Sendlane

Adapting to the eCommerce evolution

Sendlane is a cloud-based email marketing platform built for content creators, digital marketers, and eCommerce businesses, with key features like email automation, performance tracking, real-time analytics, and email retargeting. 

The B2B SaaS sector, including email marketing, has become an increasingly crowded space. In response, Sendlane has taken the necessary steps to deeply understand their audience. By joining forces with BB, this commitment led to significant refinements in the platform, ensuring it’s suited to the unique needs of its users amidst the ever-expanding eCommerce landscape.

Sendlane and BB partnership at a glance

Sendlane and BB go way back. Our collaboration started in 2020 when Jimmy Kim, Sendlane CEO, reached out, determined to close the gap between their powerful offer and not-as-powerful brand and website presence. BB was just the right team for the job!

We completed a full rebrand for Sendlane, culminating in a brand-new website with an optimized user experience and seamless CMS integration. At the core of this transformation was the collaborative effort between Sendlane and BB Agency, where the development of an extended product design system marked a defining milestone in Sendlane’s brand evolution.

Our collaboration didn’t stop there; it broadened to foster the growth of Sendlane’s brand into a suite of sub-brands. This expansion included the Commerce Roundtable and the eCommerce Academy—an event series that brings together leading minds in direct-to-consumer marketing.

Making Sendlane a brand powerhouse

Our partnership with Sendlane kicked off with the overhaul of their branding and website. To start off right, our initial step was thorough competitive benchmarking. It gave us invaluable insights into industry standards and allowed us to identify a general market fit for Sendlane’s new identity.

Strengthening the brand identity

We defined the right color space and developed a visual language designed to help Sendlane stand out, foster visual recall, and build brand awareness while evoking their core culture and brand values—positivity, passion, and diversity.

Originally represented by a bright pink envelope that signifies a focus on email services, Sendlane required another rebrand as they expanded their services. They moved away from the envelope and we revised their visual language to reflect their broader capabilities.

The new visual identity is underpinned by a system of easy-to-use guidelines that we developed for Sendlane’s marketing team, so they can confidently use the brand in their communication to its full effect, without the daily support of an agency.

Refining the user experience

With the Sendlane brand receiving much-deserved attention for its product, the company hadn’t previously had the opportunity to devote the same level of care to enhancing the website user experience. A more holistic approach was in order. 

To address this, we conducted a comprehensive UX audit and research process, aimed at identifying key areas for improvement. This involved analyzing data, defining user personas, improving navigation, and developing user flows to elevate the performance of every page on their site, ensuring a smoother and more intuitive browsing experience.

Optimizing the UI design

Building on our UX research, we fostered strong cross-team collaboration to develop the new website. Our UI designers worked closely with the brand, UX, and development teams to create a research-driven UI design language. This included defining key brand shapes, typography, colors, and extensive guidelines, all of which enriched the brand’s personality.

The groundwork supported the creation of a comprehensive website, spanning 50+ pages and 100+ product visuals. This effort aimed to enhance the presentation of product features, complemented by testimonials and ratings to further reinforce the value proposition.

Introducing subtle variations for each sub-brand later in our partnership allowed us to create a customized UI language, aligned with the overarching Sendlane identity. This approach facilitated a seamless transition from branding to UI to development, ensuring consistency and coherence throughout the ecosystem.

Website built for effortless use

Our methodical approach to UI design enabled the development team to transform the designs into a fully manageable website on Webflow, providing the client with a solution that is both flexible and scalable.

Sendlane specifically requested their new website be built on Webflow, a platform they were already comfortable using. So we created responsive, easily updatable sections, featuring components designed to complement playful colors and visuals.

The ease of using Webflow’s editor and CMS ensures long-term maintainability. We are confident in the client’s ability to effortlessly update and expand their site with new content, pages, and blog articles as needed. Recognizing Webflow’s significant value and benefits to our clients, we keep returning to it as a key CMS in our toolkit.

Enhancing Sendlane’s platform through product design

To thrive in a crowded market, Sendlane needed a sophisticated product design system. Through collaboration, we developed a design system that enhanced both operations and brand recognition. It featured a range of consistent, scalable components that improved usability across the marketing platform, marking a significant evolution in Sendlane’s brand journey.

Modular design system for flexibility and efficiency

Our modular design approach allowed for the creation of a comprehensive component library, from basic UI elements to intricate modules, supporting quick prototyping and flexible integration within the platform. This flexibility, combined with a well-defined color palette and the Inter typeface, ensured legibility and accessibility, maintaining brand integrity while fostering an intuitive user experience across various features and workflows—ultimately enhancing productivity and user satisfaction.

Partnership expansion to a suite of sub-brands

Following the brand and website overhaul, our partnership extended to encompass its suite of sub-brands. This initiative represented not just a broadening of our collaborative horizon but a strategic deepening of the brand’s identity across its diversified portfolio. 

By implementing a customized design language, we ensured that each sub-brand not only resonated with its specific audience but also maintained a cohesive connection to the Sendlane core identity. This harmonized approach enabled a fluid transition from branding to user interface design, and ultimately, to development stages, fostering consistency and unity throughout the entire Sendlane ecosystem.

Our journey with Sendlane ventured into two distinctive but complementary initiatives: the eCommerce Academy and the Commerce Roundtable.

eCommerce Academy

With the eCommerce Academy, our goal was to evolve Sendlane’s core branding, resulting in a new identity that perfectly balances the new with the familiar. We aimed to retain the playful nature of Sendlane’s branding while introducing a more sophisticated, academic twist.

The introduction of a new color scheme and relaxed design elements reflected a shift towards a more inviting and conducive learning environment. This rebranding was critical not just in aesthetics but in enhancing the platform’s functionality and user engagement, setting a new benchmark for educational platforms in the eCommerce arena.

Commerce Roundtable

Concurrently, the Commerce Roundtable initiative sought to connect industry leaders through a series of insightful online discussions and events. By revamping its visual identity, we aligned the Roundtable with Sendlane’s overarching brand, creating a dynamic and engaging community hub. 

This included a new website interface, integrated seamlessly into an easy-to-navigate Webflow CMS, facilitating the launch of the rebranded Commerce Roundtable and its website. The Commerce Roundtable team has successfully leveraged this design consistency and user-friendly CMS to independently plan and create content for the latest season, ensuring streamlined production of web pages for upcoming series.