Email strategy + process

One newsletter was trying to do everything. So we 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
Scope
Strategy, process, A/B testing, Figma, AEM
Outcome
25-30% average lift in product usage
A hand holding a phone showing a Microsoft 365 email: Budget template designs you can bank on, with a Try Excel button
What we 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.

We got the team trained on Microsoft's Figma components and AEM, built templates and approval systems - and when a Marketing Manager role opened up, I stepped into it.

Before
1 newsletter

Monthly, huge audience, every line of business competing for space.

After / 01
AI

Copilot usage, on its own and inside Microsoft products.

After / 02
M365

Usage across Excel, Word, Outlook, and the suite.

After / 03
M+

The whole Microsoft umbrella, plus device sales.

The system

A monthly rhythm the whole team could run.

  1. 01 / Yearly
    Plan the year

    Monthly themes and starter ideas.

  2. 02
    Collect requests

    One form, a strict schedule.

  3. 03
    Prioritize

    Leadership picks what leads.

  4. 04
    Design in Figma

    Everything to build, in one file.

  5. 05
    Approve

    QA'd mockups, right the first time.

  6. 06
    Hand off

    Developers build in AEM.

  7. 07
    Localize & version

    By language, market, and season.

  8. 08 / Repeat
    Send, test & measure

    A/B tested, tracked to product usage.

Figma handoff file: status card, pre-handoff QA checklist, alt text, links and reporting notes above the AI US and AI rest-of-world sweepstakes versions of a newsletter
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.

Microsoft AI newsletter: Your AI career confidant, with Copilot prompt ideas and features for Edge, Outlook, Clipchamp and Designer
AITest: photo or no photo? / Click rate
Microsoft 365 newsletter: Budget template designs you can bank on, with Excel budget templates, Defender, Rewards and Outlook features
M365Test: people or graphics? / Engagement
Microsoft newsletter: Power your passions with Windows 11, plus Editor's Picks, Rewards, Word, Outlook and Defender features
M+Test: which subject line? / 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 we built.

Contract → full-time

A one-month gig became a Marketing Manager role.

"Taylor is the best designer I have ever met. Her versatility spans from email design to web design and everything in between. She can seamlessly own projects from strategy through concept and execution."
Sarah Ulrey / Marketing Lead, Microsoft
"She was able to revamp the look and feel while also prioritizing the newsletter real estate depending on the goals for each month."
Emma Savino / Digital Marketing Manager
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