From Storefront to Standpoint: Takeaways from Fixing Fatigue

Nikki: And we’re all gung ho and ready to 5 minutes, 5 miles our products, and it works for Sass. 

 0:04: It works for digital products. 

 0:06: It works for the course space, and then we get an e-commerce client and have to sell a chocolate bar, which doesn’t really solve anything, except, of course, your 2 year old’s tantrums. 

 0:15: Welcome to Email swipes, where we peek behind the scenes at the emails that catch your attention and earn their place in your swipe file. 

 0:22: Every other week, we’ll talk to an email expert about an experiment they ran, and in the following episode, We’ll dive into the strategies and methods used in the email so you can inform and inspire your own email work. 

 0:33: I’m Nikki Elvas, the copywriter behind winning emails for 8 and 9 figure sassin e-commerce brands like Shopify, For Sigmatic, and Sprout Social. 

 0:40: And I know that hearing the background stories to these emails will help you turn pie in the sky insights into plug and play actions. 

 0:46: Ready to make inspiration tactical? 

 0:48: Let’s go. 

 0:49: First, a quick recap of the email we discussed last week that we’ll be digging into today. 

 0:55: Security, you can’t afford not to try. 

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 1:30: Trying is believing. 

 1:32: Start your free trial. 

 1:34: I just want to reiterate what Heather said about email being the vehicle for branding or content work because I don’t think I even paused on it in the main episode, and I think it’s such a good point. 

 1:44: I just recorded a Q&A session for Emma Mavelers. 

 1:47: It’s going live in about 6 weeks, but I’ll give you a little sneak peek. 

 1:51: One of the questions centered around a number one style mistake that we email marketers make, and my response was that I think sometimes the biggest problem is that we get too granular about improving the metrics and forget the big picture of improving things across the business, because at the end of the day, email is just a vehicle and we could play with the paint job and there rims and even the engine, but if we’re not driving it to the right place, it’s pretty useless. 

 2:17: So, this really lame car analogy to say, and this is takeaway number one, and this is going to sound really obvious, but email is just a means to an end. 

 2:26: It is not its own end. 

 2:28: I know, I know. 

 2:29: Sounds crazy. 

 2:30: We email marketers love us our emails, but our goal with email is to improve the business as a whole and not just improve the emails. 

 2:41: Heather mentioned how tech can be harder to sell because it’s intangible. 

 2:45: You can’t show it in an enticing way. 

 2:46: It’s not pretty and it’s not even very visual. 

 2:50: This is true, but I actually want to talk about the flip side too, because I think it sheds light on a big problem that a lot of new conversion copywriters stumble on. 

 2:58: New conversion copywriters are introduced to formulas like PAS, problem, agitation solution, and we’re taught to think about benefits and outcomes to really paint the picture of how the Customer’s life will be improved after purchasing, and we’re all gung ho and ready to 5 minutes, 5 miles our products, and it works for Sass, it works for digital products, it works for the core space, and then we get an e-commerce client and have to sell a chocolate bar, which doesn’t really solve anything, except, of course, your 2 year old’s tantrums. 

 3:27: Even a product like a razor, technically it’s a solution type product. 

 3:30: It gets rid of unwanted hair, right? 

 3:33: But why a $69 grade 5 titanium razor versus a 597 6 pack of plastic ones from the drugstore? 

 3:40: Is it really about performance, or is it also about status and luxury and experience? 

 3:46: And what it comes down to is that there are two categories of products. 

 3:49: There are solutions and there are delighters. 

 3:52: Heather’s agency was more familiar with selling. 

 3:54: Delighters, so they struggled with selling solutions. 

 3:57: And those of us who are selling solutions and familiar with that, will initially struggle with delighters, but there’s no right or wrong. 

 4:03: It’s just a matter of responding appropriately with the right strategy. 

 4:07: And yes, those in between razor type products are both solution and a lighter type products and will benefit from both approaches. 

 4:15: So take away 2 is that before you plan a single strategy, you need to identify what type of product you’re selling and approach it with the appropriate angle. 

 4:23: Solutions will introduce a more value focused conversation, more on outcomes, future pacing, whereas the lighters will be more emotional, both in terms of playing up the desirability of the product, but also with social angles like exclusivity or status. 

