The more I live, the more I realize that most success in life comes from doing the basics, like being on time, preparing for a meeting, and remembering people’s names.
These are all things that are easily overlooked, but when you look deeply, you will see that most successful people do these little things.
The same philosophy can be applied to email marketing.
When I audit email accounts of brands making over eight figures annually, they don’t strike me with hyper-advanced tactics.
Instead, they focus on getting the basics right:
A highly converting sign-up form, a working automation system, and basic segmentation.
They don’t spend hours thinking, “How many emails should we send…”
They just hit “send” and focus on building a relationship with the customer.
The other day, a Shopify brand owner approached me with a question:
“I want to cross-sell product X when a customer buys product Y, and vice versa. How do I do that?”
I audited their email account, and you know what I saw?
Their checkout abandonment flow had one email.
Their pop-up converted at a below 2% rate.
They didn’t even have a back-in-stock sequence.
No matter which agencies or marketers you hire, the truth is that advanced tactics won’t move the needle that much.
Master the basics first, then think about the rest.
In today’s version of the Emails that Sell series, we’re looking at one of those low-hanging fruit in your business.
The back-in-stock email.
You’d be surprised to learn so many brands don’t have an automated back-in-stock sequence set up.
I think it’s one of those easy opportunities to convert high-intent customers.
Home essentials brand Snowe does this very well.
Let’s dive into it.
But before:
What is Emails That Sell?
Each week, I break down an email from a high-end or luxury fashion brand. Some of these brands are absolutely killing it when it comes to email marketing.
I also want to show you examples of the conventional way of doing email marketing — with discounts and other mass-market tactics. In some cases, I rewrite these emails. I’m not claiming my emails are the best — I’m not an expert on these brands, and my research is limited. I’m simply giving you an idea of how you can sell luxury products without selling your soul and damaging your brand reputation with gimmicks and discounts.
If you have an email you want me to break down, send it over to me on LinkedIn or at marketing@siimpettai.com
Now, let’s get down to business…
Subject line:
“missed connections”
That’s a strong subject line. A few things which I like:
It sparks curiosity. It makes me go, “Hmm… what did I miss?”
It uses a lowercase title, making it feel less corporate.
It’s also short and punchy.
I recently learned about a formula that you can use to craft effective subject lines.
It’s called the 4 U’s, popularized in Robert W. Bly’s book “The Copywriter’s Handbook.”
It states that an effective headline is:
Urgent: gives a reason to act now.
Unique: says something new or in a fresh way.
Ultra-specific: teases the reader into reading further
Useful: offers a benefit.
Bly recommends to use a scale of 1 to 4 (1 = weak, 4 = strong) to rank the headline in each category.
Here’s how I would rank Snowe’s subject line based on this formula:
Urgent: 2
Unique: 3
Ultra-specific: 3
Useful: 1
That’s pretty good.
The truth is, you’ll rarely find a headline that rates 3’s and 4’s across the board.
However, Bly mentions that if your headline doesn’t rate a 3 or 4 on at least three of the U’s, it could use a bit of a re-write.
If the subject line said “another missed connection?” and framed it as a question, I would probably have rated it a 3 on urgency as well.
Key takeaway #1: Use Bob Bly’s 4 U’s formula to craft effective subject lines
Anyway, let’s move on to the body copy:
“Stared into my mystical, cloudy blue hue, like the fading sky at dawn.”
Notice the sensory writing!
For some odd reason, this art is a lost cause among copywriters nowadays, but I love that some brands still do this.
Although it doesn’t 100% replace the sensory experience a shopper might get offline, it’s still pretty damn effective, especially when selling physical products online.
Key takeaway #2: Use vivid descriptions to sell physical products
I love how the rest of the paragraph builds up to the urgency with short, punchy sentences.
“You clicked to take me home, but in an instant, I was gone. Now I’m back. Don’t let me go.”
It kinda reminds me of Cialdini’s Commitment and Consistency principle.
In his Influence book, one of the studies he mentions is pre-emptively framing agreements as settled.
When you tell someone, “We have a deal, all you have to do is sign it,” it makes agreement more of a formality than an active choice.
The same applies here:
“These sheets are yours; all you have to do is click here.”
Once someone hears that, they’re more likely to have FOMO.
Key takeaway #3: Create FOMO with Cialdini’s commitment principle
If there’s one minor change I’d make to this paragraph, it’s to change the font to dark and the background to white. It would make it easier to read.
Either way, it’s effective.
These short bullets are filled with gold.
“Perfectly crisp and super smooth, your best sleep ever starts with superior Egyptian cotton.”
I love how it vividly describes the product and then frames it as a benefit for the reader.
They do it here as well:
“A midsummer dream, air-whipped Italian linen creates a softness you’ve never felt before.”
An air-whipped Italian linen is a vivid description.
“Softness you’ve never felt before” is a benefit for the consumer.
Here’s the thing: your reader will look at a product and say… “What can it do for me?”
Your copy should always aim to answer that question.
And one of the best ways to do it is to turn your product features into benefits.
Key takeaway #4: Answer the Q: “What can this product do for me?”
Key takeaway #5: Turn product features into benefits
I also like the multiple CTAs throughout the email, I think that’s smart for increasing click rates.
When you’re dealing with high-intent readers like a back-in-stock segment, having simple “Shop Product X” buttons here and there is enough. You don’t have to overthink that.
But there is one thing that creeps my eyes about this email.
It’s the images.
When you look at them closely, you notice they don’t tell a story.
Half of them are just sheets on an empty background.
If you’re going to use images in emails, show your products in action.
The copy says, “softness you’ve never felt before,” but the image shows a pool ball on top of a bed.
Even if it was a woman with her head on the pillow, eyes closed, and smiling, it would have been much more powerful.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Key takeaway #6: Match images to your copywriting
Nonetheless, this is a great back-in-stock email – it creates FOMO and desirably sells the product.
Let me know what you think about it in the comments below!
To recap:
TL;DR
Key takeaway #1: Use Bob Bly’s 4 U’s formula to craft effective subject lines
Key takeaway #2: Use vivid descriptions to sell physical products
Key takeaway #3: Create FOMO with Cialdini’s commitment principle
Key takeaway #4: Answer the Q: “What can this product do for me?”
Key takeaway #5: Turn product features into benefits
Key takeaway #6: Match images to your copywriting
Next week
I’ll show you how to craft an effective welcome email and make your brand instantly stand out among the crowd.
In the meantime, read my article on 21+ fashion welcome email examples to convert subscribers
Here’s what’s next:
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Read more:
Emails That Sell #6: Plain-Text Re-Engagement Emails (Eight Sleep)
Emails That Sell #5: The No Discount Cart Abandonment Email (Whisky Loot)
Emails that Sell #4: How to Communicate Your Unique Mechanism
