Beefree blog

Why Beefree is the Preferred Email Editor for Businesses of All Sizes

Emily Santos
Emily Santos
Feb 14, 2024
Why Beefree is the Preferred Email Editor for Businesses of All Sizes
Why Beefree is the Preferred Email Editor for Businesses of All Sizes

In its unwavering mission to democratize content design, Beefree has consistently fostered a new era of creative freedom. In 2023 alone, a remarkable 180,403 new Beefree users, spanning freelancers, startups, SMBs, and large-scale enterprises, joined our community. Additionally, we supported the creation of a staggering 1,704,600+ emails and landing pages, showcasing Beefree's widespread adoption and impact.

As we look back on the accomplishments of Beefree, we celebrate how our users harnessed our email editor to optimize their email marketing efforts, leading to unprecedented success. This blog explores why and how Beefree stands out as the preferred email editor for businesses of all sizes, delving into the reasons behind its popularity and the tangible benefits it offers in the realm of digital communication.

How Beefree Users Transformed Objectives into Achievements

Due to Beefree's versatility and advanced features, our community is composed of a dynamic range of businesses. While these organizations are vastly different in size and workflows, they shared common objectives they need to meet for their email marketing efforts:

By integrating Beefree into their everyday email creation process, these businesses have propelled their email marketing efforts and thrived in an ever-evolving landscape. But don’t take our word for it - let’s dive into the data-driven insights and compelling testimonials that showcase the tangible results achieved within our vibrant Beefree community.

Under the influence of Beefree's versatile features, our community has evolved into a dynamic mix of businesses, ranging widely in size and workflows.

These organizations, despite their differences, share common objectives for their email marketing endeavors, including:

  • building trust, recognition, and standing out in a competitive space;
  • allocating their resources to help them do more with less time; 
  • streamlining team collaboration and efficiency.

By seamlessly integrating Beefree into their daily email creation processes, these businesses been able to effortlessly thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. Rather than taking our word for it, let's delve into the data-driven insights and compelling testimonials that vividly demonstrate the tangible results achieved within our vibrant Beefree community.

The following exploration encapsulates how Beefree users transformed their objectives into remarkable achievements, showcasing why Beefree has become the preferred email editor for businesses of all sizes.

Objective #1: Strengthen brand trust, recognition, and consistency

An increase in the importance of lasting first impressions and competition in the inbox has influenced marketers to prioritize standing out. For many, their first instinct is to experiment with design, layout, and elements in order to stand out. While we’re huge advocates for exploring creative solutions, many forget that while experimenting, staying on brand and being easily recognizable is king.

Crafting engaging and personalized content while staying on brand requires a balance of design flexibility and design systems to capture attention without compromising the established brand identity. 

For many of our users, maintaining this balance is a breeze. Beefree offers tools, options, and features to ensure brand consistency across all designs. Similarly, our platform allows for unbound design flexibility to encourage users to explore new and innovative engagement strategies. 

In a recent survey, 85% of our users stated to have improved the creation of on-brand assets by at least 50%, here's how:

1. Easy-to-build design systems 

Users leverage the platform's robust features to create email design systems that ensure their messages consistently reflect the company's identity, regardless of who designs them. 

Within just a few minutes, Beefree users can effortlessly incorporate brand elements such as logos, color palettes, icons, social links, fonts, and more into their Workspace’s Style Settings to make the creation of new and on-brand emails and pages a breeze, ultimately contributing to a stronger brand presence and increased engagement.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/8918QDXZ

Saved and Synced rows, specifically, are a powerhouse when it comes to email design systems. Saved rows are content blocks created once and then saved for reuse in all of your designs.

Synced rows take this one step further and allow you to “sync” a specific row so any changes you make in one place auto-populate in all other designs where that row lives.  

2. A builder with no limits  

Because our users feel secure that all their designs are on-brand, they're able to experiment with their engaging elements more often.

While email builders in many CRMs and ESPs are limiting and force you into one design philosophy, Beefree's no-code, drag-and-drop, and flexibility empowers users to create truly unique designs. This freedom ensures that email recipients are always deligted with interactive elements or multimedia campaigns.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/7148PTKQ


3. WYSWYG: What you see is what you get

Sometimes, sending emails can feel like the wild wild west, particularly when uncertainties arise regarding how your emails will render across various devices and email clients. This is especially true when it comes to experimenting with new designs and striving to maintain brand consistency. 

Beefree helps mitigate these concerns with responsive design capabilities that bring users peace of mind by offering the ability to ensure that their emails adapt seamlessly to diverse screen sizes and resolutions. Our email and page builder provides an interface that permits users to design emails and pages directly for “desktop” and “mobile versions” to create unique experiences specific to each device. 

Mobile Design Mode allows you to change the font size, alignment, padding, and the ability to display elements specifically for mobile devices for successful and worry-free email campaigns.
 

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/2607BAIW

4. Extending their reach beyond email marketing 

For our Beefree-proficient users, boosting trust and staying ahead of the competition spans beyond email marketing. When looking for ways to maximize the impact of their content across multiple touchpoints, Beefree becomes a valuable asset to increase their outreach, engage a wider audience, and maintain a unified and recognizable brand presence. 