 4:39: One interesting tie-in that I noticed in the episode, in the beginning of the episode, Heather mentioned how some brands will be doing everything wrong, not even following best practices, and they’ll still be doing well. 

 4:49: And then later in the episode, she told us the story of this brand whose emails were doing OK even without segmentation, until they weren’t. 

 4:56: Why? 

 4:57: Because of various factors, like all the emails being relevant to the entire audience. 

 5:01: They didn’t need segmentation because they essentially didn’t have any segments. 

 5:05: They had one segment. 

 5:07: Until, of course, they grew or pivoted or both, and then the same non-strategy that was always working suddenly doesn’t work anymore. 

 5:14: Because takeaway number 3 is that we can get away with more when we’re small. 

 5:18: We can do things manually, or everything is relevant to everyone, or we’re even just forgiven for being scrappy, but as soon as we scale or pivot, we need to make sure that we have our best practices in place. 

 5:29: OK, now let’s talk about the actual story, which I found totally wild. 

 5:33: Essentially, all they did was change the sender name. 

 5:35: That’s it. 

 5:36: That was the win. 

 5:37: The content was fine. 

 5:38: They just needed this creative solution. 

 5:40: So takeaway number 4 is a reminder that it is so important to be strategy first, to keep her focus not on deliverables, but about finding solutions and on the big picture results. 

 5:51: This is probably the number one reason why I created email mastery, my all inclusive accelerator that teaches email strategy, because there was so much around copy and copy and copy and a little bit around design and coding and just not enough around the strategy that can often make all the difference. 

 6:11: I am so glad that Heather said that she would redo the copy if she had another chance to change the email. 

 6:16: It is amazing how much voice in tech has evolved so quickly in such a short span of time. 

 6:23: And I do want to dig into this idea that brands now need to align with the values that the customer holds. 

 6:28: It’s bandied about a lot, but I’m not Gen Z, so I’m skeptical. 

 6:33: I never take these kinds of statements at face value, especially because the research is so skewed. 

 6:37: If you ask someone if they want to buy from a brand that aligns. 

 6:40: With their values. 

 6:41: Of course they’re going to say yes. 

 6:42: Don’t we all? 

 6:43: Are we going to back that up with our dollars? 

 6:46: Are we going to admit that we don’t really agree with that statement? 

 6:50: This reminds me about what Yasper said in his episode about the sentiment ratings for emails focused on sustainability. 

 6:57: I’ll link his episode in the show notes if you missed it. 

 6:59: It’s a wild story. 

 7:01: So anyway, this got me thinking about brands in general, how brands even got started to begin with. 

 7:05: I mean, people used to just shop in the general store and you bought whatever was there and there was nothing about who produced it or that there even were various producers. 

 7:13: You just bought your molasses and that was that. 

 7:16: And then when brands finally were introduced, they very much differentiated on quality or other significant tangible features. 

 7:22: The next iteration was for brands to focus on desire and Image, social standing, status, all the emotional stuff behind branding, which I believe is just the precursor to this stage now of it being about social image and aligned values. 

 7:36: It’s just the next logical step. 

 7:38: In some ways, it’s just a way for brands to differentiate themselves. 

 7:42: That’s all it is. 

 7:44: So anyway, something I’ve been thinking about is that the acquisition strategy may focus on value alignment. 

 7:49: But your retention strategy must, must be about value and good communication, because at the end of the day, even if the grade 5 titanium razor is plastic free and USA made, if it doesn’t shave well, no one is going to keep replacing their blades and using it. 

 8:04: They’re going to find someone else. 

 8:06: The value alignment component of branding must be a supporter. 

 8:10: It’s not the end all be all itself. 

 8:12: So take away number Lead your acquisition strategy with values, but back up your attention strategy with a really good post-purchase experience that helps the user use the product correctly and see the value. 

 8:24: Thanks for geeking out with me about that email story. 

 8:27: If you enjoyed either of these episodes, you’ll probably enjoy getting my emails, plus you’ll never miss another episode. 

 8:32: Sign up at Nikkialbus.com/subscribe, and yes, that link is in the show notes.