Email Marketing Copywriting
KODA PRO: B2B Email Funnel
Project: KODA wanted a gateway to expand its mid-market sales channel – where HOAs, contractors, and resellers could buy our lights in bulk / palletized quantities. I was tasked with creating an email funnel that generates after a potential client submits a form on the landing page.
Strategy: I wanted the user to have a very clear understanding what the next steps were. I made each paragraph clearly outline the expectations to come, while also informing the user to look out for certain email addresses and phone numbers, plus a tutorial on how to whitelist the incoming emails.
Orbit Industries: High-engagement B2B Product Email
Project: This manufacturer wanted more of its distributor customers to be aware of (and start buying) its fire suppression gaskets (model no. UFSI). At least once per year it would send out this campaign to its nationwide list of contractor and distributor contacts. They wanted to find ways to increase engagement on each send.
Strategy: By our fourth campaign, we had data from past A/B tests of the subject lines and hero image variants to be confident we had the best-of-the-best for each. I further improved the body copy by interviewing the Director of Marketing (who had recently pitched the product to contractors) and infused the writing with exact verbiage they used. Finally, we chose to place the “request a sample” CTA at the bottom to see if users were consuming the whole campaign. Results: 35.6% open rates, 12% click rates and over 20 samples requested. (Anecdotally, we turned several distributors onto the UFSI as well, thanks to increased contractor interest.)
Orbit: High Response Plain-Text Email, from Sales Mgr.
Project: Orbit wanted a way to remind its customer base who their individual territorial sales rep was. Too often, distributors and contractors forgot who their Orbit sales rep was (even long-time customers). Email seemed to be the most likely vehicle, however, overly-designed and image-laden newsletter templates had a tendency to get “chewed-up” by email clients like Outlook… and a certain percentage of our audience tended to trash email that looked “newsletter-y” if they were really busy that day.
Strategy: Inspired by a few newsletters by pro Copywriters (which featured all text, no images) we set out to make our first email campaign of the new year look like “me-mail” – i.e. like a regular email from me to you. I used MailChimp’s plain text custom template editor to write the body in HTML, and even personalized the ‘From’ line to the Sales Manager’s name. After sending, we got a ton of direct replies – meaning recipients believed they were emailing their rep directly!
Orbit: Product Family Email for SSB System
Project: Orbit wanted to improve email engagement rates for its Simple Support Bracket (SSB) – the company’s flagship product. Despite its incredible utility, the first few campaigns resulted in uninspiring open rates between 18-20%, and dismal click rates of >1.5%. Typically Orbit’s strongest subject lines were the product name spelled out – but for some reason ‘Simple Support Bracket’ did not test well.
Strategy: Over the course of 4 campaigns, we tested subject lines and body content, giving us some data to test theories. For body content, we tested hero images – single product with call-outs vs. single product application vs. multiple product applications (multiple was the winner). For subject lines, we noticed starting with the word “Simple” seemed to be dragging down opens, and “Support” didn’t say enough. The winning subject line became “Orbit’s Simple Stud Bracket” – ironically a shortened version of a subject line used in the first campaign!
Orbit: High-engagement Product Email
Project: Orbit’s 5” Square Box was 3 years old and losing steam in terms of email performance. To re-ignite excitement for this product, I filmed a video and debuted it to our email audience. Orbit also wanted to continue offering samples, but we were concerned that the two calls-to-action (watch video vs. request samples) might cannibalize each other.
Strategy: On this send, we tested three variants of a hero image, with the primary CTA leading subscribers to the video page. The opening paragraph “teases” the reader with dramatic benefits, with a touch of mystery that can only be resolved by watching the video. A bottom-fold sentence entices readers to scroll all the way to the bottom for samples, and despite it being a very-long email, we still got a decent number of requests. Results: 37.3% open rate (vs. 19.9% previously) and 13% click rate (vs. 1.8%).
Orbit: COVID-19 Official Email to Customers
Project: In March of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic reached American cities and uncertainty was at an all-time high, Orbit executives asked that we transmit an official letter to all email subscribers. The main points to get across were Orbit’s commitment to stay open and operating, what safety measures we were taking, and to brace people for the possibility of shipping delays.
Strategy: I chose a plain-text template to maximize deliverability and readability on all email clients. So that we could gather all the important talking points quickly, I sat with the VP of Marketing and the President and hit ‘record’ on my phone and simply let them speak for 20 minutes. I then collected a number of example “COVID-19 response”-type emails that were coming to my inbox at that time. Finally, I merged these two sets of text into a tight, coherent letter that appears to come directly from the President’s mouth – giving Orbit’s disaster response a more personal feel.