Let me just say, I love what TOMS does with their email marketing. They have such a clear understanding of how to do email right. A perfect example of this is the short, but high impact introduction series they send out.
For those who are not familiar with this email marketing tactic, it goes something like this:
- Customer signs up for an email list
- Company immediately sends an email welcoming the new sign up to the list (along with whatever enticing offer the company used to get you to sign up)
- Company then sends additional emails to introduce the customer to the company and the brand
In the case of TOMS, it appears to be a short, two part series split up over 48 hours. After signing up, I received the following email with the subject line and visible text stating “Welcome to TOMS – We believe in a better tomorrow”:
The intent of the first email is clear. The company wants you to get to know the brand. Rather than immediately pushing for the sale, they spend almost the entire email explaining who they are.
The email opens by stating “Welcome To Our Community”. They then go on to spend almost the entire email discussing how the TOMS community has helped provide for millions of people in need around the world.
What is key here is that they aren’t simply bragging here. Instead, they are positioning this as something that they could only do with the help and support of their customers.
Two days later, the second email in the series arrived with a subject line and visible text that read “We’ve got a story to tell – When TOMS started in 2006…”:
Again, the key here is that they aren’t directly pushing for a quick sale. They take the time to further explain to the new customer how the company came to be, the meaning behind the name, and what TOMS and the TOMS community have done to help people in need.
Everything about this email series works. The subject lines set the tone and expectations for the emails. The imagery is absolutely gorgeous and the message is powerful. The emails make the customer want to be a part of the community. They don’t come off as insincere or “salesy” in any way whatsoever. Instead, the emails give customers reasons to become a part of the community.
My only quibble, and it is a small one, is that I would have preferred to see TOMS run this campaign to its completion before adding the new user to the gen pop list. Between the first and second email in the timed series, I did receive a sales email for a 25% off boots sale. Given the fact that TOMS seems to email 2x daily with sales offers, it really would have made more sense to segregate the new sign ups from the rest of the list until the new sign ups completed the introduction email series.