Of all the different e-commerce verticals out there… I think fashion/apparel brands have some of the worst email marketing I’ve ever seen.

Most email lists that I’m on in that space do nothing but send one flash sale campaign after the next.

Their emails typically contain a product image, a big flashing coupon GIF, and a button to buy.

Very little copy.

Very little value.

Some clothing brands will literally run the same 30% off flash sale week… after week… after week… after week… after week.

I’ll tell ya what…

This is a damn good way to burn out your email list.

Of course, there are SOME brands out there like Shinesty who do an incredible job in this space. But brands like Shinesty are few and far between.

Today…

I wanted to look at one company that does an absolutely incredible job with their email marketing.

I’m talking about Well Built Style.

Now, WBS is actually NOT a fashion/apparel brand.

It’s a blog and style consulting service run by a guy named Manny.

Manny is incredible.

He probably has the most valuable Twitter account in the Men’s style space… and his blog articles and emails are so good he should charge for them.

When I started getting his emails I asked myself: “Why the hell don’t apparel brands write emails like THIS?”

Even though Manny doesn’t sell clothing as part of his business… the way he writes his emails are some of the most effective apparel marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

I’m going to break one of them down today and show you why.

If YOU yourself run a fashion/apparel brand… you might wanna pull out a pen and paper and take some notes. Because Manny knows how to do email and sell clothing… the RIGHT way.

So…

Without further ado…

Let’s dive into this week’s Email of the Week!

This is the 32nd 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!

The Drip Never Takes A Backseat

If you’ve picked up my Pay Yourself First e-commerce email copywriting course, there’s a couple important concepts in that book that will change the way you do email marketing forever.

The first concept is that if you want to win at email marketing, you need to make your emails themselves valuable.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean hard teaching or making them 5,000 words long.

Nothing like that.

What it DOES mean is, when you’re looking at the emails you send out, ask yourself:

“Are my company’s emails going to get deleted… or saved?”

That’s a sobering question for most brands.

MOST brands will have their emails instantly deleted… because they are product/promo-centric.

Which brings me to my second point…

Your emails should be focused on OUTCOMES… not products.

What exactly does this mean?

How do you focus on an outcome and not a product?

Well…

Manny from Well Built Style does this better than anyone I know.

Every single one of his emails brings you closer to upgrading your style and feeling better about your appearance.

THAT is what good email marketing does: it provides messaging that helps you move toward your goals. The products your company sells become the vehicles that help you achieve your goals faster.

This is the difference between brands that succeed long term with their email marketing.

We’re going to dive into one of Manny’s recent emails so you can SEE why focusing on outcomes > products is so damn important.

I dare you to try and read through this email and not want to buy something by the end of it.

Let’s dive in…

Manny usually emails at least once a week.

And when one of his emails pop into my inbox… it’s a “stop what you’re doing and read it right now” kind of things.

His subject lines are always solid. You’ll see here he’s using a combination of curiosity + benefit. There’s definitely some intrigue being built.

One of the things about Manny’s emails, too, is that his philosophy always shines through. His company is called Well Built Style for a reason – he believes you should get in shape, get some muscle, and then have a simple style philosophy that accents your body.

Notice how that philosophy is weaved throughout the copy in this email.

What’s really cool about what Manny is doing here in the copy is he’s taking a simple concept and shifting your beliefs. This is always good to do in your emails.

You THOUGHT you knew how to wear a henley… but he’s about to stretch your thinking and give you a ton of new ideas… thus bringing you closer to achieving your goal of looking better.

Let’s keep going…

 

 

In this section, you’ll see a little pacing and leading going on.

He’s meeting you where you might be at, style-wise… and then he’s going to lead you to some new ideas.

Great technique here.

The combos he shows are already starting to give you some good ideas.

Manny is a MASTER of demonstrating his craft.

Keep in mind, Manny’s main offer is selling his consulting services (which I highly recommend: I recently became a client myself… and his consults are totally worth it.)

