Are the welcome series emails that I get from Ecommerce and SaaS brands boring on purpose? Am I missing something?
Coming from a long direct response copywriting and email marketing background…
It’s hard for me to understand why a company would be so willing to send such boring emails.
My mind automatically goes to thinking that maybe they know something that I don’t know.
But I have a hard time believing that for the mere fact that it totally bypasses persuasion logic.
I’ll definitely be testing the hell out of it to hopefully prove I’m right. Because ugh…so boring and bland.
I can’t see how, if someone is coming from an ad or website and opt in for a discount, that it’s better to send them a hyper designed email that just gives them a discount code and maybe some other product suggestions.
Is that really good enough?
What if once they opted in, their phone rang, or someone texted?
What if some other brand in the same niche caught their eye?
After 10 minutes, do they even remember opting in?
When they get the email that DOES NOT remind them why they opted in in the first place, do they even care anymore?
Is fancy design, and just a product image enough to get them excited again?
Because the chances are they opted in because they had some sort of problem to solve.
That’s why people shop, no matter what they’re shopping for.
Necklace? They’ve got somewhere to go, and they need something that’s going to match their dress, or shirt if they’re a dude.
Problem: Somewhere to go.
Solution: Need something to wear.
Problem: Necklace broke and now they feel naked.
Solution: Need a new one to replace it to get rid of this naked feeling.
Problem: They lose focus daily, procrastinate, and get side-tracked.
Solution: An app that helps them plan their day and stay on track.
Problem: Their large dog’s hips are hurting but they don’t trust conventional vets with forever prescriptions.
Solution: A natural and healthy hip supplement for large dogs that work fast.
If you just send them a discount code with a cute dog on it, but they’re on a call, and their kids have soccer practice in 10 minutes…is that going to make them take action.
These are the types of scenarios direct response copywriters are wired to think about.
For instance, back before sales pages were online, I believe it was John Carlton who said something to the fact (and I’ll probably embellish it a bit)…
“You have to picture a big overweight man, sitting on the recliner in his underwear, who has to open the newspaper, sit and read the ad, and then get up, go over to the phone, and order the product you’re selling.”
Yes, it’s at the fingertips now. He doesn’t have to get up out of the chair and he probably doesn’t even have a phone on the wall anymore.
But we still have to account for things like that do we not? Does ecommerce and other lifecycle marketing change human behavior?
Wouldn’t a welcome email that:
* Rubs a bit of salt on the wound…
* Reminds them of the problem and the solution…
* And urges them to act now before the discount disappears get them to take action faster?
How about a story email that makes them imagine themselves at a function and everyone loves their necklace.
Then throw in a testimonial that fits that exact scenario from a real person.
To me that beats the discount code and “Shop More Items Now” button any day of the week.
Or maybe it doesn’t.
From my background, I can’t imagine it not creating more action.
But that doesn’t mean I’m right, and now I’ll search to find out…and post what I’ve found.