Email creation at Edwards goes from clunky to smooth

Challenges

The native email builder in Edwards’ marketing automation platform just wasn’t flexible enough for them. The result was ongoing headaches for the Edwards marketing team, which was at the time using both internal builders and external agencies to create and code its emails. “Many of the agencies building our emails did not know how to build them for our platform,” recalls Ajay Parikh, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing Strategy, at Edwards. “They would provide HTML code that didn’t render properly, which meant our team would have to troubleshoot the formatting or adjust the CSS.” In the best of circumstances, Parikh and his colleagues would spend valuable time fixing the code themselves. And in a worst-case scenario, the IT department would have to completely rebuild the emails.

Solution

Knak’s branded modules made it easier for anyone – outside agencies or people in marketing and other departments – to build beautiful, on-brand emails.

When Edwards signed on with Knak, the improvement was immediate. Within days, the Knak development team was helping them build brand-compliant modules and train users. Before long, the Edwards marketing team was easily creating 10 or more emails a day in Adobe Marketo Engage.

Benefits

More people can build great, branded emails

Because Knak is easy to use, departments other than Marketing have begun using it. They regularly send their own branded emails, extending the reach of the Edwards brand beyond its marketing department. “We’ve even changed how we support Sales by creating branded emails that they can distribute as needed,” says Parikh.

Marketing campaigns can be launched more quickly

“Because the Knak interface is so easy to use, our agencies create the emails directly in Knak,” says Parikh. “We have visibility into the work before it’s completed, and we can make sure the email is being developed the way we want,” says Parikh. “It saves time, and improves collaboration.”

There are financial savings

Since the agencies are using Knak directly, Edwards doesn’t have to pay for their technical resources to code emails and has been able to restructure its agency spend.

Approvals are easier

Approvals are smoother and faster, which also helps speed up the creation and distribution of emails. “The PDF download feature has been huge for us, because the PDF can be uploaded easily into our internal approval platform,” says Parikh. “It’s been life-changing, in that it’s made approvals so much easier.”

Knak provides comprehensive support

“The Knak team has been amazing,” says Parikh. “Nothing we threw at them was ever a ‘no.’ The team always had or found a solution. Everyone says they’re customer-focused, but Knak truly is. I don’t consider Knak a vendor. Knak is an essential partner for us.”