Challenge

Davies began her internal communications role at Joules just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon, all communications went virtual and Davies was faced with engaging employees entirely through the web.

“When COVID hit, we didn't have that luxury of all being together—we relied heavily on emails and it was really hard for me to understand whether people were even reading them and what type of internal comms they wanted to see.”

Davies counted on email to share a wide range of content—from employee appreciation messages to multimedia.
A lack of reliable email analytics left Davies in the dark about the success of her communications.

“I was linking articles and videos, or other things on the email but I couldn't tell what bits of content [readers] were engaging with exactly.”

Solution

Early into the COVID-19 pandemic, Davies knew it would be essential to find an analytics software that would demonstrate how employees were engaging with internal communications.

“To get a better understanding of what people like and what they don't like, especially when we weren't together, it was really useful to have a tool that showed all of our analytics."

In addition to metrics, Davies needed a tool with agile design capabilities and one that allowed her to create and save visually captivating, branded templates.

“Joules has really distinct and creative look and feel and our customers instantly know whether any communications have come from us. It made us think about how we can replicate that internally and turn our generic emails into something really engaging.”

Davies set off on a search for a data-driven internal communications software that was both nimble and easy to use when it came to design.
With a simple drag-and-drop email builder and powerful analytics, ContactMonkey was able to check all the boxes.

“Seeing the way that ContactMonkey templates worked, it was so easy to add in our own content and branding.”

How Joules Uses ContactMonkey to Create Sleek, Data-Driven Internal Newsletters

“As soon as you see a Joules email come through, it's very distinct—you know right away that this is the weekly newsletter, this is the HR content, this is from IT.”

Using ContactMonkey’s user-friendly design features, Davies is able to elevate the brand’s weekly internal newsletters through eye-catching branding.
Reusable HTML email templates enable Davies to easily create, save, and send singular communications on behalf of HR, IT, and other departments.

“We have specific templates for each type of comms—our Joules general newsletter, HR updates, emails celebrating success, and employee well-being communications.”

ContactMonkey’s email segmentation feature allows Davies to deliver tailored communications to specific email lists and for specific events.
Meanwhile, segmented analytics allow Davies to see whether certain content is working for the desired audience.

“We use the tool maybe five to six times a week just with different kinds of content that we're releasing; it might be standalone comms or information around a charity event or a Christmas party.”

With ContactMonkey’s email-embedded pulse surveys, Davies is able to gather regular employee feedback to gauge workplace engagement levels and overall employee wellbeing.
Through the help of pulse questions, Joules was also able to ditch formal annualized surveys which took tons of time to create and generated little engagement.

“We use the surveys quite a lot and I think we're definitely starting to use those more now as we've decided to move away from having that big, annualized survey. That works really well for us.”

ContactMonkey combines dichotomous and Likert scale survey options, including emoji reactions, thumbs up/down, and eNPS. These enable Davies to make surveys more playful and low-maintenance while allowing her to switch from annual surveys to monthly surveys.

“Everyone loves the emojis, they always do the thumbs up, thumbs down and that makes it really easy for us.”

Powerful data analytics give Davies the insights she needs to amp up communications content and deliver the right information to the right people.
Precision metrics make it possible for Davies’ team set internal communications KPIs and continuously measure the success of new and existing initiatives.
Using ContactMonkey, Davies is consistently able to reach or surpass her goal of a 90% or higher email open rate across many company-wide communications.

“We set goals depending on what the comms is. So, if it's a business update, we'll always try and get above a 90% read rate, which I know is quite high but we really want to make sure that everybody's reading those.”

By relying on ContactMonkey to deliver accurate email click-through rates, Davies is able to share more of the content employees love.

“We've got six different links that employees can click through on our newsletter; we regularly check the engagement on those links because if there's something that we know that no one's ever clicking on, we will look at replacing it with something better.”

Key Takeaways

Email branding allows Davies to create a unique look and feel for each of the company’s multiple email segments.
Data-powered emails empower Davies to elevate internal communications and set strategic KPIs on the path to consistent improvement.
Agile design capabilities coupled with reliable email metrics allow Davies to reach email open rates of 90% and higher.
With email segmentation, Davies can send tailor-made content to the right audience at the right time.
Employee pulse surveys enable Davies to swap lengthy annual questionnaires for more frequent, quick, and engaging surveys.

About

Joules

Based in the UK, Joules is a fast-growing international clothing and lifestyle brand. Operating both online and across its network of retail stores, the brand has won multiple awards, including the Drapers' Best Fashion Retail Business Award and the Best Licensed Fashion or Talent Brand Award.

Industry

Retail

Number of employees

800+

Previous tools

About

Jessica Davies

Jessica Davies is the Senior Manager of Communications, Engagement, and Inclusion at Joules. A jack-of-all-trades, Davies coordinates company-wide emails and engagement surveys, arranges in-person and virtual town hall meetings, plans LIVE webinars, and organizes company events.