Instant previews lead to increased email production for Comic Relief

Parcel has helped so much with instant previews and helping me learn code! - Emily Ingebretsen from Comic Relief

Emily Ingebretsen, Senior Manager of Digital Conversion and Performance, manages email creation and strategy at Comic Relief US, a nonprofit organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Email, as a channel, is key driver to the success of Comic Relief’s fundraising efforts. To date, their small, less-than-40-person team, has raised over $380 million.

As the manager of the email programs, Emily knows the importance of efficient email creation and testing.

Before discovering Parcel, Emily used Sublime Text along with the limited (and often inaccurate) preview capabilities of their CRM to manage email creation. She had to manually generate new previews every time she made a new change and continuously send herself tests just to stay on top of things.

With limited coding knowledge, Emily found the process found the process cumbersome and, as a result, sought alternatives.

Replacing Sublime Text

When beginning to create emails at Comic Relief, Emily leaned on Sublime Text. She would frequently swap files back and forth with hired freelancers as they attempted real-time collaboration inside the code.

What’s more? Sublime Text’s lack of live preview capabilities forced Emily to send herself 30-40 tests per email just to understand its rendering.

Parcel was a game-changer

Emily discovered Parcel through a newsletter and immediately decided to switch over. Instantly, Emily noticed a huge improvement in her workflow and email creation process—including better change management and faster approvals.

Parcel allowed her to keep a library of her email code—and with live preview capabilities built-in, Emily could use Parcel to spot the changes needed to make an email inbox-ready.

If she wanted to change the padding on a certain module, she’d leverage Inspect Mode to jump into the HTML and tinker with it easily. Seeing changes in real-time eliminated the need to send out tests to her own inbox to visualize the email in a recipient environment.

When we asked Emily what impact using Parcel has had on her and her organization, she responded with:

I've been able to send a lot more emails!

From a business standpoint, more emails equal more opportunities to raise funds for the children and families that Comic Relief supports. Emily's experience is a testament to the power of Parcel and how it can positively impact an organization's workflow and productivity.