I at all times lack? Time! I at all times want that there have been a number of extra hours within the day. However how far more time do those that create emails want in a day? What if they will’t code? What if it’s an bold startup with a small group, the place one individual handles a number of duties?

By the way in which, here is an instance from our COO, Dmitry Kulaksyz:

Q: Dmitry, what was the most important problem?

Dmitry Kulaksyz: Within the early levels of product improvement, the group was very small. There have been about six of us, together with our chief, Dmytro Kudrenko.

Maybe essentially the most difficult job at the moment was discovering the stability between amount and high quality. We continuously needed to make choices, even when they turned out to be flawed, draw conclusions, and transfer ahead, usually into uncharted territory.

Returning to the time scarcity problem, are there any instruments that can assist you optimize it? After all! Do all of them truly remedy this downside? After all not.

Q: Dmitry, you talked about that you simply need to remedy the viewers’s downside by saving them time on routine duties and permitting them to deal with extra fascinating and vital ones. How?

Dmitry Kulaksyz: Modular electronic mail design. Nicely, you see, it wasn’t our invention. However we’ve targeted a lot on modules that now our customers can change any electronic mail component they want with out dropping any important knowledge.

Once we have been creating modules, they didn’t exist in any editor but. Nevertheless, they have been utilized in web site improvement, and that’s precisely what we used as the idea of the thought. We have been those who launched the modular system into emails, and now it’s a compulsory characteristic in all places.

I imagine that coding electronic mail templates is just not one thing entrepreneurs ought to be doing. As a substitute, they need to consider advertising and marketing methods. Our modules are what is going to allow them to make it occur.

By making a module as soon as, a specialist can use it an infinite variety of instances whereas altering any component they want with out affecting the general modular framework. And since you possibly can create an infinite variety of modules for any unit or job as soon as and use them continuously, it reduces the time it takes to create an electronic mail by a number of hours, simplifying communication between enterprise models or mission contractors.

After all, we check all the pieces ourselves, and we have described how the modules work and the way they save time in our case research.

I’m writing about this with satisfaction, and also you would possibly assume I’m boasting. I’m! As a result of once I talked to the group that has been engaged on this from the very starting, I used to be amazed by their calmness.

Anton Hrynenko, CTO at Stripo:

Anton Hrynenko: I’m a perfectionist, so it was initially very difficult for me to mentally alter to the product-oriented method to work. The seek for “product–market match” led to fixed modifications that generally didn’t match into the preliminary structure in any respect.

It seems like an motion online game, doesn’t it? By the way in which, have you ever ever observed that we dwell each second of our lives as if we have been taking part in an infinite recreation?

Right here’s a quest for groceries; there’s a shootout for a reduced merchandise. In reality, life itself is one large simulator. However for advertising and marketing, video games are probably the greatest mechanics for interacting with the viewers.

Stripo and electronic mail gamification

Entrepreneurs have been actively utilizing video games for a very long time at any time when they will, and Stripo makes this potential in emails. Interactive video games for electronic mail campaigns are one in all our distinctive choices.

Yow will discover extra particulars about gamification in electronic mail advertising and marketing right here, however we’d prefer to share some info about our video games:

• that is what our first recreation seemed like — recipients needed to click on on totally different components, and after that, they acquired predictions about electronic mail advertising and marketing. This gamified electronic mail generated twice as many clicks as an everyday one;

• that is what our most just lately launched recreation appears to be like like.

What’s extra:

• we realized that recipients like our video games;

• in consequence, we created our eBook on gamification in electronic mail advertising and marketing;

• Dmytro Kudrenko has spoken on this subject at 20 totally different occasions;

Liubov Rolenko, developer answerable for designing all recreation mechanics at Stripo

Q: What have been your ideas whenever you created your first recreation?

Liubov Rolenko: I wished to create one thing fascinating and acquainted, just like the previous video games from childhood, however in an easier model. One thing that would present a bit distraction and produce again the childlike pleasure and pleasure in the course of a workday.

Q: Are you able to inform me, what’s your favourite recreation of all time?

Liubov Rolenko: I’m a gamer, so I’ve been taking part in video video games since childhood, and I nonetheless do it. Video games have at all times been part of my life.

Really, I don’t have a favourite one as a result of I really like variety. Nevertheless, I bear in mind my first recreation. In class, throughout a pc science class, a instructor confirmed us a recreation the place there was an animal in a maze, and also you needed to enter instructions specifying the course and the variety of steps, like “5 steps proper.” You needed to information the animal out of the maze. It was whereas taking part in this recreation that I noticed I wished to change into a developer.

Stripo training

All the things at all times begins with training. Maybe not all of the information we acquire at school might be helpful sooner or later, however that’s the place we purchase the important components of our future life: a information base, buddies, and allies, in addition to assist.

Though we at Stripo have already got a superb 24/7 assist service prepared to help you, we’re creating our information base, the place customers can delve into all of the intricacies of utilizing our product. Our assist group is at all times able to reply your questions, however exploring the academic database will provide its personal fascinations.

Maryna Krivenets, the pinnacle of buyer assist at Stripo

Q: Maryna, do you assume the information base will substitute buyer assist?

This can be a picture from the shoot of our Udemy course, which is appropriate for all inexperienced persons and has already been accomplished by practically 2,000 college students.

If you would like to take one in all our programs, you are able to do it proper right here. You can too observe this hyperlink to discover a information with 94 electronic mail advertising and marketing sources for inspiration and work.

