Image courtesy Cherry Bombe

After a agelong vocation successful publishing that included stints astatine Harper’s Bazaar and arsenic Yahoo’s Food exertion successful chief, Kerry Diamond, laminitis and exertion successful main of Cherry Bombe, opened a restaurant. “I had ne'er worked successful restaurants, but I’d done everything related to books and magazines and newspapers,” said Diamond.”

“Publishing was my world, but the edifice truly opened my eyes. I realized women’s stories weren’t being told oregon prioritized successful the industry. I was learning astir each these unthinkable women and I wanted to assistance archer their stories. I had this thought to bash a mag called Cherry Bombe. I spent astir a twelvemonth moving connected it and it came retired successful May 2013.”

In 2013, Cherry Bombe launched arsenic a people magazine. They needed to commencement their email database — and physique their online beingness — from scratch. At the time, they were hindered by a clunky email selling level that made it hard to customize messaging and astir intolerable to align the brand’s aesthetic which was inspired by a affluent past of beautifully designed people magazines. 

They besides needed to instrumentality much ownership of their contented and connection strategy which was mostly built connected Instagram. They migrated to Mailchimp successful 2014 for the ease-of-use, template options, and the quality to easy marketplace products and way gross done campaigns. But the concealed condiment to their highly engaged email database lies successful Cherry Bombe’s compelling, accordant contented — worldly that readers are anxious to person successful their inboxes. 

The level has helped them crystallize their brand’s look and messaging adjacent portion assemblage outreach and engagement remained focused connected Instagram. During and aft the pandemic, Cherry Bombe knew they needed to instrumentality much ownership of their messaging and assemblage outreach by focusing — and recalibrating — their email selling approach.

It was Instagram first

Back then, Cherry Bombe didn’t person an email strategy. They were a marque that had built itself connected Instagram. Diamond’s squad was utilizing the level to pass with its audience. Emails were conscionable a supplement to the societal media presence.

“We had a truly large Instagram assemblage and we were making a batch of our announcements via Instagram,” explained Diamond. “In the aboriginal portion the pandemic, I started to announcement changes to Instagram that troubled me. I noticed brands conscionable weren’t increasing the aforesaid mode connected Instagram. TikTok was starting to instrumentality a batch of attraction distant from Instagram and arsenic overmuch arsenic I emotion Instagram, I knew we needed to power our communications with our audience.”

What’s aged is caller again

For Diamond, who had her roots successful accepted publishing and understood the worth of well-crafted and beauteous content, email seemed similar the champion mode to instrumentality power of Cherry Bombe’s messaging. She’d been moving with Mailchimp since 2014 and with a database of astir 25,000 subscribers, Cherry Bombe had the tools successful spot to instrumentality power of their messaging.

“The evident reply was Mailchimp,” said Diamond. Founded successful 2011, Mailchimp is an email selling level with a estimation for being idiosyncratic affable and affordable. When Cherry Bombe decided to refocus connected utilizing email to link with their members, they utilized the level to redesign their play emails which are sent retired each Friday. 

Cherry Bombe Friday newsletter header. Image courtesy Cherry Bombe

Said Diamond, “We wanted to support it elemental and beautifully designed. It was large due to the fact that our email database grew, but it besides stabilized.”

Cherry Bombe saw little churn with their recently designed email approach. They besides got much superior astir tracking results and paying attraction to what worked successful presumption of things similar taxable enactment and nonstop times. “We emotion the AB investigating and we discovered immoderate comic things similar less radical opened our emails erstwhile they had emojis successful the taxable line,” said Diamond.

By linking Mailchimp to their Shopify account, Cherry Bombe were capable to show what drove subscriptions and different purchases connected their website. They regularly way email show including opens, clicks, and actions truthful they tin further refine their email selling attack and amended recognize their members.

Using email for profitability and entertainment

Cherry Bombe has 2 main goals erstwhile they nonstop retired emails — to beryllium profitable and to entertain their members. These goals aren’t mutually exclusive. An entertaining email is an email that gets work and shared. It besides motivates users to sojourn Cherry Bombe’s website to acquisition from their online store which sells issues of the magazine, the Cherry Bombe Cookbook, and acquisition cards.

Said Diamond, “I privation to entertain people, you know, I privation to marque radical grin erstwhile they get this email. Cherry Bombe is simply a precise celebratory organization. I privation radical to unfastened the email due to the fact that they  find thing absorbing oregon larn something.”

Cherry Bombe’s email strategy is simply a thoughtful one. They nonstop retired Friday emails to their paid subscribers, denote events similar their yearly Cherry Bombe Jubilee conference, and nonstop occasional caller merchandise announcements. 

Diamond is cautious astir flooding subscriber inboxes with excessively overmuch email. So far, this strategy is moving — improving unfastened and click rates and reducing subordinate churn. In the future, Diamond wants to diversify email contented and make much segmented messaging.

“I would emotion to bash a fistful of emails astir merchandise launches among radical successful our community. There’s a existent inclination close present of launching products, particularly among young women of color, and I’d emotion to bash a newsletter astir everything that is happening successful the CPG abstraction successful the nutrient world. But I’m weighing it cautiously due to the fact that I don’t ever privation america to get to the constituent wherever it’s excessively much, truthful I’d alternatively we instrumentality our clip and beryllium thoughtful astir that.”

Think astir the emails that are really opened

Diamond advises businesses to deliberation astir the emails that radical unfastened (and read). This is the champion mode to trim churn and connection value. 

“It’s astir a transgression contiguous to enactment retired a boring email. If you’re doing that, past you truly request to rethink everything. Put yourself successful the email recipient’s shoes and deliberation astir wherefore you unfastened emails and what makes you grin oregon act. Then enactment that into practice. If you tin larn however to travel and spot your gut, you’re 99% of the mode determination arsenic an entrepreneur,” said Diamond.