In case you missed them, here are all previous entries in the series:

• Part 1: Email Automation Flows
• Part 2: Email Campaigns That Convert
• Part 3: Email Deliverability & Email List Hygiene
• Part 4: Email Segmentation
• Part 5: Email Design & Email Copywriting

Tariffs are temporary (hopefully). But loyalty isn’t.

Customer loyalty programs are one of the most effective and evergreen ways to turn an email subscriber list into an active community. And it’s that community that will insulate eCommerce brands from margin pressure and short-term economic shocks. Research suggests that eCommerce loyalty program members net between 12 and 18% more revenue than non-members every year.

When you have a base of returning customers who earn rewards, enjoy perks, and feel connected to your brand, you’re less dependent on expensive acquisition and more resistant to price sensitivity.

Let’s explore how loyalty programs can become your most strategic defense against tariff-driven uncertainty.

1: Points & Perks That Buffer Against Price Sensitivity

Points systems let you frame price increases in a positive light. Instead of saying “This now costs $10 more”, you can say:

“Earn 500 bonus points with every purchase this week”.

It shifts the conversation away from what customers lose to what they could gain.

With platforms like Shopify, you can use Yotpo Loyalty to:

• Assign point values to every dollar spent.
• Trigger bonus point events during tariff-driven price hikes.
• Offer double-points weekends to drive conversions without discounting.

Klaviyo Integration Tip:

Use Klaviyo’s custom properties to track loyalty tiers and point totals. This allows you to send segmented campaigns to VIPs (“Your perks just got better”) or trigger automations like “You’ve earned enough for a reward”). You can event rigger automations reminding readers how many points they have accumulated, and then show some ways they can redeem those points.

2: VIP Tiers That Encourage Retention

Tired programs help create emotional stickiness. when customers feel like they’ve earned status, they’re less likely to churn.

Whether you call your tiers Bronze/Silver/Gold or Insider/Premium/Elite, the mechanism si the same: acquiring a new status feels like a win, and motivates action.

You can use tariff-related price changes to amp up this effect. They can become a reason to promote VIP benefits:

• “As a Gold member, your pricing stays locked in for 20 more days.”
• “Elite members (like you!) still get free shipping, no matter the import fee.”

This approach reframes your customer loyalty program as a shield against volatility.

Shopify + Loyalty Expert Tip:

Combine Shopify Tags with loyalty tiers so fulfilment teams and customer service reps can offer perks manually (e.g., upgrade shipping or extend return windows during peak periods).

3: Make it Feel Like an Inside Deal, Not Just Another Customer Loyalty Program

The customers in your loyalty program are probably members of other loyalty programs, too. So they’re able to compare and judge how well yours stacks up.

That means they’re comparing deals and benefits, of course. But not every benefit needs to be monetary. Emotional benefits and exclusivity go a long way to crafting a customer loyalty program that stands out from the crowd.

For this period specifically, you can try:

• Early access to new (pre-tariff) products. Translation: “You’re part of our inner circle”.
• Loyalty-only limited editions. Translation: “You’re getting something other’s can’t.”
• First dibs on bundle pricing before a price hike hits. Translation: “We’re protecting your wallet.”

If you’re working with Klaviyo, use dynamic blocks in your emails to show exclusive content based on loyalty tiers. For example:

• Block A (shown to VIPs): “You have early access to our new drop.”
• Block B (shown to everyone else): “Upgrade your tier to unlock early access.”

This kind of dynamic personalization boosts perceived value without increasing costs.

4: Customer Loyalty Programs Strengthen Lifetime Value for Tariff Resilience

Here’s the simple math behind why customer loyalty programs work so well (especially when every cent counts):

• CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) on a new customers is around 5x higher than the cost of retaining an existing customer.
• CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) of loyalty program members can be up to 3x higher than that of non-members.

That means the more revenue you get from repeat customers, the less each new tariff cuts into your overall margin.

The moral of this story is simple: you don’t need to grow a huge list. You need to grow a sticky one.

5: Make It Visible & Make It Easy

Your customer loyalty program should be front and center, not buried in the footer.

Tactical tips to surface customer loyalty programs in the clearest and easiest ways:

• Use a persistent “Rewards” tab on your Shopify storefront.
• Add point balances in email headers (“You have 200 points to redeem!”).
• Include loyalty status on your post-purchase page.

Customers are more likely to take that extra step and join your program if you make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

Our suggestion: include your loyalty program in every basic blow. You can add a ribbon or a footer in all the emails of a specific email automation flow to maximize the chances of customers seeing it and taking action.

This is especially effective in Welcome and Post-Purchase email flows.

Your Customer Loyalty Program Is Your Homegrown Margin Insurance

Tariffs may raise your COGS, but loyalty raises your resilience. A thoughtful rewards program achieves two critical goals: rewarding customers, and cushioning your revenue against volatility.

So while others panic-discount to chase volume, you’ll be building something better: retention, advocacy, and consistent revenue, no matter the economic climate.

Let your competitors fight over one-time buyers. Your job? Turn uncertainty into loyalty with a customer loyalty program that integrates smoothly into your email marketing infrastructure. 

There’s a difference between ideas and good ideas. And not all “marketing holidays” will work for your eCommerce brand. Before you commit email copywriting and email design resources to a campaign, you need to sift “that’ll work” from “that’ll do”.

In this article, we outline a lean, result-driven approach to the month of May, including some strategic tips and engaging May newsletter ideas you can use to generated some pre-summer hype.

May: Your Pre-Summer Power Play

May sits in that strange in-between zone: Q1 is over, summer hasn’t started, and there’s no “tentpole” retail event dominating inboxes.

That’s what makes it a good time to experiment and clean house. Smart brands are using May to:

• Re-engage subscribers who didn’t bite in Q1.
• Test new content formats and A/B angles without the pressure of big sales goals.
• Warm up audiences for upcoming summer drops or promos.