Within the Beefree builder, users effortlessly repurpose their visually compelling email content for various digital channels, such as social media, websites, and landing pages. 

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/9094AVIH


Objective #2: Elevating campaign performance to new levels 

At the core of our philosophy is the belief that exceptional design comes with high-performance results, a principle our users have experienced firsthand. We've designed solutions that empower our users to dedicate more time towards refining their email campaign designs, exploring innovative design strategies, and fortifying their brand image. As a result, they have been able to elevate their campaign performance to previously unprecedented levels within a short timeframe.

Beefree users have witnessed a notable surge in both CTR and ROI, attributable to visually captivating and responsive campaigns that connect with the intended audience.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/app/testimonials/6040

1. Maximizing Click-Through-Rate 

While Beefree makes no guarantees of increased Click-Through-Rate (CTR), many users do see a positive impact in this metric after integrating our tool into their everyday email creation workflows. In fact, Beefree users have seen an average increase of 24.96% increase in Click-Through-Rates since using our builder. 

source: https://app.userevidence.com/app/content_assets/13942

Although CTR is influenced by various factors, including content relevance and send timing, the primary driver is often the design itself. The platform's user-friendly interface allows for the seamless incorporation of interactive elements, such as surveys, polls, compelling GIFs, videos, and clear and bold calls to action. 

As a result of on-brand communications and highly interactive design, users notice an increase in user engagement and conversions through improved click-through rates.

Additionally, Beefree users strategically optimize their CTR through A/B testing, effortlessly creating and exporting different versions of an email to identify the most effective combinations and further enhance campaign performance.

2. Increasing return on investment 

73% of Beefree users have seen a swift ROI within just three months of adoption. This financial metric highlights not only our builders' ability to deliver significant and quantifiable outcomes for email marketing but also its contributions to overall business growth and success. 

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/3968JQAM

Objective #3: Doing more with less time

In a fast-paced environment such as email marketing, saving time and optimizing resources is crucial for maintaining agility, reducing costs, and increasing overall productivity. 

Beefree users have embraced our tool to improve their efficiency while remaining nimble in adapting to evolving industry trends, ensuring sustained success in the dynamic realm of email marketing. In fact, 82% of Beefree users say our tool has allowed them to create emails and landing pages much faster. One of our users shares: 

"Within 1 hour creating a full compatible newsletter, ready to be send. Reduce my developing time with 50% and compared to other e-mail marketing tool 100% better. More flexible, more options and always pixel perfect.''

Here are some of the Beefree capabilities that have allowed users to save an average of almost 13 hours per month on designing.  

1. Easy integration to popular sending platforms 

Although Beefree is agnostic in nature, our users benefit from the ability to seamlessly export emails to their favorite sending platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce, and more. In 2023 66,487 emails were sent using the “export to sending platform” feature, allowing a smooth transition from design to deployment.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/6475ZMRI

2. AI Assistant that makes writing engaging copy seamless

For many users, Beefree enhances the creative process with its AI Assistant, an invaluable companion that expedites the creation of compelling copy. Whether starting from scratch, revising existing copy, optimizing for SEO, or translating copy for multiple languages - our AI Assistant aids users in bringing their creative visions to life effortlessly.

3. 1,600+ email and page templates for every occasion

Our extensive collection of 1,600+ email and page templates provides users with a strong starting point for their email and landing page campaign creation. All Beefree templates are designed for conversion and offer diverse options to meet various industries, styles, and purposes.

By reducing the need to start from scratch, users can accelerate their design process and focus more on fine-tuning and customizing their campaigns rather than investing extensive hours in initial design research and creation. 

262,697 emails and pages were created using our templates in 2023, allowing hundreds of users to craft visually stunning and impactful email campaigns with unparalleled ease and efficiency, regardless of their design expertise or experience level.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/9921CTHL

Objective #4: Streamlining team communication and collaboration 

As organizations navigated challenges and pursued their objectives of optimizing their email marketing efforts, Beefree played a pivotal role in strengthening team communication and collaboration to ensure everyone was aligned. 

Beefree offers a suite of features that cater to the unique needs of teams of varying sizes and multiple email design projects. From facilitating review processes to organizing workspaces and managing user roles and permissions, Beefree optimizes collaboration, particularly with the commonality of remote work and the need for global connectivity.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/6721XILT

While we offer a myriad of options for collaboration, here are some of our standout features: 

1. Design Import Link 

The Design Import Link feature in Beefree proves to be a game-changer for collaborative efforts, making it easy for organizations to share designs across teams, external agencies, or clients.

This feature eliminates the need for cumbersome file transfers and offers a swift and secure method for sharing designs. Moreover, the design import link ensures efficient organization management, making transitions, such as account changes and Beefree onboarding, smoother and more effective.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/5164YHSO

2. Review for Approval

For Enterprise plans, our Review for Approval flow eliminates the need for users to juggle multiple tools for design and approval, saving users valuable time. Additionally, this streamlined and efficient process contributes to the delivery of high-quality, compliant, and on-brand final emails and pages. 

