Today’s email discussion looks at the concept of using free shipping as a lead offer. The folks at The Sock Drawer over in SLO sent an offer my way, so let’s review and discuss:
Subject Line and Visible Text
Given the fact that most customers see free shipping as an expected offer, generating interest and opens with an offer of this nature can be tough. With this in mind, Sock Drawer leads with a subject line stating “We don’t do this often. FREE SHIPPING ends soon!”.
As someone who is fairly new to the brand, I cannot speak to the actual scarcity of the offer, but I imagine it is legit (as free shipping with no minimum purchase is something that most small companies do not generally offer).
While the body of the email explains the offer in detail, I really would have liked to see them include something in the subject line that explains the offer doesn’t require a purchase. Maybe just changing the second line from “FREE SHIPPING ends soon!” to “Everything Ships Free Today Only!”. The reason for the distinction is simply that everyone has some form of a free shipping offer, so the offer of free shipping by itself isn’t terribly compelling.
The visible text then reads “DO NOT miss out! You’ve got until midnight…”. I do like this line. It pushes urgency hard and gives a clear message of when the offer ends. Doing so should help to increase open rates and engagement with the content.
Email Body Copy
The Sock Drawer does a nice job with the body of the email. They immediately add clarity to the offer explaining that everything ships free while also continuing to push urgency with the midnight PST expiry.
While the argument could be made that the company should just offer free shipping or flat rate $2.95 shipping all the time (given the fact that the product they sell is extremely light and easily fits into small packaging for first class mail), the offer is solid, the contents work and the overall layout of the body is strong. I would probably remove the line in the footer about their standard email offer however (it states “*Applies to U.S. orders only. Orders of $45 or more qualify for free standard shipping and free returns.”), as the oversight has the potential to create confusion for anyone that reads it.
Overall, this is about as good of a job as a company can do with using a free shipping offer as a lead.