Basically, now is the time to do everything you can to soften the blow of that summer sales slump. Many brands experience a drop of between 20-40%, so every effort you make right now will count in the long run. And relevant, engaging May newsletter ideas can soften the blow by increasing revenue in the run-up to the summer slowdown.

May the 4th Be With You: Lean Into the Cringe

Even if you don’t sell light sabres or have a single Star Wars reference in your brand guide, May 4th is too fun to ignore. It’s a pop culture moment with built-in share-ability. And you don’t need to force a tie-in. You just need to embrace the playfulness.

Think interactive: let your audience “choose their side” in a product quiz, or spotlight items that are “rebellious” vs. “classic”. You could even build a one-day campaign around “galactic” bundles or drop a time-limited discount that vanishes at lightspeed.

• “Choose your side” product quiz: Let subscribers pick between products or collections framed as Jedi vs. Sith. Bonus points for follow-up flows based on their choices.
• Lightspeed flash sale: A one-day-only deal with a cheeky Star Wars reference. Add a countdown timer for urgency.
• Customer costume contest or themed UGC: Ask for photos of customers using your product in full space-nerd glory. Feature them in your next send.

If your brand does have a Star Wars flavor, then this is a chance to engage loyalists with fan-favorite products, nostalgia, or UGC. Of course, if your audience overlaps with cult fandoms, they’re probably expecting this email. So it’s a good idea to go slightly off script, and to include a good offer in the email.

Small Business Week (May 5- 11): This One Can Actually Be All About You

Consumers love supporting small brands. They just need a reminder of why it matters.

Use this week to share a behind-the-scenes look at your operations, or celebrate some major milestones in the story of your business. You can also lean into the “why” behind your business, whether it started as a one-person passion project or a 20-person team. These stories may stick out as self-promotion at other times of year, but here they make perfect sense, which is why they should be central to your May newsletter ideas.

But remember: overproduced storytelling isn’t the goal. Instead, focus on genuine human. moments:

• Those late-night packaging marathons
• The first customer review that made you cry (for better or worse)
• The way your team makes big things happen on small budgets

If you’re not a small business yourself, partner with one. Curate a special collection or limited-time offer that celebrates makers, creators, and underdogs. This really deepens brand credibility with audiences who care about values.

Mother’s Day (May 12): Emotional Revelance, Not Generic Gifting

Mother’s Day doesn’t just belong to florists and jewelry eCommerce brands. Any brand can show up with care, as long as the message is thoughtful and authentic. That might mean featuring a founder story about lessons you learned from your mother, or spotlighting real customers and role caregivers play in their lives.

But proceed with caution: Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for some. Including a thoughtful opt-out in your emails before Mother’s Day is a great way to show that you really do care:

If you’re selling physical goods, don’t just push a gift guide. Try positioning it as a curated solution for last-minute shoppers or a way to honor someone non-traditional:

• Stepmoms
• Aunties
• The friend who always remembers your birthday

Even digital brands can use this moment. A campaign around mental load awareness, or self-care for caregivers. This all shows genuine awareness of your audience’s day-to-day challenges.

Memorial Day (May 27): Respectful Storytelling

Memorial Day is a big retail moment. But it also holds emotional and cultural weight. So leading with “50% OFF” headline can feel tone-deaf. The brands that win here are the ones that balance commemoration with value.

Start by acknowledging the value of the day with a short note, a moment of silence, or by highlighting a cause that your brand supports. Then transition to the promotional angle with thoughtful positioning:

• Helping your customers prep for a long weekend
• Getting summer-ready with appropriate deals
• Simply enjoying a small moment of ease with the people who really matter

If you’re running a sale, consider building in a charitable tie-in. Donating a portion of proceeds to a veteran organization, or spotlighting veterans in your customer base adds depth to the message.

The world of men’s fashion has undergone a massive transformation. eCommerce is now at the forefront of the runway.

At Hustler Marketing, we’re proud to work with awesome men’s apparel brands. As a strategic retention marketing partner, we help these brands to boost their email & SMS revenue, and even branch out into new channels like UGC ads.

Keep reading to learn how to excel in email marketing for men’s online clothing stores. We’re sharing some of our proven email marketing methods, and some actionable insights for men’s apparel brands. 

The eCommerce Boom in Men’s Fashion

Let’s face it – nobody likes waiting in lines, especially men.

The pandemic gave everyone a taste of the convenience of online shopping, and there’s no going back. Men’s online clothing stores have become a haven for those who’d rather avoid the mall madness and shop from their couch, bed, bathroom or anywhere in between!

It’s a Saturday afternoon, and you’re stuck in a crowded store, holding bags while your partner tries on “just one more outfit.”

That’s why men are flocking to online shopping. The new reality is that you can buy all your necessities, luxuries and treats from pretty much anywhere. Usually, all it takes are a few taps, a face ID scan, and wham bam your clothes are on the way. And they’re increasingly relying on email to help them make these decisions.

Who’s Wearing What?

Online shopping and social media platforms have revolutionized the way brands reach and engage with consumers.

Through targeted marketing and influencer collaborations, even the simplest products can gain immense popularity.

My favorite example of this is the $95 white tee from the hit TV show, “The Bear.”

$95 seems like an insane amount of money for a plain white t-shirt, but this simple tee became a sensation. Some will say because of its quality fabric and craftsmanship. But realistically, it’s because of how cool the character looked wearing it. This is what influencer marketing is at its finest—turning everyday items into must-haves through sheer charisma.

The store that retailed this t-shirt experienced a significant increase in sales after the show, “The T-shirt thing was like the perfect storm of the simplest possible product that can go viral”.

So, How do You Win With Men’s Clothing Online?

1. Keep It Personal

Believe it or not, men love to feel special too. And with the right tools, you can make content that feels like it’s made just for them. Everyone knows that mails with personalized subject lines get more clicks, but personalization is a lot deeper than {{name}}. It’s about knowing your readers well enough to understand what will really speak to them: humor, aspiration, challenge – or a combination of all three.