When paired with the ability to leave design-specific comments and collaborate on designs simultaneously, Beefree truly becomes a seamless all-in-one solution for finding inspiration, designing, collaborating, and beyond.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/5967OUSE

3. Workspaces 

As our users’ teams grow, so do their needs for better organization and management of assets.

Workspaces allow growing teams to create dedicated areas where different departments can work simultaneously on projects that support their unique initiatives. Each workspace has its own centralized location to store and share newsletters and pages and ensures that creating on-brand designs is effortless. 

Additionally, you can copy your pre-defined Style-settings into a new workspace, along with any folder, projects, or templates essential to email creation.

Whether managing client-specific designs or organizing campaigns by department, Workspaces ensures users can efficiently collaborate and navigate their projects, fostering a more productive workflow within Beefree.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/assets/2487SAUG

3. User Roles & Permissions 

User roles and permissions are a great way to ensure that all team members are aligned. User roles and permissions are unique to each Workspace allowing cross-departmental collaboration to still happen, but within the confines of that Workspace permissions.

source: https://app.userevidence.com/app/testimonials/31302

Unleash Your Email Marketing Potential: Beefree Academy

Recognizing the diverse needs of our users, we've established the Beefree Academy as a comprehensive resource to bridge the gap between potential and proficiency. This centralized learning hub is more than just a collection of tutorials; it's a tailored educational experience crafted to empower businesses of all sizes.

Whether you're a startup, an SMB, or a large-scale enterprise, the Beefree Academy provides the tools and knowledge needed to maximize your email marketing efforts, ensuring that our email editor becomes an invaluable asset in achieving your business objectives.

Lastly, what has stood out the most for users is Beefree’s ability to meet them where they’re at. Our “upgrade as you grow” pricing stands as a testament to our commitment to accessibility and scalability, and the success stories we share today support its effectiveness.

If you think Beefree might a right fit for you, consider this your formal invitation to join our growing community of 322,232 freelancers, SMBs, and enterprise users. The best part? It's completely free. Happy Designing! 

Related posts

10+ Years of Evolution in The Email Industry

Justine Jordan, Head of Strategy and Community at Beefree shares how she has seen the email industry evolve over the last 10+ years and her hopes for the future.
Justine Jordan
Nov 19, 2024

Hi! In case we haven’t met before, I’m Justine Jordan, the Head of Strategy and Community here at Beefree. Over the past 16 years, I’ve worn many hats: designer, developer, marketer, community builder, and even the occasional cat GIF curator. I’ve been fortunate to build a career based on deep expertise in all things inbox, where I’ve seen firsthand the incredible potential of using email to connect people and businesses.

Way back in 2007, I fell into the email industry almost by accident. Fresh out of college, I started my career as a designer focused on creating print and brand assets. Frustrated by what felt like a lack of impact and respect in my design role, I wanted to be seen as someone who could help drive business success. Unlike brochures, email design offered instant feedback—opens, clicks, and conversions could tell a story.

I was hooked. And as the industry grew, so did my appreciation for email's ability to forge direct connections with people, right in their inboxes.

And yet, we all know that 16 years in any field (especially email!) is a long time. Email today is vastly different from the scrappy marketing channel I stumbled upon in 2007—even though its core mission remains the same: building meaningful, personal connections that drive business results. So, let’s dive into the fascinating, often underappreciated evolution of email and explore why it remains as relevant and impactful as ever.

A decade of opportunities and challenges

Personalization and the journey to hyper-relevance

When I started, email was largely one-size-fits-all. Campaigns were often “spray and pray” or involved very simple or binary yes/no personalization. 

Today, personalization has evolved beyond first names in subject lines to sophisticated, data-driven approaches. Marketing teams can now leverage insights from browsing behavior, purchase history, and even real-time data, adapting dynamically to each recipient’s preferences and past interactions. This technology is still advancing rapidly—it’s hard to believe that it was barely possible two decades ago. 

Rendering issues

In the past, we’d spend hours making sure emails looked as good in Outlook as they did in Gmail—and, going further back, in Lotus Notes! The visual building tools in most ESPs were buggy and produced bloated HTML that was ready for the web, but didn’t meet the unique constraints of email.

Fast forward to today, and while rendering challenges haven’t disappeared entirely, they’re far less consuming. Gmail's support for embedded CSS was a game changer, signaling an era where our designs could focus more on creativity and less on workarounds.

Rendering tools made this process easier, and drag-and-drop editors like Beefree produce clean, email-friendly HTML. What once required hours of coding and testing now takes minutes, freeing email marketers to focus on crafting their messages instead of debugging their code​​. 

Mobile-first and responsive design

Mobile-optimized email design used to be a “nice to have,” but today, it's essential. 

Brands must deliver a seamless experience across a wide range of devices and subscriber preferences​. This shift required us to think beyond just fitting content on smaller screens; it required a rethinking of layout, typography, and hierarchy. Today, it's about more than just looking good on mobile—it's about providing immediate, relevant, and accessible information.

Interactive and accessible emails

Today’s email campaigns go beyond static images and blocks of text. Interactivity, whether through embedded videos, polls, or even checkout functionality within the email, is changing the game. We’re offering richer experiences that invite users to engage directly within their inboxes​. 

