Last week, I celebrated my very first Father’s Day.

It was awesome.

Got to hang out with all my family members and bask in the glory of finally becoming a Patriarch.

I really enoyed it.

As you can probably guess, I was off my phone for almost the entire day. So I didn’t see many of the emails that were going out for Father’s Day sales.

Of course, most brands held their Father’s Day promos a couple weeks earlier – which was smart. Definitely a good strategy.

Thing is, I’ve always found that MOST holidays have the potential to be really great sales days, no matter what you’re selling.

People are in a good mood. When people need a break from their families, they escape into their inboxes. Also, most marketers are chickenshits who are too scared to mail out emails for some holidays… which means YOUR email will probably get more attention in the inbox.

Anyway…

Earlier this week, I was scrolling through Twatter and I saw a tweet from Austin Brawner. In case you don’t know Austin, he’s the host of the eCommerce Influence Podcast – one of my personal favorites. He also runs The Coalition, a really awesome membership & coaching community for eCommerce business owners.

He’s an awesome dude.

Super sharp.

Great beard, too.

I like the guy a lot.

He tweeted out a screenshot of a Father’s Day email he received from Mr. Davis.

Now, I had never heard of Mr. Davis before. Apparently, they sell The World’s Best Undershirt.

I checked them out – they looked like a pretty cool brand. But when I saw the email Austin tweeted… I was kind of blown away.

Talk about tugging on your heartstrings.

This thing had it all – emotions, salesmanship, story, visual persuasion. Just a really solid email.

I knew it’d make a perfect Email of the Week.

So, that’s what we’re gonna take a look at today.

Oh, and let me address this real quick…

I’m SURE there’s going to be one disgruntled person out there who says:

“Hey Chris, why did you only break down a Father’s Day email and not a Mother’s Day email? What are you some kind of misogynist?”

To answer your question, no.

I am not.

It’s just that no one… LITERALLY NO ONE sent me a good Mother’s Day email to breakdown.

I’d love to publish a great Mother’s Day Email of the Week as well, if you have one.

But if you don’t have one or you didn’t send it to me and you’re all pissed off as you’re reading this article… that’s kind of on you.

So, please  ???? don’t ???? fucking ???? @ ???? me ???? brah ????.

 

Now, then…

Without further ado…

Let’s take a look at the Email of the Week!

This is the 41st 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!

Dada Life

This email from Mr. Davis is great.

It makes an instant emotional connection.

It tells a story.

And it tugs on your heartstrings.

This is a MASTERCLASS in making a deep connection with your readers.

I’m not going to natter on, let’s just sink our teeth into this thing:

 

Ok since I didn’t get this email forwarded to me (I saw it in Austin’s tweet) I don’t have the subject line.

So we’ll get right into the body.

So, first of all – I’m not a huge fan of the oversized hero image. Especially when the copy is this damn good. But I guess I can award them points for ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’ and going for the jugular with the offer.

I just think it’s a bit of a shame that they buried this incredible story beneath this goliath sized Chad.

The layout of the email is interesting. It almost reminds me of how in journalism, they teach you to lead with the ‘gist’ of the story… because that’s the part most people will read. And few people will make it all the way down to the end of the story.

I guess that’s not a bad approach.

It’s logical.

But then again, people don’t always buy according to reason and logic.

Of course – maybe this email performed insanely well and I should stfu because I have no idea what I’m talking about. I don’t have the stats, obviously.

But from a pure copy standpoint… I would have loved to grab people by the throat with this story, get em all teary-eyed, and THEN introduce the offer.

All good though.

After the hero, there’s a little copy block about the offer itself. I’m not gonna focus on that part.

The next section is where this thing really shines.

Time is a Fleeting Thing

When you read that subhead in this email… how can you not feel a little tinge of nostalgia?

^^obligatory any time you use the word nostalgia^^

The story starts off with time-place-tension: a technique I teach the writers inside my Email Copy Academy coaching program.