Here’s an email that reads its audience well. The email combines some simple storytelling with fun, easy-to-read copy that invites the reader to see himself in the banner image.

Use your readers’ browsing and purchase history to send emails that hit the mark. Men prefer simple and to-the-point designs, so make sure your emails reflect that.

2. Highlight the Convenience

Men appreciate anything that saves time.

Emphasize the ease of online shopping—no lines, no crowds, just quick, hassle-free purchases. Convenience and accessibility are major factors driving the growth of men’s fashion online, so make sure to highlight these benefits.

3. Show Off the Goods

Men’s fashion is about practicality and style.

Use high-quality images and clear descriptions to show how your products can enhance their daily lives. A seamless user experience is key to converting visitors into customers, so make sure your site is top-notch.

4. Optimize for Mobile

Most men shop on their phones.

Ensure your emails and website are mobile-friendly to make the shopping experience seamless. Mobile optimization is crucial for attracting and retaining male customers, so invest in a responsive design.

And last, but definitely not least,

5. User-Generated Content

Team up with UGC Creators who can really showcase your brand.

Unlike influencers, UGC ads feature real customers showing off your products, creating genuine and relatable endorsements. They bring authenticity to your brand and bridge the gap between big brands and consumers. Remember that $95 white tee? Well, you don’t need an award-winning TV show to tell a T-shirt — sometimes all it takes is a compelling UGC script, dedicated account managers, expert creatives, and measurable results.

Or Better Yet, Let Us Do It for You!

At Hustler Marketing, we know that marketing to men is a unique game. Our expert team has a low AM-to-client ratio, so we can really give your brand the focused attention it deserves. We’ve worked with top men’s brands and have been recognized as the best retention marketing agency for EMEA in 2024.

Our approach is tailored to the specific nuances of men’s apparel marketing, ensuring that your brand stands out in a crowded marketplace.

Hustler Marketing Services for Online Men’s Apparel Brands

• Personalized email campaigns and flows that use browsing and purchase history to send targeted messages, ensuring both relevance and engagement. In fact, our clients receive an average ROI of 22x from their spends on email marketing with us*.
• Tailored UGC scripts that align with personal brand and voice, bringing authenticity and trust. This increases engagement and conversion rates by making the promotion feel more genuine and relatable.
  

As a young, global team, we’re all about helping ambitious brands achieve their marketing goals, from retention marketing to UGC and social media advertising. 

We understand that very well – many of our email marketing experts are probably in your target audience themselves.

So let’s go and make somebody’s day.

Ready to take your eCommerce marketing up a notch? Book a call with our experts today.

Many of us roll our eyes when we see an email in our inbox asking us to spend time answering questions about a brand – even a brand that we like.

And the discount offer in a survey email subject line usually sounds too good to be true (“100 free pairs up for grabs!”).

But (you knew it was coming) – there is a right way to do customer survey emails. And they can help you to understand your customers better, so you can make the right decisions when sales are lower than you’d like.

In this article, we’re taking a deep dive into customer feedback surveys:

• Need-to-know stats about how many people actually respond to surveys
• A quick case study on a high-end skincare company that saved themselves a LOT of money through feedback survey emails
• Quick guide to creating effective survey request emails, from subject line to sign-off

Feedback Survey Emails: the Good, the Bad, and the Spam-Worthy

It’s no secret that a lot of ecommerce email marketing surveys are poorly executed, and give readers unnecessary work.

That’s probably why the average response rate for feedback surveys hovers somewhere between 20 and 30%.

But email surveys are an essential tool in the email marketing toolbox, for a couple of reasons:

They give you the literal voice of the customer: your current and potential customers are engaging with your website and/or ads. So if you want to answer critical questions about your brand, there is nobody better qualified to answer them.

They’re pretty cheap: the costs are relatively low, even if you use a dedicated survey platform. 

Surveying customers shows you care: people in general may not like surveys. But they do like it when a brand listens. If you give them a chance to air their opinion – and then act on that information, you can make a lasting impression.

Email Marketing Case Study: Customer Survey Emails as a Source of Vital Business Intelligence 

One of our newest clients at Hustler Marketing is a high-end skincare brand that uses natural, safe ingredients. 

When they came onboard, they had great products and beautiful, rich digital experiences from website to social.

Despite all of that, sales weren’t what they wanted them to be – and the relatively high price tag looked like the most obvious culprit.

But we’ve seen this before, and we suspected the picture was more complex. So, before rushing to offer big discounts and special deals, the Hustler Marketing team pitched a different strategy: customer feedback surveys.

A Twofold Survey Invitation Email Strategy

Our team created 2 survey invitation emails, for buyers and non-buyers. These emails were plain text, and each contained a link to a simple Google Form with 5 clear questions.

We ensured that there was minimal friction: the survey was easy to complete, and there was an attractive discount incentive for those who completed it.

Buyers Survey: Focused on demographics, past purchases, satisfaction, packaging, shipping, customer service, overall experience, and suggestions for improvement.

Non-Buyers Survey: Gathered information on skincare habits, age, and reasons for not purchasing.

The Results of Our Customer Survey Emails

For non-buyers, the main barriers in order of priority were:

• I don’t know the brand well enough
• I want to try out a product sample before I buy
• Physical shopping is how I like to buy skincare products
• The price is a little high
• I need more information before I can make a decision

For buyers, the main areas for improvement were:

• There are some issues with packaging
• Product variety isn’t broad enough
• I liked the product, but the price is keeping me from buying again

The really interesting thing here was that price didn’t make #1 position for either segment.

So, if the store had resorted to discounts to boost sales, they would have lost out on revenue (completely unnecessarily). 

How to Create an Effective Survey Request Email

There’s a simple rule when it comes to survey request emails: reduce friction as much as possible.