At the same time, accessibility has become a critical consideration. Making sure that everyone can receive and understand your message, regardless of any disabilities or assistive devices they may be using isn’t just good practice, it's an industry standard.

Privacy, authentication, and the role of trust

Over the past decade, privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA along with authentication requirements from major receivers like Gmail and Yahoo have reshaped how people view the inbox and their relationship with brands that send email. 

While the introduction of these new regulations initially posed considerable questions, confusion, and challenges, they also served as a valuable reminder that great marketing starts with trust, transparency, and consent. This shift encouraged brands to communicate with audiences in a more transparent, respectful way, reinforcing the idea that consumers own their data.

Email’s place in the C-Suite

Email marketing has always had champions, though convincing executives of its strategic value hasn’t always been easy. Over time, email advocates—often the Email Geeks among us—have successfully positioned email not as a tool for increased revenue but as a trusted channel for delivering essential information and building long-term relationships​. Today, email is often recognized as a valuable asset in C-suite conversations about customer experience, retention, and ROI.

The power of community

The email industry has grown from a niche group into a thriving community that shares, supports, and learns from one another. I’ve had the privilege of being part of a community that openly shares best practices and fosters innovation. 

Events like Unspam, Email Camp, and Litmus Live highlight just how much email professionals have pushed boundaries over the past decade​. This spirit of collaboration keeps the industry strong and forward-looking.

My #1 Lesson: Put People First

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s this: email should serve the audience, not just the business. 

Reaching people in their inbox is a privilege, not a right. Too many brands treat email like an ATM, pumping out sales and promotions without considering the impact on loyalty, retention, or the user experience. Yet the companies that treated their emails as conversations rather than megaphones? They’re the ones that thrived.

Email is unique because it arrives in a personal space (the inbox) where people are expecting personal messages and relevance. It’s an honor to land in someone’s inbox, so the content should meet that privilege with empathy and value. 

Some of my favorite brands—like Going—understand this: they craft emails that feel like they are speaking directly to me—thoughtful, helpful, and human​​. That’s the level of care that builds trust and loyalty. 

Advice for the future: Embrace empathy and experiment

Reflecting on the past decade in email marketing feels like watching an old friend evolve. I've seen firsthand how a channel that is frequently sidelined and declared “dead” has become a pivotal player helping businesses grow and connect with their audience. 

With each email renaissance comes new trends, innovations, preferences, and technology. 

Every few years, email redefines its role in our lives as marketers, business leaders, and as humans. Email's journey has been one of resilience, adapting to new trends, regulations, and consumer expectations while remaining at the heart of customer engagement. 

For anyone starting off in email, my biggest advice is always keep your audience at the heart of your campaigns. Email marketing is both art and science, and finding that balance is what makes this industry so rewarding. 

Don’t be afraid to test your ideas—measure, refine, and get creative with how you deliver value. But always remember, the inbox is personal territory. If you respect that space, you’ll have a powerful, lasting connection with your audience.

I’d also suggest building a solid understanding of the complexity behind email—learn the basics of deliverability, the role of email in multi-channel lifecycle and marketing campaigns, connecting data and APIs, multivariate testing, and stay current with the latest tools and platforms. 

With AI, privacy regulations, and rising consumer expectations, we’re bound to see even more shifts in how we approach email. Knowing how these elements work under the hood will only make you a more effective, innovative marketer. 

But one thing remains: the need to make email human-centric. This will mean staying adaptable and continuing to create value-driven content that aligns with the subscriber's needs. Far from dead, the real magic of email is the central role it plays in our lives—and it’s not going anywhere. Here’s to another decade of email evolution 🙌

Excelling in Email Design With The Beefree Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that speed up email design. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further.
Beefree team
Nov 12, 2024

As we continue to celebrate Beefree’s 10-year journey of innovation and creativity, we’re thrilled to mark this milestone with the launch of The Beefree Academy.

Beefree Academy
Visit the Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that make email design faster, smarter, and more impactful. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further by helping users build their expertise in email design and creation.

The inspiration behind the Beefree Academy 

When we envisioned Beefree Academy, we knew it had to be more than a series of product tutorials; it needed to be a resource that you could benefit from at every stage of your journey. 

The Beefree Academy is designed to inspire confidence, foster success, and provide ongoing support as you grow, enabling you and your team to get the most out of our platform – here’s how: 

Smooth and speedy onboarding:

Starting with a new platform can often be overwhelming and the time spent during onboarding is valuable. The Academy fast-tracks the learning process, offering structured, bite-sized lessons suitable for people of varying skill sets, from beginners to seasoned designers. Each lesson is designed to help you get comfortable with Beefree’s tools, so you can dive into projects quickly and with ease.

Explore new possibilities: 

Many users only scratch the surface of Beefree’s capabilities—we aim to change that. The Beefree Academy allows you to familiarize yourself with advanced features you might have been wary of before.

As you and your team grow from casual users to power users, you can gain more control over your email design, find new ways to optimize your workflows, and strengthen the impact of your campaigns. 

