Is your list ignoring you?
Low open rates.
Even lower click rates.
And sales per send dropping like an anchor into the ocean.
It may seem like your list is ignoring you (and they may be), but…
Your problem isn’t subject lines, preview text, or even deliverability.
Not entirely.
Here’s what’s standing in your way of making more sales with email, in this situation:
Segmentation.
A few months ago, we started working with a $12M+ per year health and wellness brand, and they had this problem.
They sent one “newsletter” per week to their entire list.
It would do between $40k – $60k in sales per send.
A healthy, solid list at first glance, but…
Their overall email sales were dropping, slowly.
The newsletters, with each send over Q2, were making fewer and fewer sales. Some dipping as low as $18k on one send.
In hindsight, making $18k on one send is amazing, but…
For this brand, that was way below what they were used to over the last two years.
So, what did we do to “get the sales back up”?
We did not:
- Offer a discount on products.
- Put more design in the emails.
- Add more products to the email.
We did not panic, push into desperation, and make our list think we were money hungry.
Instead, we adjusted to our list and what they wanted.
The newsletters were general industry topics that focused on modern health vs. alternative or non-Western health practices.
The people on the list were getting a bit tired of the Us vs. Them angle, since it’s the only one the brand used over 14 or so sends.
Instead…
We segmented their list into product category groups. Started sending category specific emails about popular products. We used various lead types like Pain-Agitate-Solve, historical stories, and review spotlights.
Here’s what happened with those category sends that went out DAILY between those weekly newsletter sends:
$27,808.92 in captured sales for this week.
And here’s the week before between the newsletter sends:
$55,514.63 in capture sales for this week.
The major concern this brand had about sending daily emails?
“Won’t our list get annoyed, unsubscribe, and never buy from us again?”
Some people will, yes, but…
Those aren’t your ideal customers.
Also…
This “category segmentation” protects your list from over sending.
How?
Those who engage with the site get more emails compared to those who do not engage with the site.
It’s behavior-driven sending.
Where many brands get “daily sending” wrong?
They send to their entire list, every single day, with no attention paid to how their list is actually engaging with their brand (aka their website and emails).
Those customers already shopping in a given category are most likely interested in that category, right?
And those reading and consuming your emails, but not clicking through the site (or clicking through and reading articles) are more likely still educating themselves on how this brand can help them.
There’s an education window this brand leans into, since they are asking people to shift their focus away from Western medicine and toward alternative health practices.
This means the brand’s list is split into a few major groups:
- Those looking for information to educate themselves BEFORE they purchase.
- Those looking for products to solve their specific problem.
- Those looking for general products to enhance their life.
The best part?
As customers get deeper and deeper into this brand’s backlog of products, they follow these groups from top to bottom.
Once they’re educated and have had a health concern addressed, they are looking to make the rest of their life better, which…
Gives us a huge opportunity for high AOV and high LTV.
With all this being said…
If your email sales have plateaued OR are dropping for no obvious reason, then…
You probably need to start segmenting your list BEFORE you send.
This brand did and captured more than their prior newsletters per week.
How much are you leaving on the table?
Click here and book a call with us so we can help you find out.