Whisky.
The nectar of the gods.
As much as I love wine, I have to admit… whisky holds a special place in my heart as well.
If you love whisky too… you are going to love this article. Because today, I have a very special treat for you. A very delicious treat I think you’re going to enjoy.
We’re going to be breaking down an email from a Whisky Subscription company all the way in Australia.
*Googles “Australia memes”*
“Yup… that’ll do.”
So grab your snifter.
Sit your ass in your seat.
And get ready to learn some sexy fucking email marketing strategies that are going to put some money in your pocket.
Strap yourself in and get ready for the 8th instalment 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!
“Tell me what brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.” – Abraham Lincoln, President, BAMF
I looked up whisky sayings and this one just hit me today. So that’s what we’re rolling with for subhead #2.
Ok, so let’s talk about Whisky.
More importantly, we’re going to be talking about cart abandonment AND how it relates to whisky.
A few weeks back, I got an email from Carrie Carr. In case you don’t know Carrie, she’s one of the best eCommerce email copywriters I know. She forwarded me an email from a company called Whisky Loot.
It’s quite tragic that this is an Australian company and not an American one. They don’t ship to New Jersey, which breaks my heart.
However, they are doing some solid things with their cart abandonment sequence… things we should take notice of.
Money on the Table
For most eCommerce businesses, the easiest money to pick up is found in their cart abandonment sequence.
Industry statistics (whatever the fuck that means) say that over 70% of carts are abandoned.
That means people go to your site… they put an item(s) in their cart… and then they don’t hit the “submit my order” button.
Why don’t more people follow through?
Well…
Probably for a few reasons.
Maybe they got their TEN MILLIONTH FUCKING ROBO CALL OF THE DAY and got distracted.
Maybe their kid just knocked over their juice cup and they gotta go clean it up.
Maybe someone sent them a funny Youtube video and now they HAVE TO DROP EVERYTHING THEIR DOING to check it out.
Or… maybe they’re just not totally sure yet if they wanna buy it.
Whatever the reason, this is a huge problem.
But with every huge problem, there’s a huge opportunity waiting for the marketer who can solve it.
Why Would You Buy This Kind of Thing in The First Place?
So real quick – Whisky Loot sells a subscription whisky box. They send you three small bottles of whisky each month. They’re always different. They’re probably whiskys you’ve never tried before. In addition to the obvious fun benefits of drinking good whisky… they also TEACH you more about the whisky you’re drinking.
This is important, because without this educational component… how would you mansplain random whisky factoids to your friends? If they didn’t educate you on the stuff you’re drinking, then you wouldn’t bring it up at that party you’re at… your friends would never get jealous of your whisky knowledge… they would never feel bad about themselves… and they’d never buy a subscription themselves just to keep up with the Jonses.
Don’t laugh.
This is the psychology behind luxury purchases. And a whisky club subscription is most definitely a luxury buy.
It’s a status thing.
And I’m kind of sad that I can’t participate, to be completely honest.
Their products and their marketing look awesome.
How Whisky Loot Reduces Their Cart Abandonment
Whisky Loot – to my knowledge – has a two-email sequence for when people add an item to their cart.
Let’s take a look at the sequence Carrie Carr sent me.
Cart Abandonment Email #1
Subject line: Hold up, you forgot something ????
So as you can see, there’s not a TON of copy here.
But that’s the thing with cart abandonment emails…
Rule #1 of good email copywriting: Write to achieve your objective.
Your objective with this kind of email is to get your potential customer to go back and complete their order. That is all. Keep the main thing the main thing.
That being said…
You can still have some fun with it.
Whisky Loot starts off with a pretty effective subject line.
There’s a pattern interrupt: Hold up,
Then it calls attention to what they need you to focus on: you forgot something ????
Now, they ended their subject line with a shopping cart emoji. Something to test. Seems like it’s working for them… otherwise they probably wouldn’t leave it in there.
Emojis can work well when you pepper them in like this.
If you find yourself using more than 1-2 emojis per subject line (or paragraph of copy)… you’re doing something wrong.
Anyway…
Above the fold, they rely on a big image to convey the main idea.
Personally…
PERSONALLY…
I really like plain text cart abandonment emails over image-heavy ones.
But this seems to be effective. Different strokes, and that’s totally ok.
I love the copy they have in the body, though.
