Email Marketing Solutions

For our second edition of “Made Me Click” I’m breaking down one of the hundreds of emails that I got right before New Years Eve.

As a reminder, every week I am going to pick a different email that I read and that “made me click.” I’ll break down the email from the subject line to CTA and share what I think they did really well. 

Hopefully I can share some insights into what makes a really good email and how you can use these insights to improve your click through rates and email conversions. 

If you have an email that “made you click” and you’d like me to break it down, shoot me an email at ben@henkenmarketing.com.

Now let’s get onto the good stuff…

Standing Out in A Crowded Inbox

The days leading up to New Years Eve are filled with EOY (end of year) sales emails, new year/new you emails, start 2023 strong emails, and New Year specials emails.

So how do you stand out during a period of time when everyone is doing the SAME thing?

Especially when everyone is focused on New Years and their resolutions…

Simple (if not easy) – put your customer at the center of your email.

Remember, good emails are written to ONE person. 

Not to everyone, or you all, or us.

So when Heart & Soil popped up in my inbox with the subject line, “Maria kicked her cravings (and so can you)” it piqued my interest.

And “Made Me Click.”

Good, but Not Great Subject Line

Subject Line: Maria kicked her cravings (and so can you)

Preview Text: Every January began the same way for Maria…

To be honest, this subject line got my attention, but I think there’s some significant room for improvement.

Starting off with what’s good here…

We are getting ready for New Years resolutions and every year I try to reduce my sugar and alcohol intake.

Usually I’m good for a couple weeks before I give into cravings and say goodbye to my resolutions.

So the idea of reading about how someone else was able to kick cravings got my attention.

How we could make this better…

This subject line is going for the curiosity + benefit structure.

Curiosity – How did Maria kick her cravings?

Benefit – I can too?

What we are missing is something to connect how Maria kicked her cravings with how I can.

So going with something like…

Maria used this simple solution to kick her cravings (preview text: and how you can too) 

OR

How this easy habit helped Maria kick her cravings (preview text: You can do the same thing!)

We could probably come up with an even better subject line/preview text combo, but you get the idea.

Maria’s Story

In this section, Heart & Soil is building that connection between Maria’s story and the reader.

Sugar addiction is one of the most common and hardest to break food addictions out there. So this story is going to connect with a lot of Heart & Soil’s readers.

There’s the hope of a New Year with a common goal, and then the feeling of failure when you slip and fall victim to cravings. 

And finally a solution!

This is a great example of how you don’t need 300 words to tell a story. This story took 47 words and used the PAS framework (pain, agitate, solution) really well.

I also love how we finished the story with a direct quote from Maria. Adds to the credibility of the story and helps build the connection.

Also – notice how Heart & Soil removed the actual product from the quote and replaced it with a clickable “this product” link.

This opens a loop and provides the reader with the first opportunity to click. 

Connecting to the Reader

In this next section we are connecting to the reader and removing the responsibility from them.

It’s not your fault that you give into these cravings… it’s how the foods are engineered.

The power in this is that the copy is connecting on an emotional level to the reader. The ideal customer for this product has tried and failed in the past to eliminate sugar or processed foods from their diet.

And they are most likely considering trying again to start the new year.

By placing the blame somewhere else (on the engineered foods, not your willpower) you are subtly telling your reader that simply trying again is doomed for failure.

They need the help of your product…

A Unique Mechanism

To stand out from the crowd, your solution needs a unique mechanism.

Something that makes it different from other solutions that your customer has tried.

In this case the unique solution is “Stearic Acid.”

And they used simple language – “switching into fat burning mode” to explain what this solution did.

Also, you have opportunity number two to click on the link and discover what this product is. 

You Can NEVER Have Too Much Social Proof

Social proof is one of the strongest influence levers that you can pull. Before buying people want to know that the product works and that it works for a variety of people.

So by including more client testimonials here, Heart & Soil is removing additional objections that people might have before trying out this product. 

They’ve also included THREE more opportunities to click.

The Rule of ONE

When writing an email you want to provide you reader with ONE action.

Because providing too many actions typically causes indecision. 

So linking to multiple products or solutions, AND your blog, AND your social media, you are making it harder for your reader to make a decision.

In this email, Heart & Soil focused on ONE product and ONE product only.

This makes the email that much more clickable because there isn’t anything to distract you.

Now the rule of ONE doesn’t mean that you only have ONE CTA. You can have multiple CTAs (in this case five) that all lead to the same place.

So if someone was ready to click right away, there was an option to do so.

Or if a reader needed to see more, there were additional CTAs later in the email.

Big Take-Aways

Social proof and more social proof. You can never have too much.

Stories sell, and they don’t have to be long.

Focus on ONE thing.

Provide multiple opportunities to click.

Open a loop – make the reader HAVE to click to find out the answer.

Preview for next week

For next week’s breakdown, I’m going to break down a recipe email that had me at hello.

If you’ve got an email that “Made You Click” send it my way so that I can include it in my weekly breakdown. You can forward emails to ben@henkenmarketing.com

Next Steps

1. Leave a comment below – what did you think of this email? What did you like or dislike?
2. Share this breakdown with someone you know – know anyone with a DTC ecom store? Share this breakdown with them and they’ll thank you for it.

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