Lifting has become so integrated into my life that it no longer feels like a hobby. It’s as natural to me as eating and sleeping.
If I don’t lift, my day feels “off” — barring a planned recovery day, of course.
In particular, I like to lift heavy.
Deadlifts (almost to 4 plates!), squats (I just hit 3 plates!), shoulder press, bench press… the Big 4, they call them.
Now, that first one really hammers the hell out of your grip. At a certain point, your grip becomes the limiting factor. This is especially true if you’re eating in a calorie deficit to lean out for the summer (#BeachBod).
That’s where lifting straps come in. They can reduce the weak point in your grip, where your fingers meet, to prevent your grip from giving in before your hamstrings/glutes/back/everything else.
I recently bought some straps on Amazon from a brand called Rip Toned… and in a little twist, they sent me a plain-text “check-in” email that sounds like it came from a real person.
Refreshing to see. Many don’t send anything beyond a brief “leave a review” email.
So let’s get into this email:
The Email: A Post-Purchase Check-In
Here’s the email:
But before we get to the meat of the email…
The Subject Line
They made the sender “Your order from Rip Toned on Amazon,” which worked well because it wasn’t just “Amazon.com.” The lack of capitalization on “order” also caught my attention because it was slightly out of the ordinary.
Lessons in there — get creative with the sender name and try to stand out.
Anyways, the subject line feels human enough as well.
But I want to point out the timing. I bought the straps on April 14, 2022… 8 days before this email went out.
That’s enough time for the customer to have used the straps (although I personally haven’t used them), but not too long… and the straps themselves have the brand name on them, so the customer will recognize the “Rip Toned” name.
What I’m saying is the customer will make the connection — Rip Toned is asking the customer if the product has served them well so far. The “if you’re not happy, I’m not happy” won’t sound so random.
As you can see, a lot goes into a sender name and subject line.
Logo
Plain text is generally good… but throwing in your logo isn’t a bad thing. They also included the subject line again as a “title.”
I have no opinion either way here. Some might say it takes up valuable space, but I don’t think it’s a huge deal here.
The Intro
Intro gets right to the chase, but in a human way. They make it clear what the email’s about and give the reader a way to respond and let them know how the product is serving them.
Plus, a bolded brand name and a 🙂 adds a nice touch.
Personally, I think slashing the words “check in with you to” could convey the same message with more brevity and make this part even better. Also, adding a liquid field after “Hey” to include the reader’s name.
But these aren’t huge changes.
Overall, shows that the brand cares and makes it easy for customers to get help or leave some nice words.
The “Disclaimer” About Future Emails
It’s always a good idea to let new email list members know what to expect now that they’re on your list.
Rip Toned does that here by laying out what to expect. Plus, they make it clear that the reader can unsubscribe at any time and point out how to do it.
A great way to build trust and demonstrate transparency (and I’m pretty sure it aids with compliance stuff.)
I want to point out that they do the post-purchase follow-up right (in terms of what they promise). They promise to show the reader how to use the product best, which delivers even more value beyond the product itself.
As a result, the reader sees this brand as more trustworthy and cool and will prefer them in the future for purchases of a similar nature.
It also entices the reader to keep their eyes out for more Rip Toned emails. That increased opens, clicks, etc… which also feeds into the next thing:
Rip Toned sprinkles in some exclusivity by promising to let you know about future product launches and exclusive benefits of being a list member.
This only strengthens the reader’s engagement with the emails, which ultimately leads to more sales, more customer loyalty… and a higher customer lifetime value.
Sign-Off… With a Gif
Plain text is the way to go, but that doesn’t mean a logo and a cute little gif are bad.
“Plain text” generally means avoiding the HTML-heavy emails with all sorts of color, flashing “SALE” signs, etc.
So this gif here works well. It injects more of a human touch into the email. Makes it feel more casual.
Oh, and finally, the sign-off comes from a real person. It’s not just Rip Toned.
Even if you have 100 people working at your company, signing off with “Joe from Market”, or in this case, Jennifer, works better than a faceless brand.
Takeaways
Post-purchase emails are an excellent way to keep the customer engaged after they buy… and turn them from a one-and-done buyer into a loyal customer that comes back again and again.
Rip Toned does this quite well by keeping it simple and adding some personality. They check in and offer the customer help if they need it.
Then, they promise to provide more tips and let the reader know what else to expect in future emails. Of course, much of the promised future content offers the customer more value — keeping them engaged with the brand and potentially securing future business.
In short, they’re automated customer service agents/salesmen that work 24/7 for you.
Nothing fancy, as you can see. I bet you could crank out a few of your own post-purchase emails within, say, 2 hours and reap the benefits as soon as this week.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list.
- Reach out to me if you want help implementing post-purchase emails/sequences.
- Go buy stuff from Rip Toned!