He’s always demonstrating his expertise by SHOWING you examples of good style. After enough demonstration, it’s hard to not be intrigued and want to give him your business.

Anyway, let’s keep moving through this email…

 

You’ll notice how Manny keeps his copy simple and easy to understand. He’s not verbose. And he strategically uses images, unlike a lot of design-happy apparel brands who focus ONLY on imagines and not enough on the narrative of the email.

This section is so cool… because as you read through it, your brain starts getting tons of ideas.

Then, he unpacks the images with some great copy…

 

 

As you’re reading this email, you’re learning how to dress better.

This is super valuable… how would you EVER delete any email this guy sends you?

You can’t.

See what I mean?

You actively look forward to getting his emails, because you get so much value each time. AND… these emails are not only educating you, they’re moving you closer to a sale… so you can get better results even faster.

OUTCOMES… not products.

Is this starting to make sense yet?

 

 

Now…

Keep in mind – Manny’s company is NOT an apparel company.

But imagine if it WAS.

Imagine for a second that he DID, in fact, have his own clothing line.

How could you get this far into the email and NOT want to buy whatever product he was plugging?

If this was “his” brand of Henley… you’d buy it right now. You KNOW how to use the product because he not only demonstrated how… he also dimensionalized its benefits.

 

 

Now, everyone in the apparel industry is going to say: “B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but everyone discounts… all our competitors do it… people won’t buy without a discount!!!”

Do you see how that line of thinking is total bullshit?

See how he’s able to “sell” you on wearing these henleys… and he’s doing it without ever mentioning price or a discount?

The price isn’t even on your mind.

That cost is a secondary consideration.

It doesn’t even factor in.

By this point in the email… you WANT that item.

Again… this is just solid demonstration & dimensionalization.

A+ email copy right here.

Now, some people might be thinking…

“Hey… I’m not a model… I’m not Ryan Reynolds… this stuff might not look good on me. I’m just a normal dude.”

Manny obliterates that objection in the next section, all while continuing to demonstrate & dimensionalize.

 

 

To my knowledge, Manny isn’t a ‘model.’

But he’s demonstrating the look with some of the items he recommends.

And he’s showing both the casual version and the dressy version, tying it into the overall hook of the email.

 

 

Here, we’re getting toward the end of the email.

Again, this copy is just a masterclass in demonstrating product.

You get a ton of value from this email… and it’s just such a natural segue into his soft pitch for his services (which I HIGHLY recommend):

He’s not pressuring you… this pitch almost has a “super-signature” feel to it.

“When you’re ready, here’s how you can get some more help.”

All in all… this is the most effective strategy for selling apparel I have EVER seen.

If you own a fashion/apparel brand… and you’re not sure what you should be putting in your emails, it  might be worth it to try the WBS approach and focus on being a LEADER in your field.

People are looking for insight and guidance.

I think that’s what makes Manny’s approach so effective.

No matter what you sell, if you adopt this kind of approach with your email marketing, you’ll get much better engagement, much more loyalty, and a LOT more sales.

Nice job Manny.

Keep up the great work.

Big Takeaways from Well Built Style’s Email Game

  1. Always focus on outcomes over products.
  2. Make your emails “undeletable.”
  3. Be a leader in your market, lead people to the results they want and use your products as the vehicles to get them there faster.
  4. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate.
  5. Price shouldn’t be your only selling point.
  6. Use pictures strategically, to bolster the points you’re making in your copy.
  7. Curiosity + benefit works well for subject lines.
  8. Overcome objections as they arise.
  9. Keep your copy tight, focused, and pithy.
  10. If you do a good job in the body copy, your pitch feels effortless and welcome.

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 write “undeletable” emails that increase sales and customer loyalty.
  4. Get on Manny’s email list. And hire him for a style consult… the dude has a gift. I love his philosophy and working with him is a total gamechanger – especially if you’re ready to stop looking like a fucking jabroni.

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