After taking her younger sister shopping for her first bra, Megan was frustrated with the experience for young girls. She wanted to cultivate a better experience that would support girls as they grow up and take on the world. So, while still a junior in high school, Megan Garsell saved up and launched Yellowberry in 2013.

More than 10 years later, Yellowberry has seen amazing growth. From expanding to retail to being featured on the TODAY Show! and so much more.

We had the chance to sit down with Megan and hear more about the Yellowberry story and her experience with Privy.

Making the switch to Privy

After using Privy in the past for list growth, Megan took a call with a Privy coach to learn more about the full Privy platform (spoiler: it’s much more than popups).

The Yellowberry team had been using Klaviyo for years, but as their costs increased, they were in the market for an alternative. Like many founders, Megan realized she wasn’t using (and didn't need) much of the functionality Klaviyo offers. So, while she looked for cost savings, she was also on a mission for a tool that was better aligned to her business needs and preferences as the founder and primary marketing person at Yellowberry.

Not long into the call, Megan realized that Privy Email was the right fit for them.

Not only would she save hundreds of dollars each month, but she realized it would make her day-to-day better by managing their list growth and email marketing in Privy.

The cherry on top? She gets to work with Customer Success Manager, Sam King.

Megan told us “it’s like having another team member.” Check out how they take Yellowberry’s marketing to the next level…

Working with Privy Customer Success

As the founder, Megan wears many hats. So, when it comes to managing their marketing, being able to lean on her customer success manager, Sam, for coaching and support is huge.

Megan looks forward to her meetings with Sam. Especially when it comes to learning about new features and exploring new strategies.

Megan also said, “The other great thing is that anytime there's a new feature, I learn about it and then Sam will show me how to use it. This personal touch is immensely helpful for someone like me who’s not techy and prefers more tailored guidance.”

She told us she walks away from her sessions with Sam feeling like “I can do this…instead of being super intimidated having to figure it out myself.”

Hearing founders express this is what motivates us here at Privy. It's the exact mission we’re on. To give founders like Megan better-fit tools and coaching that gives them confidence to manage and grow their marketing results (all while making their day-to-day life that much better).

Megan's POV as a founder managing their marketing

It’s truly impressive seeing what Megan has built with the Yellowberry brand.

Megan told us about the principles her team prioritizes when it comes managing and marketing the brand. She told us about how they:

• Favor simplicity over complexity. Megan told us that she thinks time spent overcomplicating their marketing isn’t worth the time or cost. So, anytime she finds herself or her team overcomplicating the plan, she looks to take a step back and simplify. (Psstt…we’re big believers in this one at Privy too. Your marketing really doesn’t need to be that complicated).

• Balance brand building and revenue-driving activities. Megan told us how important it is that they spend just as much time building their brand as they do on driving sales. Striking this balance can be hard (especially with a small team), but Yellowberry does an excellent job here (I mean just check out their story here).

• Commit to understanding their customers. If there’s one thing that’s clear from talking with Megan, it’s that she deeply cares and understands her customers. This understanding and commitment helps them build community, refine their messaging and optimize their marketing based on the behavior and feedback they see from customers.

These principles serve as the foundation for Yellowberry’s marketing strategy. 

So, let’s dive into how they execute on this with Privy.

A sneak peek at Yellowberry's Privy playbook

Megan grows her list AND sends her emails with Privy. Here's what their playbook includes:

Leaning on automations for always-on revenue (and brand-building)

As an agile company, Megan told us that they rely heavily on automations.

For her, “the automations are really great because once you set it up, it continuously markets itself.”

Their automation strategy all starts with a Welcome Series.

This automation goes out to new subscribers to tell the story behind the Yellowberry brand and introduce their products.

Alongside a Welcome Series, the Yellowberry team leverages after sign up, customer winback and abandoned cart email automations in Privy.

Their abandoned cart email strategy is one that caught our eye. They have 2 separate automations based on a shopper's cart value.

Like many brands, protecting margins is absolutely critical when it comes to offering discounts or incentives for purchase.

That’s why they tailor this automation. So they can offer a more generous incentive for those shoppers they know meet a certain order value threshold.

The Yellowberry team has generated 5 figures in revenue through their automations with Privy.

And with these running for them 24/7, they have more time to innovate on their product launches and campaign strategies.

Generating over 6 figures in sales with Privy newsletters

The Yellowberry team sends weekly campaigns to their list. 

Looking at their emails (and based on chatting with Megan), it’s clear that they deeply understand who their ideal customer is. Their email copy directly speaks to this customer's problems and motivations.

Within these emails, they balance a mix of storytelling and creative campaigns. They regularly lean into timely themes, new product launches and holidays (like Labor Day), to engage subscribers in new ways.

Psstttt…we’re big fans of leaning into holidays in your email campaigns. Check out our Ecommerce Marketing Holiday Calendar for inspiration all year long.

Accelerating list growth with Privy Convert

When Megan was switching back to Privy, she expressed how her conversion rates weren’t holding up while using Klaviyo forms.

Now, over a year back with Privy, Megan’s seen the impact of their improved list growth efforts. It’s played a critical role in growing their ROI from email.

Take a look at their spin to win, which converts above 4%:

Tying it all together: The Yellowberry & Privy story

The Yellowberry team doesn’t just use Privy as a marketing tool, they see Privy as an extension of their team and another way to tell their brand story to nurture their community.

With the help of customer success manager, Sam, and the simple (but powerful) approach with the Privy tools, Megan is able to deliver incredible results managing their marketing while also wearing the countless hats a founder like her juggles each and every day.

If you're like Megan and find yourself looking for an alternative that's build to make your life easier, come check out Privy. You can start a free trial or set a meeting with a Privy coach here.