Friction comes from things like:

Asking too many questions: the more questions you ask, the less time people spend answering each one. So pick a small number of questions that target the info you really want. In the case study we outlined earlier, we went with 5 short questions .

Demanding long form answers: instead of asking “how do you feel about our prices?”, use something like a scale. For example, the question can be: “Our prices are…”, with options ranging from 1 (really low) to 5 (way too high).

Not offering anything in return: you don’t have to offer crazy discounts, but you’re more likely to get engagement if readers feel like there’s something tangible in it for them.

Survey Email Subject Lines: Clear Trumps Clever

People see through email marketing copywriting tricks. So we recommend just being honest and straightforward.

Here are some examples of effective survey email subject lines we used for our skincare client:

• How is your order going? ✨ (curiosity)
• We hope you loved everything✨🌿 (caring)
• Your opinion = 25% off ✨ (help us help you)

Ecommerce Email Marketing That Gets Results: Hustler Marketing Makes it Happen

At the end of the day, getting to know your customer isn’t just about personalizing your email marketing. If you really listen, you can gain real business intel that translates into cold, hard revenue. 

So here’s some advice from an email marketing agency that’s seen it all: don’t forget the tried-and-test email feedback survey. Make it clear and simple, so the people who know your brand best can tell you what’s up.

As always, we at Hustler Marketing are here to help. Reach out to our friendly team to learn more about our done-for-you email & SMS marketing services, and how they could transform your retention marketing strategy for long term growth,

In this article, we’re taking a look at how to use these tags. We’ll also learn about how to fix them when things go wrong.

First, let’s unpack what personalized tags in emails are and what they do beyond just being able to address the receiver by name.

What are personalized tags in email?

Personalized tags, also known as merge tags or dynamic tags, are placeholders in your email content that are dynamically replaced with relevant information for each recipient. Every subscriber list you create starts with default fields like “Name” and “Email address,” but you can also add custom fields to collect additional information. When you send your email, the tags are replaced with the specific details of each recipient. For example, a clothing retailer could use a “first name” personalization tag to address each subscriber by their name.

Using these tags in your email marketing campaigns has many benefits. Firstly, personalized emails have been shown to have 26% higher open rates. When subscribers see their name or other personal information in the email, they are more likely to pay attention and respond to your message. The tags also allow you to segment and target your audience more effectively. This makes it easier to deliver relevant content to specific groups in line with their preferences and behaviors.

Best Practices for Personalized Tags in Email Marketing

To use tags effectively in your email marketing, it’s important to follow these best practices:

Segment your audience 

Before using dynamic tags, ensure that you have segmented your audience based on relevant criteria. This means you need to be sure that the segment of your audience you’ll be addressing has the necessary data for your tag to work. 

For example, imagine you are creating an email for your eCommerce apparel brand and mentioning your subscriber’s favorite print. Make sure the audience receiving this email to has this data associated with their profiles. This way, you’ll avoid broken dynamic tags and ensure that the information for each contact is available in your marketing database.

Set default values

If some recipients don’t have data associated with a specific field, set default values or fallback terms to substitute for missing subscriber data. 

For example, if you’re using the recipient’s first name in your email’s subject line, make sure you add a fallback or default term like “friend” or “bestie” (or something relevant to your brand) to ensure your email platform has something to use for those profiles without a first name associated with their emails instead of adding just a white space. This ensures that even if certain information is unavailable, your emails still display meaningful content and make sense.

Collect data effectively

To use personalized tags beyond default fields, collect data through subscription forms, import data from external systems, or leverage integrations with other tools. This enables you to gather more information about your subscribers and personalize your emails accordingly. 

This is becoming increasingly important as digital marketing relies more on zero and first-party data, so there’s no better time to start thinking about how to collect relevant data for your list and leverage it in your email marketing strategy.

Test your personalized tags

Before sending out your email campaign, thoroughly test your personalized tags to ensure they are functioning correctly.

In many email automation platforms, you can’t check your personalized or dynamic tags on the preview tools they provide. The best way to ensure the tag works is to do a one-time send-out of your email campaign to your email address and check it right in your inbox.

Don’t overuse tags

While personalization is important, avoid using too many personalized tags in a single email. Excessive use may make your email appear cluttered or spammy.

Fixing Common Issues with Personalized Tags

While personalized tags can significantly enhance your email marketing efforts, they may occasionally encounter issues. Here are some common issues you may encounter and tips for resolving them:

Blank tag

If a personalization tag doesn’t have any fallback term and there’s no data to show, a blank space will be inserted. This can result in unintended sentence structure issues. Always include fallback terms to avoid such problems.

Dynamic tags not working

Some tags may only work when the email is part of an automation triggered by subscriber actions on your website. Ensure that you have set up the necessary triggers and conditions for your dynamic tags to function correctly.

Syntax errors

Check if your merge tag syntax is correct. Make sure that the merge tag name is surrounded by the special characters (either brackets or asterisks) your email automation platforms requests. 

Using Personalized Tags in Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a popular email marketing platform known for its robust features that allow you to implement personalized tags. Here is a step-by-step overview of how you can add personalized tags in Klaviyo to enhance your email campaigns:

• Start by creating your email either from scratch or by using one of the pre-built templates offered by Klaviyo.
• Insert a text block into your email and write your copy as you normally would.

• Click on the “Add Personalization” button within Klaviyo’s email editor. This will open up the options for adding personalized tags to your email content.

• Look for the specific profile property from which you want to draw the information. Klaviyo allows you to personalize your email content based on default various properties, such as name, location, or purchase history. But you can also use any custom properties you’ve created and collected data for.

• Click on the desired profile property, and Klaviyo will automatically populate the personalized tag next to your copy. The tag represents the dynamic information that will be inserted for each recipient.

• To test the functionality of the personalized tag, use Klaviyo’s preview and test tools. You can preview the entire email by searching for a profile that has the necessary information to populate the tag correctly. Klaviyo‘s preview tool allows you to see how the personalized tag will appear in the final email.