And if you would like to go away a overview of us, you possibly can simply do it on G2 or Capterra. Imagine me, our complete group is over the moon once we see your evaluations! Your suggestions is extremely inspiring to us.

Stripo and interactive content material in emails

By the way in which, do you know that inspiration is one in all our group’s core ideas, and everybody strives not solely to create one thing new however to do it in a means that conveys a bit of their inspiration?

For instance, whereas engaged on this text, I used to be impressed by the tales of the individuals who created (and proceed to create) our product. After one other dose of inspiration, I turned to Roman, our head designer and the one that remembers the very first template that appeared in Stripo.

Right here it’s — our first electronic mail template, which was used 450 instances.

Roman Burdyga, product designer at Stripo

Roman Burdyga: Hiya! I’m Roman, a product designer at Stripo. I used to be additionally the developer of the e-mail template structure construction, which is the idea for all templates within the system. Now, let me share some historical past…

Earlier than Stripo was launched, I labored on the identical factor in one other product, the place there was additionally a template editor, and gained all my expertise in creating templates there. I created templates for our purchasers and realized all of the intricacies and subtleties of electronic mail structure. Since I’m a designer, I mixed this expertise with my information of template creation to strengthen Stripo.

By that point, I had a number of colleagues who began creating templates and have become the primary authors of this library. These colleagues embrace Liubov Rolenko, who initiated this nice mission and later turned a mentor to different colleagues. Afterwards, Ruslan Trepuhalov and Oleg Ponamarchuk joined us, including a special perspective and concepts and accelerating the library’s development. A 12 months later, Anastasiia Babintseva joined us together with her sense of magnificence and inventive abilities.

All of them made a major contribution to the template improvement, and every of them is exclusive of their fashion, abilities, and views, which is why the templates are so numerous and fascinating.

At the moment, in fact, I used to be creating templates shortly as a result of I used to be the writer of each the template editor and the template code. The principle problem was discovering concepts, designing, selecting themes, and turning all the pieces right into a completed template.

What I bear in mind most have been a number of of our electronic mail campaigns at first of our interactive content material improvement at Stripo:

1. A Christmas electronic mail for our purchasers with an interactive coloring characteristic that collected knowledge and reproduced all of the customers’ drawings. We acquired quite a few wonderful drawings, rigorously chosen the most effective ones, and despatched because of our artists.

Whereas creating the design for that electronic mail, I inspired my youngster to make use of the coloring characteristic and provided his drawings for instance of what might be created. It was very fascinating and satisfying to obtain such suggestions and encouragement from our purchasers.

2. Then, we had the thought to create a crossword puzzle instantly within the electronic mail. It was extremely cool, though fairly difficult and time-consuming to implement. Nevertheless, it was completely price it, and we acquired many constructive responses.

3. One other memorable mechanic was a quiz the place I labored on the design. It was an interactive chat throughout the electronic mail. It felt such as you have been having a real-time dialog with somebody who was responding to you. It was extremely cool.

These interactive components have been broadly mentioned within the electronic mail neighborhood as properly.

Stripo’s plans for the longer term

Nicely, I’m getting carried away with the previous. We’ve 1,000,000 customers. 1,000,000. For me, that’s an unbelievable quantity. After I requested everybody concerned on this article what they’d say to our million customers, all of them replied: “Stick with us! We’re making ready a number of fascinating and helpful issues on your electronic mail advertising and marketing campaigns!”

For instance:

• a new editor;
• real-time co-editing and commenting;
• integration with Figma;
• enhancements in AI performance inside Stripo’s construction;
• collaboration instruments;
• electronic mail accessibility precheck; 
• darkish mode UI for electronic mail preview; 
• new video games, templates, useful guides, and far more on your emails.

In the event you’ve learn this far, I need to personally thanks on your time. On the very starting of this text, I discussed how we at all times appear to lack time. However we’re continuously working to unlock as a lot of it for you as potential!

Volodymyr Kreshchenko, CMO at Stripo

Q: What do you assume makes Stripo distinctive?

Q: What has shocked you essentially the most throughout your total time working at Stripo?

Volodymyr Kreshchenko: What shocked me essentially the most is that within the firm, there are various individuals who genuinely care about our customers’ issues and the bugs that come up, and so they try to repair them as shortly as potential. It’s very nice to work collectively on one thing when individuals are obsessed with what they do.

Chances are you’ll ask — why not increase our horizons? Partly as a result of the deal with one thing is an infinite horizon itself.

Ivan Burban, former CMO at Stripo

Q: Ivan, what was most difficult at first of the journey? What did you imagine in?

Ivan Burban: Essentially the most difficult factor was understanding the best way to stand out from different merchandise. At the moment, we positioned ourselves as an electronic mail template builder, and we turned a platform three years later. Throughout this transitional interval, we have been looking for this positioning and had many conversations with customers and market consultants.

Q: What do you assume it takes to go away a mark in historical past?

Ivan Burban: I imagine that to make a mark in historical past, it’s worthwhile to change the method to a selected course of, not simply enhance it barely. Within the case of Uber, they reimagined the method of calling a taxi. Within the case of Stripo, I feel you’re on the suitable path, and you cannot solely change the method to creating emails but in addition make this complicated job extra accessible to a broader viewers. Our inboxes will change into interactive and straightforward to grasp.

Wrapping up

Will we go away a mark in historical past as a complete group? I don’t know. However I do know that should you ask the query, “Do you utilize Stripo?” nearly everybody within the digital market will reply: “After all!” So, we undoubtedly don’t begin our day with group conferences for nothing!

We thank every one in all you for being part of Stripo.