You left some damn good whisky behind.
I think the way they worded this is very clever. It almost feels like you’ve lost something. The fear of loss is ALWAYS more powerful than the desire for gain.
This sentence can be interpreted in many ways, but I feel your subconscious picks it up as: “Oh shit, I missed out… but if I click this button I can make this bad feeling go away.”
Here’s where this email really shines:
They hit ALL the right triggers.
They put a countdown on you.
You have 48 hours… or something bad happens. They also invoke the Zeigarnik effect, which is that thing that happens in your brain where you can’t stop thinking about a task until it’s completed. Your brain WANTS to close the loop and finish what it started.
It continues with even more good psychology:
After the 48 hours, we’re going to empty your cart (more fear of loss) and we can’t guarantee what you wanted will be available (even MORE fear of loss).
FOMO like you read about, bruh.
The cool thing with this company is that they’re sending out new whiskys every month.
So if you miss this… you’re not going to get another chance at it for that good of a deal.
I like the button copy: continue to checkout. Mainly because of course we want to continue… our brains want us to complete this unfinished task.
They end with a good PS reminder, which actually serves as an upsell. If you buy more, you don’t pay shipping. Nobody LIKES paying shipping. And we’ll spend more if we can avoid it.
Well done.
I’m not sure the timing of when this email goes out. I’d imagine it’s probably within a few hours of the order not being complete.
However, if you DON’T wind up buying… they follow up again:
Cart Abandonment Email #2
Subject line: We think you left something behind…
^^Another “Zeigarnik” subject line.
Again, appealing to FOMO.
^^FOMO like a MOFO.^^
Nobody likes to leave people waiting. You can imagine some dude on their factory floor holding your order in their arms: “Did he place the order yet? What’s he waiting for… this is getting heavy!”
Don’t keep that guy waiting.
What I really love about this copy block is they’re doing some pacing and leading. (If you read these breakdowns every week, you’re already familiar with this concept.)
Pacing: We know life gets busy…
(We’re meeting you where you’re at.)
Leading: buy the fucking whisky already, guy. You know you want it.
(This is what you should do now.)
In this second email, they are still trying to achieve their objective. Except, if they didn’t complete their order after getting that first cart abandonment email… it’s probably because they have some unmet objections.
In these copy blocks, Whisky Loot does an incredible job of explaining what they gain if they join AND what they’ll miss out on if they don’t.
Plus, there’s a dash of social proof in there (thousands of members).
I like the pictures they included. Great touch.
Overall… a solid sequence.
I’m not sure if there’s a third email. I’d probably send one a few hours before the cart clears.
But they might have that in place and I just don’t know it.
Anyway…
Awesome job Whisky Loot.
You’ve taught us some valuable lessons.
Special Shout Out to Carrie Carr
Carrie Carr sent me this email. She’s an Email Copy Academy student. And she’s one of the best eCommerce email copywriters I know.
I’ve seen her work – she’s got chops. She comes up with solid hooks. Her writing has great flow. And she definitely understands how to WIN the game of eCommerce email.
Plus… she’s an awesome person.
You should get on her list at: http://groundworkcopywriting.com/
Big Takeaways from Whisky Loot’s Cart Abandonment Email Sequence
- Lean heavily on the Zeigarnik effect
- Push FOMO like a MOFO
- Inject some personality into your copy
- Cuss a bit
- Deadlines increase response
- Fear of loss is more powerful than desire for gain
- Scarcity is real and powerful for eCommerce – you only have so much inventory in your warehouse
- If they don’t buy the first time, start overcoming objections.
- Social proof helps.
- Pictures make abstract ideas more real.
Sneak Peek for Next Week
Next week, we’re going to look at another eCom automation.
How do you welcome people to your brand and make that first purchase? How do you get them to shift their beliefs so that they ONLY want to buy from you… and never from your competitors.
I found an email that does an awesome job of this.
I think you’re gonna love it.
Stay tuned for next week.
And if YOU would like to submit an email for review for Email of the Week (and get a shoutout if I choose yours)… forward me a really awesome, text-heavy eCommerce email that made your jaw drop.
What You Should Do Next
- 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. You might give them some inspiration to write an email that strengthens the bond they have with their customers.
- If you’re in Australia, join Whisky Loot! If you’re in the U.S., please find me the American version of this because I need it in my life.
