Author: Chris Pearson, Partner & Email Marketing Specialist at 3BM
A couple years back I came across Ben Settle.
Like most, I joined his list and then eventually became an Email Players subscriber.
I stayed a paid subscriber for about three years and bought a number of his other products.
While I was honing my copywriting skills, Ben helped me a ton–longside a number of other coaches, mentors, and information.
In one of Ben’s emails, he mentioned el Furecat aka Matt Furey.
I navigated over to Matt’s website, read his words, and signed up for his list.
To this day, I read every single email Matt and Ben send to me.
The way these two write and send emails is like none other, and I get so much from simply reading, breaking down, and asking “why” they wrote it that way.
No logo or introduction today, but…
Check out Matt Furey’s website.
Then, read the rest of this article as I break down one of Furey’s “price increase” emails.
Rules: The Email Muse
Each week, I venture through the marketing wilderness to find highly-effective ecommerce sales emails… and I shine a light on what made them work.
My goal with this weekly tangle with the email muse is to teach you strategies and tactics you can use with your emails.
Where do I find these magical electronic pieces of mail? My inbox, mostly, since I’m signed up to lists that I want to be on. I also take suggestions from readers who have a stellar email they’d like to share.
Did you get an email recently that made you smile, your eyes tear up, or flat out gut punched you? I want to see it.
Forward the email to me at (chris at threebeaconmarketing dot com) with a brief note about what you liked about it. If I choose to break it down, I’ll give you a shoutout and link back to your site.
And no forwarding me your own emails. That’s the only rule.
Capeesh?
Let’s get started.
Short and Sweet Subject Line
Matt Fuery keeps this subject line short and sweet.
He also leans into the benefit of the program he’s going to talk about in the email without naming it.
While this may seem like three “random” words in a subject line, they relate to the offer he’s making in the copy.
Subject lines don’t have to be complex, multi layered entities. They can be short, sweet, and simple, as long as they make a promise, poke a pain, or share an outcome.
The Opener
Furey keeps things “in real life.” He’s been “on the horn” for about 4 hours, so he wants to keep the email short.
He’s doing two things with this email:
First, he’s keeping it real with his audience. No antics, fake posturing, or pompous copy.
Second, he’s explaining why the email is short compared to his typical story-driven sales copy he usually sends. In most of his emails, he open with a short story showing the point he makes later in the email. He’s meeting this audience where they are and setting expectations.
The Reason for the Offer
Social proof.
It’s one of your most powerful skepticism and cynicism objection handlers.
This is why sharing reviews, testimonials, and case studies helps customers ease their reservations about buying from you.
If it worked for hundreds or thousands of people, then it ought to work for me, right?
Furey does this at the most basic level, but it’s powerful.
He links to the program for people to go check out and see the reviews for themselves.
He’s setting up the reader for the announcement to come.
The Announcement
A lot of brands make the mistake of simply making the offer to their audience.
They forget to add the “because” for the offer (aka the reason why).
Furey shares why he’s about to make an offer so that his audience doesn’t think he’s doing something shady or grubby.
Not using a “reason why” for an offer leaves the customer to fill that gap.
For example, if you’re going to raise your prices on a product, simply doing it and not mentioning it can work, but…
You leave your customers to wonder why. The human brain will naturally answer the questions it gets.
This means the temperament of the customer will “paint the image” of your brand instead of you guiding it.
What do I mean?
Let’s say you raise your prices and say nothing. Keep doing business as usual.
Some people will notice, and without a “reason why,” they will come up with reasons on their own:
- Inflation
- Greed
- Something’s wrong
- And many more.
However, if you share why you’re raising prices, it meets the customer where they are and gives them something to fit into that gap of “but why?”.
Furey does this perfectly with this paragraph.
The Call-to-Action
Now that he’s shown social proof and shared his reason why, Furey makes the announcement and calls his list to action.
Primarily, he’s targeting people who are “on the fence” and have not purchased yet.
The tactic he’s using here is what I like to call the “grandfather pricing” tactic.
Buy now and get “grandfathered” into that price for as long as your a member.
What this does is moves customers who have been considering the purchase but decided to wait.
If price was a main concern for those “almost customers,” then this tactic pokes that pain and lets them know what’s up.
If they don’t buy now, they’ll have to pay more later.
Use this tactic sparingly and only if you intend to raise and keep that price high.
Do not use this tactic to get purchases and then say, “oh, nevermind, we decided not to raise the price.”
Your customers will come after you with torches and pitchforks.
Nonetheless, this is a powerful “knock ‘em off the fence” move to use.
Sign Off
This is how Furey signs off most emails.
He doesn’t use a P.S. in this email.
Keep it short and powerful to get sales.
What You Learned
Here’s the tl;dr of what you learned today:
- Put the promise, pain, or outcome in the subject line to increase opens.
- Keep your email copy conversational to keep your customers reading.
- Social proof is one of your most powerful tools to convert people into customers.
- Give your customers a “reason why” for the change in your product, price, or service.
- A clear and simple CTA wins more often than a clever, creative one.
- Use the “grandfather price” tactic to knock prospects off the fence.