• If a recipient’s profile doesn’t have the necessary information for a personalized tag, you can add a default term. Simply place relevant text between double quotation marks (“”) in the tag. This default term will be displayed if specific information is not available for a recipient.

• After adding a default term, test your email once more to ensure that the personalized tag is working as intended. Verify that the default term is displayed when the required information is missing.

Using Personalized Tags in HubSpot

HubSpot provides powerful personalization capabilities that enable you to create dynamic tags, known as “Contact Properties,” using any field in your marketing database. Here’s how you can effectively leverage personalized tags in HubSpot, specifically in your subject lines:

• Once you have created your email content in HubSpot, navigate to the settings section for that email.

• Insert your subject line copy in the designated field within the settings.

• Click on the “Personalize” button, which allows you to add personalized tags to your subject line.

• Look for the specific custom property you want to include in your subject line. HubSpot allows you to personalize your subject lines based on various custom fields in your marketing database.

• HubSpot will prompt you to provide a default term. It will use this term if a recipient’s profile doesn’t have the required data for your tag to function properly. Fill in the appropriate default term and click the “INSERT” button.

• HubSpot will prompt you to provide a default term to use in case a recipient’s profile doesn’t have the required data for your tag to function properly. Fill in the appropriate default term and click the “INSERT” button.

• Unfortunately, HubSpot’s preview tool does not allow the testing of subject line tags. To test your subject line, you need to send a test email. Choose the email address that will receive the test email and select the specific profile you want to test the tag with. Send the test email.

• Check the inbox of the email address you used for the test. Verify that the personalized tag in the subject line is working as expected.

***

Personalized tags offer a range of possibilities to enhance your email marketing. While we’ve covered the basics, there are countless additional ways to leverage these tags for smarter and more impactful email campaigns. 

By incorporating personalized tags, you can craft engaging email experiences that truly connect with your subscribers. This leads to better outcomes for your email marketing strategy.

If you’re eager to explore further, book a free call with our team of retention marketing specialists. They can provide valuable insights and help develop a tailored email marketing strategy specifically designed to meet the needs of your customers. Take this opportunity to elevate your email marketing efforts and achieve greater success.

As with any form of marketing, both email & SMS have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, when combined they work perfectly together to balance each other out.

Some of the benefits you’ll get from combining both email and SMS marketing are:

Budget-optimization:

While Email marketing provides a great ROI, SMS marketing gives you a low-cost way to reach out to a large number of subscribers. By combining these two strategies you’ll be able to optimize your expenses.

Reach out at any time:

Mobile phones are rarely further than an arms reach away. There is less distance between an SMS and the recipient than there is when an email and the recipient. Which makes SMS an incredibly personal means of communication and means you can reach your target audience anytime, anywhere.

Get to know your audience:

When combined with feedback and analytics, through your SMS and email marketing strategy you’ll be able to get a better picture of who your customers are and what they are looking for. With all these insights you can now offer better incentives and tailored content.

Understanding SMS and Email Marketing Channels’ Differences

Now that we’ve addressed some of the benefits of aligning your SMS and email marketing strategy, you should also know that even though subscribers have shown interest in hearing from your brand on both channels, and they are now more receptive to the content you decide to share with them, there are still some differences between both of them that you should keep in mind when working on your strategy.

For example, remember that SMS’s are that much more instant and therefore that much more personal. And the copy needs to reflect this. Personal copy builds trust and creates engagement. It needs to be crafted in a way that makes the recipient feel as if the message is tailored specifically to them. Also, messages don’t necessarily have to have images – MMS – so, no need to worry about designing images for your SMS campaigns but, you do need to be more creative and assertive with the texts you send.

Aligning your SMS & Email Marketing Strategies:

Similar approach for SMS and Email Marketing

First thing first, just like with email, you need your customer’s consent to send them SMS messages. Make sure to double-check the laws that apply to your country and even consult with legal counsel if necessary.

Next – same as email – segment your subscribers as you normally do. There might be some differences but the approach is basically the same. You can segment those who have clicked in the last X amount of time, which are your most engaged audience, or even those who have opened or recently subscribed. Same as for email marketing, you can also personalize your message by inserting first names, birthdays, cities, or other relevant information.

Automate your campaigns for both channels

You can send triggered, transactional messages for your SMS marketing, just as you do with email.

With transactional messages, as you probably know, you can notify your customers about some events like: order shipments or confirmation, upcoming due dates for bills, payment method updates, and more. Transactional messages are sent based on your customers’ actions while triggered messages are based on your customer’s behaviour.

You can set-up the same flow automations for your Email and SMS channels

Welcome, Checkout Abandonment, Post Purchase, Added to Cart, Browse Abandonment and more. Just make sure you’re not actually spamming or overwhelming your audience and be wise with the times you use to trigger the messages for each. Pro tip: only text when you have something valuable to say and remember to schedule your messages for peak hours between 10AM and 1PM (work days), 3PM and 7PM (weekends). Have Quiet Hours enabled to avoid accidents.

Run A/B Tests

In order to fully understand your customers you should not only review your analytics but also avoid assumptions and always try to A/B test your campaigns but only testing one thing at a time so that you have clear conclusions on the shown results.

Some examples of strategies you can use to A/B test on SMS and get more insights are: personalized signature at the bottom of each message vs. no signature, showing the coupon code, adding a CTA, giving an incentive, the offer amount, and more. The number of things you can test will depend on what you’re able to do with what you have so don’t be afraid to try out new things, think out of the box, and boost your conversions!

Don’t forget to constantly track and analyze your campaign’s results in order to improve and optimize your marketing efforts based on reliable information that comes directly from zero-party data, this way you’ll guarantee better results that will help you boost your conversions.

If you are interested in SMS and Email Marketing, check out our detailed SMS marketing proposal and contact us to get an audit and take advantage of your database and make the most out of it. Engage, drive conversions and bring back old customers to increase your company performance and uplift your ROI.

