Microsoft Newsletters
One newsletter was trying to do everything. So I turned it into three.
A one-month design contract on Microsoft's CGE team turned into a Marketing Manager role - and a system that let the whole team plan, build, test, and localize three monthly newsletters at global scale.
Team
Microsoft: Customer Growth Engine
Role
Email Designer → Marketing Manager
What I do
Strategy, process, A/B testing, Figma, AEM
Outcome
25-30% average lift in product usage
What I noticed
The team didn't need more hands. They needed better tools.
The marketing managers could build their own emails - they just needed the system. And the flagship newsletter was one monthly send carrying every team's goals. When everything is a priority, nothing leads.
I trained the team on Microsoft's Figma components and AEM, built templates and approval systems - and when a Marketing Manager role opened up, I took it.
Before
1 newsletter
Monthly, huge audience, every line of business competing for space.
After
AI
Copilot usage, on its own and inside Microsoft products.
After
M365
Usage across Excel, Word, Outlook, and the suite.
After
M+
The whole Microsoft umbrella, plus device sales.
The system
A monthly rhythm the whole team could run.
01 · Yearly
Plan the year
Monthly themes and starter ideas.
02
Collect requests
One form, a strict schedule.
03
Prioritize
Leadership picks what leads.
04
Design in Figma
Everything to build, in one file.
05
Approve
QA'd mockups, right the first time.
06
Hand off
Developers build in AEM.
07
Localize & version
By language, market, and season.
08 · Repeat
Send, test & measure
A/B tested, tracked to product usage.
A real file: status, approvers, a pre-handoff QA checklist, alt text, tracking links, and versions by market - all beside the design, so developers had everything they needed.
The work
September: one month, three angles.
AI
M365
M+
Photo or no photo?
A/B tested against click rate.
People or graphics?
A/B tested against engagement.
Which subject line?
A/B tested against open rate.
Small tests ran in every send. Month after month they added up to a separate playbook for each audience - built on evidence, not opinion.
What happened
25-30%
average lift in product usage across lines of business.
Measured from people who engaged with an email and went on to use the product. The newsletters were new, so there was no prior year to compare.
Fewer dev hours, faster approvals
Everything needed to build lived in one file.
Adopted team-wide
The whole team runs on the process I built.
Contract → full-time
A one-month gig became a Marketing Manager role.
“She was able to revamp the look and feel while also prioritizing the newsletter real estate depending on the goals for each month.”