Troubleshoot like a pro:

Technical support is most effective when you have tried-and-true resources to solve challenges independently and on your own schedule. With Beefree Academy, you and your team can confidently troubleshoot independently by accessing targeted, step-by-step solutions whenever you need them. 

Advance your email marketing expertise: 

Beyond learning the platform, the Beefree Academy provides a comprehensive learning experience with valuable tips and best practices for email design and marketing. Soon, our lessons will extend far beyond the basics, guiding you through the process of creating visually compelling, high-converting email layouts while ensuring your designs follow proven best practices. 

You and your team will gain insights into crafting effective email marketing strategies that resonate with your audience, along with the skills to harness the power of AI in your campaigns. Additionally, we’ll explore the latest trends shaping the future of email design, empowering you to stay ahead of the curve and continually enhance your campaigns

What’s inside The Beefree Academy: 

Beefree Academy is thoughtfully designed to cater to users at all levels—from beginners just starting their email design journey to experienced designers looking to formalize their expertise in email design.

Courses:

The courses in Beefree Academy help users deepen their knowledge and understanding of the key tools and features within Beefree. As you complete courses, you’ll have the chance to demonstrate your skills through assessments and earn certifications that showcase your proficiency within the platform. To kick things off we have launched two courses: 

1. Beefree 101: If you’re new to Beefree this course is the ideal starting point. We’ll walk you through the basic functions and features through step-by-step guides. Certified team members can then train colleagues, creating a ripple effect of improved productivity and design standards throughout the organization.

Beefree 101 academy course and certification
Take the course

2. HubSpot x Beefree: This course is perfect for HubSpot users looking to supercharge and streamline their email marketing with Beefree. Through this course and certification, you and your team can learn how to design personalized, mobile-optimized, and engaging campaigns in Beefree for HubSpot. 

For organizations, having team members become Beefree certified can standardize email design processes across the company ensuring that all campaigns are consistent in quality and adherence to email design best practices. 

HubSpot and Beefree academy course and certification
Take the course

Tutorials and walkthroughs: 

Our comprehensive tutorials and walkthroughs are designed to help zero in on a particular aspect of Beefree and email design. These step-by-step guides are perfect for users who prefer a hands-on approach to learning. 

By providing these instructional resources, we aim to eliminate confusion or uncertainty, allowing you and your team to realize value from the start and adopt Beefree with confidence.

Beefree academy tutorials
View all tutorials

Enroll now – it’s free! 

The Beefree Academy certification is designed to fit seamlessly into the busy lives of busy professionals, allowing you to learn at your own pace and enhance your skills on a schedule that works for you. Whether you’re aiming to elevate your current expertise or start a new journey in email design, Beefree Academy offers flexible, high-value learning that you can access anytime, anywhere – completely free.

Ready to take your email design skills to the next level? Enroll in the Beefree Academy today and start building the expertise that will set you apart! 

The reality of Gen AI

From streamlining workflows to enhancing creativity, AI offers intriguing opportunities for businesses and individuals alike. Learn how Beefree's Senior Content Marketing Specialist is navigating the world of GenAI and making it their superpower for all things content creation.
Emily Santos
Nov 7, 2024

Through my years in the tech industry, there have been few innovations that have generated as much excitement – and anxiety – as generative AI (GenAI). While AI has changed how I work and create for the better, I will admit that it also came with a period of fear and pushback. I have seen the way new technologies come and go and are quickly forgotten. And, the headlines painting GenAI as a “job-stealing superpower poised to replace us all” did not make me feel any better. 

The turning point for me came on a random weekday when I turned to my now good pal, ChatGPT, to help me write a brief for a blog. It took some back-and-forth, but the final result turned out to be something I was really proud of. Since then, the integration of GenAI into my workflows has been slow, but intentional. 

While I do still believe there are legitimate concerns to have about AI, and not all anxiety is unfounded, some of it is based on fear-mongering. I don’t necessarily believe that we should lean into the dystopian “AI takeover” tropes. While captivating, these arguments often overlook the ways that GenAI can help us to be more imaginative, free us up to do more, and spark creative problem-solving. 

I don’t plan to convince you to use AI (not today at least), but I do hope that you leave today with some insight on the possibilities of AI.

Addressing your concerns: When is fear warranted?

I haven’t been beating around the bush yet and I won’t start now. There’s no denying that GenAI has the potential to reshape certain jobs and industries. The World Economic Forum (WEF) in their “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” identifies administrative, clerical, and even content-related roles at higher risk due to their structured and repetitive nature. 

AI excels in pattern recognition, data processing, and performing repetitive tasks, which means that roles where predictability is high, creative input is low, and that have clear instructions can be programmed into an AI system and automated. 

While there’s a plethora of other resources on the “negative” impact of AI on the workforce – I want to challenge us to look a bit beyond. What happens when aspects of our jobs are automated or AI-supported? What does that allow us to do more of? What are the limits of AI?  

The reality: AI has nothing on you

Luckily for us, AI struggles to have an intuitive understanding of nuance. The magic of AI lies in what we do with the information it provides us and AI can’t replicate that.  Our superpower lies in our ability to be creative, our ability to feel, and our very unique human experience.