What are abandonment email flows? 

Abandonment flows are triggered when a user abandons an action they were doing on your website. For example: viewed a product but didn’t add it to the cart. 

According to SEMrush, this is what a typical eCommerce sales funnel looks like. From all the traffic your website gets, 30% of visitors will browse a category page, 20% will go into a product page, 5% will add a product to their cart and only 1% of your visitors will convert. 

This is why implementing email flows is essential in order to re-engage and convert the great percentage of visitors that didn’t make it to the end of the funnel. Based on this, there are three abandonment email flows every eCommerce store should have up and running.

• Browse Abandonment Flow: This one is triggered when a subscriber viewed a product page but didn’t go into the next stage, which would be adding it to their cart.
• Added-to-Cart Abandonment Flow: This email automation is triggered when a subscriber added a product or products to their cart but didn’t start the checkout process. 
• Checkout Abandonment Flow: This email automated journey is triggered when a subscriber starts checkout but doesn’t finalize placing the order. 

How to personalize abandonment email flows?

As we mentioned, providing value through personalization is essential in today’s marketing world. There are a couple of ways you can enable this personalization on your email automations: 

• Giving personalized recommendations using Klaviyo’s data feeds 
• Personalizing the content of your flow by creating branches based on customers’ behavior or characteristics

1. Give personalized recommendations using data feeds

When you’re shopping, finding a product that adjusts to your wishes and necessities can be hard. A friendly website interface is key for people to browse all your products easily and find the one for them. However, when that’s not enough, your abandonment email flows can come in and act like your lead’s personal shopping assistant. 

Make your subscriber’s experience more smooth by surfacing the right product for them without making them dig for it. 62% of shoppers say receiving recommendations is important when deciding which brand to buy from.

If you use Klaviyo for your email marketing strategy, it’s super easy to recommend products to your subscribers based on the products they have seen and/or purchased. To do this, you just need to 

• Log into Klaviyo and open the Content dropdown on the bar menu.
• Click on Products and then on Manage Data Feeds.

• Click on the Add Product Feed option.

• Give your product feed a name and choose from which collection Klaviyo can pick out products to give out recommendations. 
• You can include and exclude as many categories as you want. 
• Select what information you want Klaviyo to consider when giving out the recommendations, you can choose between Viewed Products, Ordered Products, or both.

What’s great about it is that you can create as many data feeds as you wish, and as personalized as you wish and include them in your browse abandonment emails’ product showcase. It’s super easy to change the data feed you use for every email according to the content of the email or the segment of people that will get it. Just create a template and add a Product Block. Adjust the setting of the block, including the Data Feed you want to use. Choose how many products to showcase, in how many rows and columns and what product information you want to include. We’ll review an example in the next section.

2. Personalize your content through branches

Yes, your flows help you target your customers based on certain actions they took like viewing a product, adding items to their carts, or starting checkout. However, if you’re looking to make your abandonment flows more personalized, branching your flows to target different segments based on the characteristics of those actions or their own personal characteristics, enables you to really tailor the journey for each customer.

Before we get into the details of all the ways you can branch out your flow, let us introduce you to the two different types of branches you can create.

• Conditional splits: These are based on the actions a recipient has taken or their characteristics. For example, splitting customers and non-customers, men and women, etc. Therefore, allowing you to step into the mindset of each different subscriber group and create a personalized sales experience for each based on its unique characteristics.

• Trigger splits: These are based on the specific characteristics of the event that triggered the flow. For example, if the viewed product is part of a specific collection if the price is above or below a specific amount, etc. 

Here are some ways you can branch flows in order to create a more personalized experience for your recipients. 

Branching by gender

If you have a brand for which gender is relevant (like apparel), then branching people by their gender is a good idea, so you can also recommend relevant products. You can branch either by using a conditional split based on if people browsed or added products from the Women or Men collections to their carts, or if you use Klaviyo, taking advantage of its predictive analytics.

For example, this baby apparel brand created collections based on products that could be more attractive to parents shopping for girls, boys, or both. Then created a Data Feed for each collection. In the cart abandonment flow, they created 4 branches using 3 trigger splits. 

If the subscriber started checkout with a product from the girl’s collection in their cart, they would get an email where the product showcase included only products in the Girly Prints collection. They also created trigger splits for people that started checkout with boys and gender-neutral products. As a safety net, they added in the last branch an email with a data feed that included their newest arrivals. 

There was no need for too many extra resources, this brand only had to change the data feed selected for the product showcase of each email and tailored the experience for their customers, becoming their own personal shopping assistant.

Here’s an example of the different recommendations customer’s got, based on the products they added to their carts and started checkout with. 

Branching by collection

Personalize your abandonment flow by creating emails based on the collection your subscribers viewed, added to their cart, or started checkout with. This can allow you to do many things: branch based on women vs. men collections, sizes collections, colors, etc. 

Take this jewelry brand as an example. A percentage of their revenue coming from their “Conscious Collection” products is donated to charity. Knowing this, we set up a browse abandonment flow and made two different branches: one for regular products and one for the products from the Conscious Collection. This way, the recipients feel part of doing the good the brand stands for. 

This is a great way of adding value to your product, your brand, and your email marketing content.

Branching by buyers vs. non-buyers

Tailor your content to buyers and non-buyers. Returning customers know your product and they don’t need as much convincing as people that have never ordered before. Push non-buyers to make their first order with more educational content, social proof, and a discount. 

Starting the path to creating personalized marketing experiences is the hardest part.  Make sure you start on the right foot by leaving it in the hands of an experienced eCommerce marketing agency.

BOOK A CALL

Ps: If you’re looking to personalize your SMS Flows, make them conversational flows. This allows you to collect more insights directly from your subscribers. Check Why your eCommerce Store Needs an SMS Conversational Flow?

