Last week, we dove into Bright Cellar’s incredible email marketing strategy.
Today, we’re going to dive a few levels deeper.
This email marketing breakdown is kind of a doozy. I promise your mind will be blown and you will forever see the world of email marketing different by the time we’re done here. Pandora doesn’t go back in the box.
And much like Alice, once you tumble down the rabbit hole you’re going to see a whole new world of possibilities for what you COULD and maybe SHOULD be doing with your email lists.
I know that’s a cocky preamble.
I know I’m promising the world here.
But like I said last week, Bright Cellars is an incredibly savvy company when it comes to email marketing.
Here’s why I say this:
In last week’s edition of Email of the Week, we saw a small slice of Bright Cellars’ six-month cart abandonment follow up sequence.
But…
What happens if you DON’T buy after those six months?
Now, full disclosure…
I personally believe, like many smart people such as Dean Jackson as Ross O’Lochlainn that most people are going to make a purchasing decision after 3-6 months.
Hell… I did a buyer’s analysis and tracked every single one of my Email Copy Academy students and found that 4.53 months was the average time it took someone to buy. And that data is actually skewed a but, because I only had “join date” records for my subscribers from March 22nd, 2018 when I switched over to ConvertKit.
I’ve had customers who have been on my list since 2016. So actually, that average should be a bit higher.
Nevertheless…
Bright Cellars ran their numbers and made a decision that after six months of trying to get you into their main offer, they’re going to put you into an entirely different sequence for other products.
I figure their reasoning is: if after emailing you every single day for the same offer you don’t take it… maybe there’s something ELSE you’d like to buy that might be a better fit.
So…
Towards the end of that six months, they start sending you emails inviting you to sign up for a free newsletter (that BC publishes) called Glass Half Full.
Now…
Glass Half Full is da fuckin bomb dot com.
There’s only a handful of emails that I get that’ll make me drop everything I’m doing to read them.
I’ll do that for emails from Kevin Rogers. I’ll do that for emails from Laura Belgray. And about 5-10 other people that I’m not going to name because I’m on a deadline to get this article out and I’m not going to accidentally forget someone and have them get pissed off at me as a result.
I will ALWAYS stop and read emails from Glass Half Full.
One – because I fancy myself an aspiring wine snob.
And
Two – because they’re fun, informative, and easy to read.
I learn something every time I read one of these emails,
I’m not going to keep nattering on about it, let’s just get into the damn thing already and take a look at a really awesome email from Glass Half Full.
If you’d like to catch up on Bright Cellars (part 1), click here.
This is the 13th installment of my Email of the Week series. (Catch up on previous episodes here.)
And in case you’re new around here, here’s how this all works…
The Rules For Email Of The Week
Each week, I go out into the wild to find a super-effective e-commerce marketing email… and I break down what made it work. My goal is for you to tune in each week, so I can teach you strategies and best practices YOU can use to make your own emails better.
I find these emails in my inbox, but I also accept suggestions from readers who have a remarkable email they’d like to share.
If you recently received an email that was so awesome it made your jaw drop, I wanna see it.
Forward it to me (chris at theemailcopywriter dot com) with a brief message about what you liked about it. If I choose to do a breakdown of the email you sent, I’ll give you a shout out and link to your site.
The only rule is… you can’t pick yourself.
Now then, without further ado, let’s check out the Email of the Week!
What Happens After Someone Says No To Your Main Offer?
Just because someone doesn’t take you up on your main offer doesn’t mean they’re NEVER going to make a purchasing decision.
Especially if they’re a wine drinker.
Wine drinkers drink wine.
Usually, a lot of it.
It’s kind of an identity thing.
After you make your way all the way through the cart abandonment mega-sequence, Bright Cellars incentivizes you to sign up for their Glass Half Full newsletter.
Now, here’s the really cool thing about all this…
Remember [Email of the Week #11]: Morning Brew?
Member how that business made all its money from its email list.
Like, it doesn’t actually sell products, it sells space and/or generates affiliate revenue.
Well, Glass Half Full kind of functions the same way.
Bright Cellars spent money to generate a lead.
They’re not going to just declare non-buyers as junk leads.
That’s kind of dumb, for ANY business.
EVEN if these leads don’t buy after six months.
So they start sending content. And once you’re hooked on the content, they start promoting other offers.
Sometimes, these offers are affiliate offers. Sometimes the offers are essentially “sponsored posts.” Othertimes… these offers are actually different subscription services under the Bright Cellars umbrella.
This is so brilliant.
Let’s take a look at one of these bad boys so you can see what I’m talkin bout.
The subject line for this email was:
On The Road With Zinfandel
You know how I feel about Typecase. BUT… their emails are so good, it doesn’t matter WHAT they write in the subject line, I’m still going to read it every single day.
So, let’s dive into the body.
They use the same template every day. I don’t love overly flashy templates. This one is minimalistic and clean. It provides some branding but it really puts a focus on their oh-so-delicious copy.