You begin the story by setting the scene.

You know the characters. You know when and where the story takes place. And there’s a small hint of the plot – that’s the ‘tension’ part.

The second paragraph hits you right in the gut. You feel terrible just reading it. I mean, it really hits you right in the feels.

You can visually see this scene play out in your mind… like a movie.

Even though you don’t have all the details filled in, your imagination can fill in enough so you can feel like you’re watching the story unfold.

Here’s where it rally hits you though:

That third paragraph.

Oh man…

Total fucking gut punch.

I mean, Jesus Christ.

How do you not get emotional reading something like that. Especially when it’s so close to Father’s Day.

The sad thing is, maybe you know someone who experienced a similar trauma. You can’t imagine that pain. And when you layer on that element of regret… your heart hurts.

Now, the important thing to note here is that the person who wrote this email is NOT just telling this story to make you feel like you’re walking through an onion chopping factory.

There’s a point to all this.

The fourth paragraph begins the segue.

The copy starts to pivot toward the ‘lesson’ or ‘takeaway.’

The fifth paragraph issues a call to action.

Interestingly enough, the call to action is NOT to go buy and undershirt. It’s to perform a behavior that’ll no doubt further the emotional connection you’ve just developed with this brand.

When you look at those memories you jotted down, in the back of your mind you’ll remember that it was the damn Mr. Davis email that inspired you to do that.

Even if you don’t pull out a pen and paper and actually write anything down… your brain can’t help but drum up some happy memories. It’s practically impossible to resist this effect.

This is very fucking powerful, I need you to understand what you just witnessed here.

These type of emotional connections aren’t fleeting, they will stay with you long after you’ve forgotten about this email.

You’ll feel a certain way, every time you think of this brand… or see their shirts in a Facebook ad.

You are forever changed after reading this email. This story is THAT powerful.

On second thought, they might have been right about issuing the main CTA first – telling you to go buy a shirt BEFORE getting into the story.

Because after reading that story, you’re definitely feeling a certain way… and launching into a section of copy saying “Well gosh golly gee, you know what’ll help you soak up those tears so your wife won’t see you crying like a big ‘ol pussy… our undershirts!!! BUY ONE TODAY!”

Of course, that’s NOT their sentiment. That’s me, just trying to lighten the mood here.

Anyway…

Overall – I’d give this email an A+.

Super solid.

Super emotional.

And I know the next time I’m looking for undershirts… Mr. Davis has got my business.

Great job Mr. Davis team.

Hats off to you.

Special Shout Out to Austin Brawner

Austin Brawner is the Owner and Founder of Brand Growth Experts, a truly awesome business that helps eCommerce business owners accelerate their growth and build more profitable brands.

He’s also the host of the Ecommerce Influence Podcast, a show I listen to religiously. You should be listening to it as well, if you aren’t already.

He was the one who put this incredible email on my radar.

And for that, I thank him.

Btw – Austin is a fucking OG when it comes to Ecom email marketing. And in case I wasn’t clear the first three times I said it: you should be following him and buying his stuff.

So go do that right now.

You’re the man Austin.

Big Takeaways from Mr. Davis

  1. Hit ’em in the feels.
  2. Invoke nostalgia whenever you can.
  3. Use time-place-tension to open your story.
  4. Good stories aren’t about length, they’re about content.
  5. Give just enough details so people can imagine the story in their mind.
  6. Human interest stories are universal – we can all relate, even if we don’t have the exact same lived experience ourselves.
  7. Emotional connections make your brand sticky.
  8. If you got a Chad modeling your stuff… use him!
  9. Sometimes a picture is NOT worth 300 words.
  10. Direct focus with your copy to complete the emotional bonding process (issuing a CTA to jot down memories, etc.)

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. Get some undershirts from Mr. Davis. They actually look pretty good – I might have to pick some up myself. I can’t even think of buying from another brand after reading that email. So buy from Mr. Davis. At the very least, get on their email list.

 

 

 

 

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