You may also like:

• How to Enrich Profiles with Zero-Party Data and Personalize your Email Marketing Strategy
• How Flows and Segments Enable Personalized Email Marketing: With Inputs from A Klaviyo Specialist
• Email Marketing Customer Journey: How do email flows and automations fit into your customer’s journey?

Here we look at how you can take advantage of zero party data to collect valuable information on your customers. We’ll also look how to use that information to enrich profiles in your system, personalize your email marketing strategy, increase conversion rates and boost your ROI.

What is Zero-Party Data?

These days, big data is the fuel behind every business. With the combination of structured, semistructured and, unstructured data collected by all types of organizations, we’re able to gain insight on existing and potential customers.

Despite all the talk about the power and potential of data, one type of data is often overlooked: zero party data. This is the type of data that a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand. On the other hand, third-party data is data you collect from external sources, usually without the customer’s knowledge or consent.

Given the demands that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law places on marketers, third-party data has become harder and harder to source. This has made zero-party data more important than ever.

The Importance of Zero-Party Data for email marketing

Another key reason to adopt zero-party data is increasing consumer data privacy concerns. Along with the rise of data protection legislation like the GDPR and iOS data privacy updates, it has become that much harder for brands to collect consumer data using third-party cookies.

Customers are increasingly demanding to be seen and understood by brands instead of being treated like  bulk marketing fodder. That means they want to be treated as the unique individuals they are. It also means they’re paying more attention to the way you engage with them.

With a well-implemented zero-party strategy you can get the necessary information to empower you to adapt marketing campaigns to your customer’s needs.

This will improve their experiences, and make them feel that you value them. Many eCommerce companies have already incorporated this strategy into their marketing efforts. And they are already reaping the rewards.

Another key reason to adopt zero-party data is the increasing consumer data privacy concerns. Data protection legislation like the GDPR and iOS data privacy updates make it harder to collect consumer data using third-party cookies.

As a result, brands have no other option but to shift towards sourcing information directly from customers.

The Benefits of Zero-Party Data for email marketing

Thanks to zero-party data, your business will be able to create a more personalized experience for your customers. This will drive more engagement and attract potential customers organically, which will ultimately boost retention and lower acquisition.

• Quality data at your disposal
• Personalized campaigns
• Better understanding of your customers’ preferences
• Lower cost per acquisition (CPA)

When collecting zero-party data, be strategic about the questions you pose. To truly reap the rewards of the strategy, it is important to gain relevant, actionable data that will make it easier for you to send targeted content to your audience.

Collecting Zero-Party Data from your potential and current customers

If you have the right strategy and resources, collecting zero-party data can be a pretty easy task.

One of the best ways to do this is with conversational pop-ups and quizzes. You can use these in your registration process or marketing campaigns.

1. Registration:

You can use this method as soon as your potential customer subscribes to a membership. Once this process begins, you can ask for basic personal information. This includes a name, email address, phone number, or country of origin. The answers to these questions will give you a preliminary insight into the present or potential relationship between your customer and your brand.

You can even go a step further and ask for details like gender, birthday, or body size, if appropriate. This information can help to personalize their browsing experience even further. This apparel brand is doing this really well:

2. Your website:

Add an intelligent, AI-powered chatbot on your website or key landing pages to proactively engage with visitors with questions and helpful guidance. Use the answers you receive to give a personalized list of recommendations to your customers based on their responses. An integrated chatbot can also trigger a personalized email flow that engages your audience in the most organic way. If you have this as a goal, make sure your messaging offers value to the customer enough to persuade them to provide their email address and subscribe to your mailing list.”

3. Social media:

Social media is a great way to reach a large group of people and gain lots of data about trends, demographics, community and feedback. Polls are perfect for this.

4. Email campaigns:

Email flows are a great way to collect zero-party data. Let’s say you were running a welcome email flow. In order to use the flow as a data collection tool, go beyond just sending a warm welcome. Consider also adding introductory quizzes to the series. In addition,  persuade consumers to participate with some kind of incentive – such as a discount. This requires good copywriting in addition to a clear and coherent strategy.

All of these strategies enable you to get more data from your subscriber list. And each of them is an organic, low-cost way of getting information about your buyers and potential buyers.

Making the Most Out of Zero-Party Data With Email Marketing

We’ve discussed the whats and whys of zero-party data. We’ve also looked into several ways of gathering this data through different channels, all with the goal of gaining as much information as possible about your consumer base.

Once you have the right data, you will have a better understanding of your audience, their needs, and what they expect from your brand. This will allow you to create super specific segmentation to target the right audience with each campaign. The goal is to deliver messages that are always relevant and ultimately increase brand loyalty and conversions.

Now, why is personalized marketing important? Unlike traditional marketing, personalized marketing engages consumers one on one. It allows you to give consumers what they want from brands – treatment as an individual. To achieve that, it reslies on information consumers have personally shared with you. This means that your marketing messages can become highly targeted, relevant, and timely.

Use Cases for Zero-Party Data in Email Marketing

Creating tailored email campaigns is the best way to take advantage of your zero-party data. These campaigns make people feel like you care about and understand them. Collection methods you might try include:

• Introductory quizzes in the welcome flow – as we saw above
• Supplementary surveys
• Targeted email flows to different customer groups
• Customized campaign messages based on preferences

As an eCommerce email marketing agency, Hustler Marketing understands that customers like to feel heard.  That’s crucial to an effective zero party data collection strategy. It’s also why your primary goal is to have more than just a conversation with consumers. If you can engage and connect with them in a way that makes them feel that you care, you are well on your way to solving your data problem and unlocking new avenues for personalization.

