One of the popular list-building strategies e-commerce businesses use is to do a “giveaway” or “raffle” promotion.

It works like this:

You drive traffic (either from ads or a partner’s email list) to a squeeze page where you offer to give something away for free.

Usually, the giveaway is for one of your products… or for a gift card to your store.

And usually… you get a TON of responses.

Thing is…

A large portion of the people who sign up for your raffle quickly forget they ever did that in the first place.

So when you start sending them emails, they wonder… “Who are you again? And how did I get on your list?”

If you’re someone who regularly uses giveaway promos to build your list for your e-commerce business, then you have to be very delicate with how to begin the relationship with your new subscribers.

I received an email from my buddy Justin Blackman a while back, from a company called BroBasket… who did a great job with their “welcome” email after one of these promotions.

They did all but ONE thing perfectly in this email.

So, I thought it’d be a good idea to break it down this week.

So without further ado, let’s dive right in!

This is the 20th 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!

BRO!

Any company with the word “bro” in it’s name is going to get my attention.

That’s why I was so pumped when Justin sent this email my way.

Apparently, The BroBasket is an alcohol themed gift company for bros.

In other words… right in my wheelhouse.

Let’s take a look at their “giveaway optin welcome email.”

Subject: Thanks for Taking Part in Our Giveaway!

I think the subject line could use a little work. Plus, it’s title cased… so I’m subtracting points.

It is straightforward and clear tho, so you gotta give em that.

I think the real magic for this email lies inside.

Ok, so there’s a lot of good stuff going on here.

First, check out the header.

We see get introduced to their logo… and there’s a humorous subhead. From the very beginning, BroBasket is beginning to let their voice shine through.

The first line opens up in a conversational way.

This is yet another great example of pacing and leading: meet them where they’re at… then lead them (mentally) to where they need to be.

The problem whenever you run a giveaway is that usually, you’re doing it with partners. And usually, people are getting opted into multiple different lists.

So if you want to stand out, you gotta distinguish yourself.

You gotta enter that conversation in your reader’s mind.

BroBasket does that in spades, from that very first line.

I really like their use of you and we.

Sure… I would like it better if it were you and I, but sometimes brands like writing from the team, rather than from a single person.

I’ll allow it.

The next part is pretty cool…

The first line is my kind of humor.

You chuckle a bit, and then they get down to the nitty-gritty.

Whenever you’re doing a welcome email, it’s very important to set expectations. People like to know what they’re getting into… especially if this is their first contact with your brand.

You want subscribers who KNOW what they should expect, so they don’t spam you or send you angry email replies.

It just makes your life easier to set email expectations from the beginning.

Take a look at how they did that with these three bullets.

Of course, I personally believe they’d make more money if they emailed more than 1-2x/month. But that’s another discussion for another day.

 

One of the things I liked in this email was the tone.

It’s very relaxed, very conversational.

It’s very human.

They even use emojis.

You feel like a real person (who’s kind of just like you) wrote it.

Now…

Let me ask you this:

What’s missing from this email?

Think about it for a second.

If you were allowed to make one change to this email… what would you do differently?

Wanna know what I would do?

I’d include an OFFER.

Something.

ANYTHING to get them to click through and start shopping.

I mean… why not, right?

You wanna sell some BroBaskets?

Have a starter kit… or some kind of offer that gets people excited to click through and start buying.

I think they missed out on a huge opportunity here.

Is every single person who opted in going to buy right off the bat?

Of course not.

But if you give people a CTA and a link and a REASON to buy right now, I bet they’d generate a few thousand dollars in sales from this one email alone.

Overall, I think BroBasket did a great job with this email.

I think if they added one Call to Action… it would have really crushed.

At the end of the day, I think they did a great job setting expectations, building a bond, and intriguing you enough to stick around… while most other companies probably scare people away with their welcome emails.

Nice job on this email, BroBasket.

Keep up the good work.

Big Takeaways from The BroBasket’s Welcome Email

  1. Don’t title case your subject lines.
  2. Clarity trumps persuasion.
  3. Set expectations so people know how many emails they’re going to get from you, and at what intervals.
  4. Use colloquial language (“How the heck…”).
  5. Write like a real person, not a nameless, faceless corporation.
  6. Use emojis like a fine spice – not too many or you’ll spoil the dish.
  7. Every email you ever send should have a CTA.
  8. Every email you ever send should give someone an opportunity to buy something.
  9. Let people know they can leave any time they want to. It builds trust… and most people will stay longer because you’re not trying to lock the doors behind them.
  10. Make a joke, people will like you more… and will probably end up buying from you.

Special Shout Out to Justin Blackman

Justin Blackman is getting his second shout out on Email of the Week.

In case you don’t know Justin, you SHOULD. He’s an incredible headline writer, a co-coach in the Codex Persona Workshop, and he’s one of the coolest copywriters I know. He’s also worked with superstars in our industry, like Amy Porterfield.

So yeah… the guy is a PRO and he knows wtf he’s talking about.

Fun fact:

Justin is on EVERY one of my Email Copy Academy coaching calls.

He’s not only an incredibly effective writer and copy coach… he’s also one of the hardest working dudes I know. Plus… he’s funny as shit.

I got the pleasure to hang out with him at Copy Chief Live AND The Copywriter Club In Real Life.

If you aren’t on his email list, you SHOULD be:

Click here to get Justin’s “93 Signoffs To Punch Up Your Emails”

Thanks so much for submitting this email, Justin. You’re a gentleman and a scholar.

What You Should Do Next

  1. Subscribe to my email list so you can get ALL of the Emails of the Week delivered straight to your inbox, automatically.
  2. Leave a comment for me below and let me know what you liked about this email.
  3. Send this breakdown to someone you know who has a physical product business. You might help them turn more new subscribers into sales.
  4. Send a BroBasket to that special Bro in your life. They’ll thank you for it.

 

1 thought on “[Email of the Week #21]: The BroBasket”

  1. I like your idea of adding an offer. It needs an offer. As it stands, the email talks about how you got on the list, how many emails you’ll get, and how to unsubscribe but gives no reason to stay. What’s in it for me? Receiving 2 emails a month is not a benefit or a reason to stay subscribed. And there’s no mention (unless I missed it) of what the bro basket even is!

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