I was asked to audit the emails we send to employers. Email audits are usually pretty simple. What I discovered: No one at my company had been able to complete a comprehensive audit.
Problems
My company used 10 different systems to send emails and none of them talked to each other.
Some of the emails were hard coded and sent after employers took certain actions. There was no way to run a report on them.
As teams had been disbanded or people left the company, their test emails continued to run without supervision.
Solutions
I met with people throughout the company, including individual product managers, until I tracked down as many emails as possible.
My scavenger hunt resulted in the most thorough email audit completed for the employer group at that time.
Outcomes
Over time, the company reduced the email software we used to send emails from 10 to 2.
We expanded an internal tool to show the design and content of almost all emails being sent.
Accessibility and growth product teams used my audit for legal, compliance, and project updates.
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I found owners for orphaned emails or had them turned off.
I presented to senior leadership and at an employer UX Worldwide meeting to socialize my findings.
My deck was used by senior leadership in UX, product, marketing, and sales to create email governance efforts.
What my team said
“Realistically, this audit is probably something that should have required far more than one person’s bandwidth to complete, but Yvonne’s diligent work ethic has somehow managed to keep us on track for the audit deadline (which was fairly tight as it was). Couldn’t think of a better person for the job.”
–Product Manager
“Yvonne has navigated ambiguous, and at times daunting situations, to dive deep into a very complex situation which is email governance at Indeed. She has done this with the employer experience at the forefront, and has helped many teams in taking this on as a focus of hers. Yvonne is resilient, trusted, collaborative, and determined.”
–Marketing Director
“Somehow, Yvonne also managed to squeeze in a comprehensive email audit and presented it to both SLT and the UX WW. It was, in my opinion, an example of presentation best practices. Straightforward, concise, actionable — Yvonne’s presentation clearly laid out the problem space and the necessary steps to getting our email strategy under control. I felt empowered with a strategy that appeared achievable, and I trusted that Yvonne was the appropriate leader to take on next steps.”
–UX Director
Moon Phase Media 