1. Make your design scream summer

Grab the attention of your subscribers with a new refreshed design that’s still on-brand but summer-themed. Danny, our very own hustler, and Design Lead, shared with us her expertise on how to make your summer email campaigns scream summer:

• Use bright summertime colors. Now’s your chance to be bold and go with eye-catching shades. Some trending colors for the season that you can incorporate into your design are blue, lime, orange, cerulean, yellow, and green. 
• Add elements that remind your audience of the laidback feeling we all get this time of the year, tropical leaves, flowers, the sun, water, and even margaritas are a go-to for the season.
• Transmit excitement through copy and design, summer is outdoorsy and exciting, and your designs should be as well.
• Highlight your product. At the end of the day, and besides all the fun and games we want to sell products, so make sure your product stands out and is still the main character in your design.

2. Showcase your best summer products

Talking about highlighting products, dive deep into your product library, and create a new collection with your best picks for the summer season. This super simple hack will help your summer email marketing strategy a lot.

You can use your Summer Collection link in your email’s CTAs. This improves the customer experience and journey since you are redirecting them to a collection with products that are adequate for the season, instead of them having to scroll through all your products to find the best picks for summer.

With your summer collection, you’ll have a better understanding of what you have to offer. This will help you plan your email marketing strategy for summer: create an educational newsletter about your summer products, create a summer lookbook or go a step further and create amazing summer bundles.

3. Make personalized recommendations in your summer campaigns

A hand-picked summer lookbook is always great. But, what if you go one step further and make personalized recommendations in your summer campaigns? If you use Klaviyo for all your email marketing efforts, doing so is super easy, and we’ll go through the process step by step in this article.

Let’s learn how to pull up a curated data feed from Shopify into your Klaviyo emails.

Remember that summer collection we suggested you created? That’s step one. Now that you have that ready, log into Klaviyo and open the Data Feeds tab.

Click on the “Add Product Feed” option.

Give your product feed a name and choose from which collection Klaviyo can pick out products to give out recommendations. You can include and exclude as many categories as you want. Select what information you want Klaviyo to consider when giving out the recommendations, you can choose between Viewed Products, Ordered Products, or both.

Now, create a template and add a Product Block. Adjust the setting of the block, including the Data Feed you want to use. In this case, you’ll want to use the Summer Collection feed. Choose how many products to showcase, in how many rows and columns and what product information you want to include.

Once you send out your email campaign, this is what the final result will look like.

Not only can you use this for promo email campaigns, but also for your nurturing emails. Of course, not every email needs to be a salesy email. But, who’s to say you can’t add a little blurb about your summer favorites into your newsletters?

4. Plan a summer sale

Sales are a great way to boost your sales and drive up revenue. Especially when seasons are changing, people are in the mood to buy and get ready for the new seasonal activities that can only be truly enjoyed once a year. So, don’t miss out on the opportunity and plan a sale. Here are some ideas:

• Storewide Summer Sale
• Flash Sale on your Summer Collection
• BOGO on your summer best sellers
• New Arrivals Sale

Build a bigger hype by sending an “Early Access” email campaign to your most engaged users and asking them to sign in on your Summer Sale VIP list to have exclusive early access to the sale or on your new summer arrivals.

You can also nurture your VIP segment by asking them which products should be discounted in the sale. Not only do you give them a little bit of power over what happens with the brand they love so much, but also, they’ll be so glad you heard them, they’ll have to buy with the offer they chose.

5. Win-back seasonal shoppers

Create a segment with people that bought from you last summer and haven’t bought in the last x days, but have shown any kind of engagement whether through email or your website and include them on your summer-themed email campaigns. If they bought summer products from you once, maybe they will twice.

6. Plan around important holidays

There are a number of important holidays that occur in the midst of summer. Take a look at them and see which are relevant to your brand, you’ll want to create content around them for your summer email marketing strategy. 

• Memorial Day (May 30th). This is not actually during the summer, however, a lot of brands like to get ahead and plan their summer sales and summer-related email campaigns before summer actually starts. 
• Children’s Day (June 11th)
• Fathers’ Day (the third Sunday in June)
• World Oceans Day (June 8th)
• Pride Month (June)
• Picnic Day (June 18th)
• The longest day of the year (June 21st)
• Independence Day (July 4th)

7. Use summer-themed attention-grabbing subject lines

Make people open your amazing summer emails with some attention-grabbing subject lines that make them excited about the new season and what you have planned for them. Use summer-related language and emojis. 

1. Get Ready for Sunny Days ☀️ 
2. Summer is almost here! Keep them cool with our Summer Collection.
3. Summer Sale keeps on giving! 😎
4. We’re dropping prices like it’s hot. 🔥 [Coz it is].
5. The Countdown To Summer Is On!
6. Must-Have Summer Skincare ☀️🛍
7. 🌻 Going on a Summer Holiday? 
8. 🏊‍♀️ Summer Fitness Goals
9. Ready For Summer Vybes?! ☀️ 😎
10. Chic City Looks For Summer ✨

8. As always, optimize, optimize, optimize.

Now that you have your summer email marketing strategy ready, your subject lines are attention-grabbing, your summer-style design is on point, and your personalized recommendations are ready to go, you are going to want your email campaign to be seen exactly as you intended it. So don’t forget that optimizing for mobile and optimizing for dark mode is always a must. 

9. Get inspired by these summer email marketing ideas

Educational Newsletter

This supplements store educates its subscribers on one of its summer must-have products. The design is bold and reflects the season.

Product showcase

This eCommerce brand showcases its Product Of The Season with a summer-inspired email that grabs the attention.

Summer Collection

You thought only apparel brands could create and promote a summer collection? Think again! This brand of snacks hand-picked its favorite summer bites.

New arrivals

Star the season with the right foot, by showing off your new additions with a Summer New Arrivals email.

Nurturing content

Nurture your relationship with your subscribers by providing hot tips for summer.

Summer Sale

Boost your revenue with a Summer Sale!

If you need more content inspiration for your summer email campaigns, check these 7 types of email campaigns you can add to your content strategy.

Are you ready to boost your sales with your new and improved email marketing strategy this summer? If you need help, book a free call with us and hear from our most experienced hustlers.