For example, the brief for this article you are reading was written with help from ChatGPT, and the research to put this together was gathered from Perplexity (verified by me afterward, of course). While these tools were quick to pull facts and suggest ideas, they lack the human experience and emotional intelligence to tell a story about why AI may be scary for folks like you and me—regardless of how much prompting.  

As a content creator, I refuse to see GenAI as a replacement for what I do. Rather, I know that my human experience, when paired with AI’s limitless knowledge, can propel my skills to new heights. 

How folks are using GenAI in their everyday 

The reality (I guess, really, in my opinion) is that GenAI works best when used to complement our expertise. Yeah, it can crunch numbers and even make solid recommendations, but it can’t adapt, empathize, or make strategic decisions when the stakes are high like we can. In these roles, AI may help carry the load, but it’s not steering the ship. 

Here’s how the Beefree team is using AI: 

Marketing Program Manager 

"Sometimes I default to being too straight and to the point when giving feedback on a project, or similar things, so I ask AI for help revising my feedback to be more clear and less “blunt.”

Afterwards, I ask it to explain the types of changes it has made so I can learn and internalize the lessons moving forward to improve on delivering feedback.

AI helps me to be more intentional and empathetic in my communication. I don’t just use it to revise, but also to help teach and aid me in growing as a professional."

- Samantha Hoffmann, Marketing Program Manager

CEO 

"What I use the most these days is AI-assisted search. I very rarely use Google search anymore. My go-to is Perplexity Pro, which I use as an assistant when I need to research topics, figure out best practices to follow in certain situations, and overall try to become better at my job."

- Masssimo Arrigoni, CEO

Corporate Communication Specialist 

"I frequently use AI to check my English. For example, I write copy and ask it to verify the accuracy. It often suggests changes, and after some back-and-forth, I work toward creating a polished and more captivating version."

- Elisa Battigelli, Corporate Communication Specialist

Head of Product 

"One way I use AI is for brainstorming. I provide as much context as possible—notes, references, and ideas—to help build a detailed outline for a topic. From there, I request multiple iterations, sometimes adding additional context, asking the AI to be wild and creative with it, or challenging the initial output.

This approach doesn’t give me a finished text I can use directly, but it generates a rich set of ideas and points that I can further research."

- Guille Padilla, Head of Product 

Backend Engineering Associate Manager

"I use AI for my searches and questions on almost every topic, including the more technical around software development."

- Roberto Pomoni, Backend Engineering Associate Manager

Senior Full Stack Developer 

"Aside from brainstorming and summarizing long reads, I use AI on a more technical side to write boilerplate/repetitive code (that always needs to be checked) and manage the time allotment for my working tasks through MotionAi."

- Lica Filice, Senior Full Stack Developer 

Head of People & Culture

"I use AI to help me transform my messy notes more comprehensively to make them easy to share. It also helps me summarize long readings, optimize written communication, get drafts for policy/docs, and get benchmarks and comparisons." 

- Enrica Lipari, Head of People & Culture

What now? Staying relevant and evolving with GenAI

As I said earlier, I’m not here to convince you that AI is right for you, but I will say AI isn’t going anywhere. Instead, it will continue to expand into more areas of work and industries, and its capabilities will only become stronger with time. 

My plan is to lean into this. Dedicate myself to learning and evolving with it. And double down on my expertise. AI makes my job much easier by doing things like helping me write briefs and retrieve data. By letting AI take on my repetitive taks, I gain something even more valuable: time. 

For myself and so many others, this extra time allows us to step away from mundane everyday tasks and spend more time thinking strategically and creatively about the impactful decisions that make a real difference in our work. 

Leaning into AI wasn’t a decision made to stay “relevant” or “head of the curve.” It was about amplifying what makes me and my contributions invaluable. So I ask you: What do you want to do more of? What can you let go of to do this? 

10+ Years of Evolution in The Email Industry

Justine Jordan, Head of Strategy and Community at Beefree shares how she has seen the email industry evolve over the last 10+ years and her hopes for the future.
Justine Jordan
Justine Jordan
19 Nov
2024

Hi! In case we haven’t met before, I’m Justine Jordan, the Head of Strategy and Community here at Beefree. Over the past 16 years, I’ve worn many hats: designer, developer, marketer, community builder, and even the occasional cat GIF curator. I’ve been fortunate to build a career based on deep expertise in all things inbox, where I’ve seen firsthand the incredible potential of using email to connect people and businesses.

Way back in 2007, I fell into the email industry almost by accident. Fresh out of college, I started my career as a designer focused on creating print and brand assets. Frustrated by what felt like a lack of impact and respect in my design role, I wanted to be seen as someone who could help drive business success. Unlike brochures, email design offered instant feedback—opens, clicks, and conversions could tell a story.

I was hooked. And as the industry grew, so did my appreciation for email's ability to forge direct connections with people, right in their inboxes.

And yet, we all know that 16 years in any field (especially email!) is a long time. Email today is vastly different from the scrappy marketing channel I stumbled upon in 2007—even though its core mission remains the same: building meaningful, personal connections that drive business results. So, let’s dive into the fascinating, often underappreciated evolution of email and explore why it remains as relevant and impactful as ever.

