How no-code course provider Buildcamp optimizes its user journey with MailerSend

“Transactional email is a hard problem to solve and MailerSend is doing it with no-code tools and the no-code user in mind.”

With over 8 years of experience in building and teaching no-code, Greg knows what he’s talking about. So we were thrilled at the opportunity to have a chat with him about his story and use of MailerSend to deliver emails to Buildcamp users.

From tech startup-up founder to no-code educator

Greg’s journey in the startup space began with his idea to build a marketplace that would connect brands directly with fashion models and allow photographers to collaborate better. He built the platform in Ruby on Rails. Two years later, after a lot of hard work and a successful accelerator program application, Greg turned to no-code and the platform Bubble after needing a way to quickly iterate on his platform. 

He soon realized the potential of building apps with no-code tools, and after shutting down his startup, began to turn his passion into educating others.

“I started teaching other people how to build with no-code because I just enjoyed it, and I also did consulting for other companies that wanted to switch to no-code tools. But ultimately, I wanted to see if there was potential in building a no-code education company. So that's where Buildcamp came about!”

Buildcamp saw incredible growth during its first few years and today has over 20,000 students who have signed up, completed a course, and become part of the community.

Greg uses MailerSend for all of Buildcamp’s transactional email needs, including:

• Course subscription confirmation emails

• Account detail emails

• Email confirmation emails

• Password reset emails

• Subscription renewal emails

• Affiliate sale notifications

• Support enquiry emails

• Question response notifications

Deciding on MailerSend

Greg started with one of the major players in transactional email, but its performance started to wane over time.

“Sendgrid was an early pioneer of transactional email. They had a no-code editor which made it easy for no-coders like me to design HTML formatted emails. Over time, however, I noticed their deliverability decline. More than 10% of customer emails weren’t being delivered and it seemed to get worse.”

While researching no-code tools, he came across MailerSend and was convinced it was the right email delivery solution for Buildcamp. 

Greg’s 3 main reasons for switching to MailerSend:

1. The great user experience and user-friendly no-code email editor that provide granular control.

2. The award-winning support and accessibility for early startups.

3. The reliability and very high rates of deliverability that MailerSend provides.

Buildcamp powers its transactional email delivery with MailerSend’s email API. This allows Greg to make use of the robust templating capabilities, triggering professionally designed, branded emails when customers sign up for courses or perform other actions on the Bubble-built app. 

“The API is very simple and easy to understand, even for no-coders. And the documentation is really good!”

Creating branded templates that set Buildcamp apart

One of the main things Greg was looking for in a transactional email solution was a feature-rich no-code email editor. For him and other no-coders, the ability to quickly build great-looking, professional emails with no need for design skills or coding is a main attraction. 

“A lot of people that are building and implementing email don't necessarily have design at the top of their mind. So to have that already laid out for them makes it so much easier. 

He also appreciates how easy the pre-built templates make getting started.

“And the templates are great! You can just change the colors, whack your brand in there, and you’re good to go.”

Thanks to MailerSend’s user-friendly interface, Greg has been able to design his own library of templates, leaning into the extensive customization options to make emails that resonate with Buildcamp’s customers and perfectly showcase the brand personality. 

“I love HTML-based emails and I think my branding is quite strong compared to my competitors, so I've leveraged that to double down on the visual side of my emails. I was able to do this with the Drag & drop editor. It’s just so easy to use and the interface is beautiful, clean, and simple.”

Enhancing the customer journey with timely onboarding emails

Aside from a friendly UX and rich no-code email editor, deliverability was also a main concern for Buildcamp. Successfully confirming and onboarding customers when they purchase a subscription is crucial for establishing trust in the brand and providing a great experience. 

Because of MailerSend’s best-in-class deliverability, Greg knows emails will be delivered, meaning he can sleep easy without worrying that people won’t get them. His customers can easily progress on to the next steps and access the materials they need to begin their courses as soon as they subscribe. 

“Deliverability is no longer a concern of mine, MailerSend’s deliverability is second to none. Everything runs in the background and I barely even need to log in.”

Using analytics and activity to inform decisions

Greg is incredibly passionate about Buildcamp and providing a great community for no-code learners. Being able to access real-time email activity and analytics is a big benefit, as it allows him to follow up on email issues as well as make informed decisions about the direction to take with his courses.

“I love MailerSend’s dashboard—I have it pinned in my browser all the time. I love having access to the total number of emails sent, the click-through rate, and such. I also check the activity—if I see a hard bounce from someone, I know that’s something I need to follow up on. It allows me to be proactive with that kind of thing. 

And with the analytics, being able to filter through various metrics over time is great. It also allows me to gain insights that can help with further developing Buildcamp. For example, Opens by location is interesting because I'm looking into AI for course translation from a voice perspective, and it can inform some of the languages we translate to. I didn’t collect this kind of information at Buildcamp from the beginning, but MailerSend can give it to me.”

Streamlining email with MailerSend & MailerLite

As well as sending transactional emails to his customers, Greg also sends marketing emails and uses marketing automation with MailerLite. 

“It’s an incredible set of tools from a user experience point of view. I really like the segmentation of MailerLite—it's flexible, it's easy. I think like segmentation is at the heart of the product, and I've not seen that with other no-code tools.” 

In addition to the super simple automations and segmentation, MailerLite also has the same user-friendly Drag & drop editor to build branded templates with. 

“The user experience between MailerSend and MailerLite is seamless, I can just click the little icon and switch between the two. The interfaces are so similar, it’s very easy to transition from one to the other.”

Building relationships with email

Buildcamp’s journey with email delivery began with a focus on finding no-code solutions. Since then, Greg has undoubtedly perfected the art of creating awesome branded email templates and messaging for his users. He leaves this advice for no-coders starting out: 

“Reliable transactional email is pivotal for a well-functioning product and it’s what customers expect! Ensure that your emails are well crafted and designed to help build trust, especially emails that include external links or buttons. Tools like MailerSend with their no-code editor are a big help.”