Now, whenever you read one of these emails, you never know exactly what you’re going to get.
You might get a recipe (like they included in this first copy block).
You might get a history of a certain grape or region.
They might give you some wine tasting tips.
They might educate on a wine term like terroir.
They might give you a quick pairing guide for certain holiday foods.
They might even link to a cool article that teaches you more about wine or throwing parties or whatever.
Point is…
Every single day it’s new, fresh, and exciting content.
The writing is pithy, yet playful.
They really have an incredible team of writers.
And EVERY single time you read one of these emails you can’t help but learn something. They do an amazing job of breaking down really abstract or complicated wine terms and ideas into simple analogies you can understand.
Every day you walk away more knowledgeable about wine.
And I’m sure it delivers a little dopamine hit to your brain.
And…
The next time you’re with your friends, you can impress them with how much you know about wine.
^^^This is so important – it doesn’t matter what you sell. If you do this in your emails, people will love your brand and spread the word through their natural conversations.
They give you just enough copy so that you’ll commit to reading without feeling like you’re overwhelmed by the content.
Let’s continue…
In case you were wondering: YES.
I did choose this email because they talk about Zinfandel.
That’s probably my favorite grape.
I love a big, fat California Zin with a hunk of rare – almost raw – meat.
In this little copy block you have a short history of the grape, you have a vivid description. AND they provide you with tasting notes.
I think part of the wine experience is knowing what you should be tasting.
When you’re starting out, it helps to have someone point out specific notes.
It’s actually a tough skill to learn… and I’ve always found it helps to have a guide through your tastings so you can enjoy the full experience.
Of course there are some people who have a stick up their ass who might tell you that this is all confirmation bias, and that you’ll taste whatever someone tells you you should be tasting.
But those people are plebians and they can fuck right off and go drink a Miller Lite.
Onward…
Glass Half Full does an awesome job of always mixing and matching content pieces.
This one is a great example of an article teaser.
What’s so awesome about THIS copy block in particular is that it plays on that longing people have to ALWAYS know what’s hot and new.
You WANT to be the person to show up to the party with that hidden gem bottle… the one that’ll make all your friends jealous.
Full disclosure: I am that guy.
I love shopping for a bottle that’s gonna blow my friends away.
It doesn’t always happen.
But when it does, it makes you feel good about yourself.
Kind of irrational, I know.
But then again… aren’t we all?
If you read this newsletter every day, you’re going to get better at picking wines.
Let’s keep going…
Ah, yes.
Here is the best part.
At the end of this edition of the newsletter, Glass Half Full will sometimes slip in super-native looking ads.
Notice how this copy matches the content blocks EXACTLY.
At first glance, you can’t tell it’s an ad.
But here’s why this company is so smart.
They don’t do this with every newsletter. But with THIS one, they link to another one of their subscriptions…
When you click that link, here’s where you land:
Yup.
That’s right.
Cheese subscription.
It’s literally the exact same business model with this offer, just for a cheese subscription instead of a wine box.
I guarantee they cloned their already successful model and are now just rolling it into different products.
These people are so damn smart, I gotta hand it to them.
Bravo, Bright Cellars crew.
Bravo.
Big Takeaways From Glass Half Full
- If at first they don’t buy, rotate your offer.
- Make your emails themselves valuable.
- Email every day so reading your emails becomes a habit.
- Every email should have great content. That’s why people will continue to read.
- Nobody likes ads in their inbox.
- Make your readers smarter every single day.
- Be fun and playfull in your copy.
- Use pop culture references.
- Make your pitch blend in with the rest of the copy.
- If you have a successful model, clone it!
Sign Up For Glass Half Full
If you want to get smart AF when it comes to wine, sign up for Glass Half Full.
Yes, this is a referral link.
No, I don’t get paid for this.
But if I get enough referrals they’ll send me a corkscrew. And even though I have a bunch, I really want one. So sign up right now.
Click here to sign up for Glass Half Full.
What To Do Now
- Subscribe to my email list so you can get ALL of the Emails of the Week delivered straight to your inbox, automatically.
- Leave a comment for me below and let me know what you liked about this email.
- Send this breakdown to someone you know who has a physical product business. This might help them recover more abandoned carts.
- Sign up for Glass Half Full. It’ll make you smart AF when it comes to wine.
Not sure if it changes things from an analytical perspective, but I signed up after reading your last Bright Cellars review and received an invite for the newsletter after three days (instead of six months). Maybe I’m just an isolated incident, but I’m wondering if they’re doing that to recoup their ad spend faster?
I like the newsletter idea. It sounds like a thing to try to avoid giving up too early, and it keeps you in your reader’s inbox and the front of their minds. Their branding’s subtle but you see it every. single. time. you open their email.
They did a great job with that ad too. It blended right in. If you’re into cheese, you’re going to click the links. I wouldn’t think twice about it and I’m not into either.
I’m curious if they own Wine Folly. They linked to them at least twice in the newsletter I got. Maybe another email to follow/study?