A decade of opportunities and challenges

Personalization and the journey to hyper-relevance

When I started, email was largely one-size-fits-all. Campaigns were often “spray and pray” or involved very simple or binary yes/no personalization. 

Today, personalization has evolved beyond first names in subject lines to sophisticated, data-driven approaches. Marketing teams can now leverage insights from browsing behavior, purchase history, and even real-time data, adapting dynamically to each recipient’s preferences and past interactions. This technology is still advancing rapidly—it’s hard to believe that it was barely possible two decades ago. 

Rendering issues

In the past, we’d spend hours making sure emails looked as good in Outlook as they did in Gmail—and, going further back, in Lotus Notes! The visual building tools in most ESPs were buggy and produced bloated HTML that was ready for the web, but didn’t meet the unique constraints of email.

Fast forward to today, and while rendering challenges haven’t disappeared entirely, they’re far less consuming. Gmail's support for embedded CSS was a game changer, signaling an era where our designs could focus more on creativity and less on workarounds.

Rendering tools made this process easier, and drag-and-drop editors like Beefree produce clean, email-friendly HTML. What once required hours of coding and testing now takes minutes, freeing email marketers to focus on crafting their messages instead of debugging their code​​. 

Mobile-first and responsive design

Mobile-optimized email design used to be a “nice to have,” but today, it's essential. 

Brands must deliver a seamless experience across a wide range of devices and subscriber preferences​. This shift required us to think beyond just fitting content on smaller screens; it required a rethinking of layout, typography, and hierarchy. Today, it's about more than just looking good on mobile—it's about providing immediate, relevant, and accessible information.

Interactive and accessible emails

Today’s email campaigns go beyond static images and blocks of text. Interactivity, whether through embedded videos, polls, or even checkout functionality within the email, is changing the game. We’re offering richer experiences that invite users to engage directly within their inboxes​. 

At the same time, accessibility has become a critical consideration. Making sure that everyone can receive and understand your message, regardless of any disabilities or assistive devices they may be using isn’t just good practice, it's an industry standard.

Privacy, authentication, and the role of trust

Over the past decade, privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA along with authentication requirements from major receivers like Gmail and Yahoo have reshaped how people view the inbox and their relationship with brands that send email. 

While the introduction of these new regulations initially posed considerable questions, confusion, and challenges, they also served as a valuable reminder that great marketing starts with trust, transparency, and consent. This shift encouraged brands to communicate with audiences in a more transparent, respectful way, reinforcing the idea that consumers own their data.

Email’s place in the C-Suite

Email marketing has always had champions, though convincing executives of its strategic value hasn’t always been easy. Over time, email advocates—often the Email Geeks among us—have successfully positioned email not as a tool for increased revenue but as a trusted channel for delivering essential information and building long-term relationships​. Today, email is often recognized as a valuable asset in C-suite conversations about customer experience, retention, and ROI.

The power of community

The email industry has grown from a niche group into a thriving community that shares, supports, and learns from one another. I’ve had the privilege of being part of a community that openly shares best practices and fosters innovation. 

Events like Unspam, Email Camp, and Litmus Live highlight just how much email professionals have pushed boundaries over the past decade​. This spirit of collaboration keeps the industry strong and forward-looking.

My #1 Lesson: Put People First

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s this: email should serve the audience, not just the business. 

Reaching people in their inbox is a privilege, not a right. Too many brands treat email like an ATM, pumping out sales and promotions without considering the impact on loyalty, retention, or the user experience. Yet the companies that treated their emails as conversations rather than megaphones? They’re the ones that thrived.

Email is unique because it arrives in a personal space (the inbox) where people are expecting personal messages and relevance. It’s an honor to land in someone’s inbox, so the content should meet that privilege with empathy and value. 

Some of my favorite brands—like Going—understand this: they craft emails that feel like they are speaking directly to me—thoughtful, helpful, and human​​. That’s the level of care that builds trust and loyalty. 

Advice for the future: Embrace empathy and experiment

Reflecting on the past decade in email marketing feels like watching an old friend evolve. I've seen firsthand how a channel that is frequently sidelined and declared “dead” has become a pivotal player helping businesses grow and connect with their audience. 

With each email renaissance comes new trends, innovations, preferences, and technology. 

Every few years, email redefines its role in our lives as marketers, business leaders, and as humans. Email's journey has been one of resilience, adapting to new trends, regulations, and consumer expectations while remaining at the heart of customer engagement. 

For anyone starting off in email, my biggest advice is always keep your audience at the heart of your campaigns. Email marketing is both art and science, and finding that balance is what makes this industry so rewarding. 

Don’t be afraid to test your ideas—measure, refine, and get creative with how you deliver value. But always remember, the inbox is personal territory. If you respect that space, you’ll have a powerful, lasting connection with your audience.

I’d also suggest building a solid understanding of the complexity behind email—learn the basics of deliverability, the role of email in multi-channel lifecycle and marketing campaigns, connecting data and APIs, multivariate testing, and stay current with the latest tools and platforms. 

