We already showed you how to create a succesful opt-in on your website. A great welcome message should follow. That’s the base. Usually, you wait until the next step to construct your commercial story. Shoe seller DUO takes an interesting approach.
No first real commercial message after you subscribed. No, after a few days the “thank you” and “activate now” message is followed by a new automated message: “We would like to get to know you”.
1 In this part they play out the USP (Unique selling proposition) to give the reader the impression that it’s not just about shoes. They call on a new world, because they don’t just manufacture footwear. They also want to offer you a good feeling. That’s also why the happy woman in her home on the right looks casually but directly into your eyes.
2 Ever heard of differentiation? We often get the impression that we shouldn’t let our contacts in on that secret. Maybe we don’t want to be viewed as smooth and salesy. DUO goes for a different approach. They do tell their contacts that they want to get to know them to tailor their future messages better. It gives the company an expert feel, especially in a world where we often need to delete irrelevant content.
3 Of course this effort is linked to a reward. Not just the right message, but also a discount and an extra service in the form of free delivery and free returns is offered to those who take the effort to fill out a form. The gift is only valid on the first order.
4 The call to action is kept sober. The gift is presented in big chocolate letters, but the CTA is more a logical result in the sentence that completes the message. They are counting on the feeling that people whould easier click through on a more dry link like this. A big fat button would more give the feeling that they need to buy.
The form itself was rather surprising. They didn’t ask about how many shoes you have in your closet, and they don’t want to know about the type of shoes you like to wear. No, the questions were more about values – am I traditional or sensitive to trends – and about feelings – I would rather pick to spend my time with family, or with friends or colleagues from work. Values, feelings, your social attitudes, it has nothing to do with shoes at first sight. But it has everything to do with experience, it could be the first time a brand tries to differentiate on that.
5 Of course you should also be able to use your present. This CTA takes you to an overview page. Those who don’t have an account yet are invited to create one. Because you need it to claim your discount. But you also need it to order your shoes. Even if you didn’t have the intention to buy yet, chances are that you do create the account. And that will probably be the first conversion goal of this email message. You are at the front door of the store!