With AI, privacy regulations, and rising consumer expectations, we’re bound to see even more shifts in how we approach email. Knowing how these elements work under the hood will only make you a more effective, innovative marketer. 

But one thing remains: the need to make email human-centric. This will mean staying adaptable and continuing to create value-driven content that aligns with the subscriber's needs. Far from dead, the real magic of email is the central role it plays in our lives—and it’s not going anywhere. Here’s to another decade of email evolution 🙌

Excelling in Email Design With The Beefree Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that speed up email design. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further.
Beefree team
Beefree team
12 Nov
2024

As we continue to celebrate Beefree’s 10-year journey of innovation and creativity, we’re thrilled to mark this milestone with the launch of The Beefree Academy.

Beefree Academy
Visit the Academy

Over the past decade, Beefree has been dedicated to empowering users with intuitive tools that make email design faster, smarter, and more impactful. Now, with the launch of our Academy and certification program, we’re taking our mission one step further by helping users build their expertise in email design and creation.

The inspiration behind the Beefree Academy 

When we envisioned Beefree Academy, we knew it had to be more than a series of product tutorials; it needed to be a resource that you could benefit from at every stage of your journey. 

The Beefree Academy is designed to inspire confidence, foster success, and provide ongoing support as you grow, enabling you and your team to get the most out of our platform – here’s how: 

Smooth and speedy onboarding:

Starting with a new platform can often be overwhelming and the time spent during onboarding is valuable. The Academy fast-tracks the learning process, offering structured, bite-sized lessons suitable for people of varying skill sets, from beginners to seasoned designers. Each lesson is designed to help you get comfortable with Beefree’s tools, so you can dive into projects quickly and with ease.

Explore new possibilities: 

Many users only scratch the surface of Beefree’s capabilities—we aim to change that. The Beefree Academy allows you to familiarize yourself with advanced features you might have been wary of before.

As you and your team grow from casual users to power users, you can gain more control over your email design, find new ways to optimize your workflows, and strengthen the impact of your campaigns. 

Troubleshoot like a pro:

Technical support is most effective when you have tried-and-true resources to solve challenges independently and on your own schedule. With Beefree Academy, you and your team can confidently troubleshoot independently by accessing targeted, step-by-step solutions whenever you need them. 

Advance your email marketing expertise: 

Beyond learning the platform, the Beefree Academy provides a comprehensive learning experience with valuable tips and best practices for email design and marketing. Soon, our lessons will extend far beyond the basics, guiding you through the process of creating visually compelling, high-converting email layouts while ensuring your designs follow proven best practices. 

You and your team will gain insights into crafting effective email marketing strategies that resonate with your audience, along with the skills to harness the power of AI in your campaigns. Additionally, we’ll explore the latest trends shaping the future of email design, empowering you to stay ahead of the curve and continually enhance your campaigns

What’s inside The Beefree Academy: 

Beefree Academy is thoughtfully designed to cater to users at all levels—from beginners just starting their email design journey to experienced designers looking to formalize their expertise in email design.

Courses:

The courses in Beefree Academy help users deepen their knowledge and understanding of the key tools and features within Beefree. As you complete courses, you’ll have the chance to demonstrate your skills through assessments and earn certifications that showcase your proficiency within the platform. To kick things off we have launched two courses: 

1. Beefree 101: If you’re new to Beefree this course is the ideal starting point. We’ll walk you through the basic functions and features through step-by-step guides. Certified team members can then train colleagues, creating a ripple effect of improved productivity and design standards throughout the organization.

Beefree 101 academy course and certification
Take the course

2. HubSpot x Beefree: This course is perfect for HubSpot users looking to supercharge and streamline their email marketing with Beefree. Through this course and certification, you and your team can learn how to design personalized, mobile-optimized, and engaging campaigns in Beefree for HubSpot. 

For organizations, having team members become Beefree certified can standardize email design processes across the company ensuring that all campaigns are consistent in quality and adherence to email design best practices. 

HubSpot and Beefree academy course and certification
Take the course

Tutorials and walkthroughs: 

Our comprehensive tutorials and walkthroughs are designed to help zero in on a particular aspect of Beefree and email design. These step-by-step guides are perfect for users who prefer a hands-on approach to learning. 

By providing these instructional resources, we aim to eliminate confusion or uncertainty, allowing you and your team to realize value from the start and adopt Beefree with confidence.

Beefree academy tutorials
View all tutorials

Enroll now – it’s free! 

The Beefree Academy certification is designed to fit seamlessly into the busy lives of busy professionals, allowing you to learn at your own pace and enhance your skills on a schedule that works for you. Whether you’re aiming to elevate your current expertise or start a new journey in email design, Beefree Academy offers flexible, high-value learning that you can access anytime, anywhere – completely free.

Ready to take your email design skills to the next level? Enroll in the Beefree Academy today and start building the expertise that will set you apart! 

Stay informed on all email trends

From the latest creative design strategies that inspire your next campaign to industry best practices and tech advancements, our newsletter is the go-to for all things creation.

By clicking Subscribe you're agreeing with our Privacy Policy