Every email campaign starts with stories, mythbusters, lessons, and other “content-driven” emails. They still sell, sure, but they have more substance to them, so to speak.
This helps to engage customers initially, keep them reading, and turn them into buyers.
But there comes a time — near the end of a campaign — when content is no longer needed.
These are your “cart closing” emails.
Cart closers are all about urgency, urgency, urgency.
You better buy now or you lose this offer forever!
This Email Breakdown will look at a cart closer from Delta Defense, the operations brain behind the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA).
About Delta Defense
Delta Defense provides all the sales, marketing, operations, and administrative support services for the USCCA.
(I also broke down a USCCA sales email. Check that out here.)
From what I gather, Delta Defense manages the USCCA’s membership stuff. They aren’t exactly clear on the distinction between Delta Defense and the USCCA — perhaps it’s a business legal structure thing — but that’s not too important for the purposes of the Email Breakdown.
The Email: “Cart Closing” Giveaway Push
Here, the USCCA and Delta Defense ran a giveaway promo to try and sell more USCCA memberships.
New members had a chance to win one of five Sig Sauer 1911 Emperor Scorpion handguns. The color of the Emperor Scorpion doesn’t suit my taste — to each their own — but it costs around $1,000, I think, so it would be a nice prize.
Context aside, this email was at the tail end (pun partially intended) of the campaign.
So Delta Defense went “cart-close” mode. They focused on the urgency of the giveaway ending to generate more membership sales.
One thing I will say beyond the scope of email:
I think giveaways like this work great for brands with recurring products.
Giving away a few pricey pieces costs you money once… but in exchange, you get recurring revenue, month after month.
So did this email sell a lot more memberships?
I don’t have the data, but I can tell you whether or not it likely sold a lot based on the quality of the copy.
Keep reading.
The Subject Line: Weirdly Personal and Seemingly Random
I’m used to the USCCA’s and Delta Defense Emails. They already have that “friend-to-a-friend” feel that gets clicks. Most are written from CEO Tim Schmidt’s perspective.
But this subject line still caught my eye.
As I’ve written before, our inboxes are filled with emails nowadays. It’s hard to remember every email we’ve fired off to others.
Someone might think it’s a response to an email they sent and totally forgot about.
Or, alternatively, it just seems super random.
Who’s Tim? Why is it important that this person is not Tim? Why is that relevant?
Either way, such out-of-the-blue emails create an irresistible open loop only clicking can close.
The lowercase first letter of the first word grabs the eyeballs as well. We’re accustomed to a capital first letter.
A Unique Introduction That Pays Off the Subject Line
They could have gone straight to the pitch since that’s what this email is all about.
But they added in some “real-life details” about the CEO’s life to explain why the assistant is writing the email.
Building on the relatability aspect, they made it appear like the assistant is “not very experienced” writing these types of emails…
Adds more of that human charm.
Rapport = established.
Stuff like this is genius because it makes the people behind the brand more relatable.
The CEO and the assistant (from whom the email is written) seem like real human beings instead of corporate robots. They have families, hobbies, and lives outside of work/business…
Love it.
Triple-Down on the Urgency
That first CTA packs a lot into 7 words.
Urgency is the most obvious — the reader’s running out of time.
It’s semi-implicit because it makes you aware of an offer but doesn’t urge action. So it’s not too vague for a cart closer but not too pushy for the beginning of the email.
On top of that, they don’t say right away what is ending in a few hours.
This stokes the curiosity of readers who missed the campaign’s earlier emails. The line being a CTA boosts that because the reader wants to click and find out what’s about to disappear if they don’t act.
Next, Delta Defense presents what the customer risks losing if they don’t act now…
Then reiterates the urgency — this time, with an explicit deadline.
Just to be EXTRA clear, they explain it the other way:
If you sign up AFTER the deadline, you get a membership but without a shot at the prize…
Followed by a line urging, “Don’t not let that happen to you!”
Somehow, they cram in several urgency-driven reminders without it feeling overdone.
Also, notice the strategic use of bolding, caps, and italics. Important information is bolded and capitalized, drawing the reader’s eyes.
These elements and italics also improve readability by visually breaking up the text.
Remind Them of the Benefits if They Act Now
Some will have already clicked the first CTA and signed up for the membership. But not all.
Some have hesitations or objections. They want to ensure they get a return on their purchase at least equal — if not greater than — the membership cost. The free gun is nice, but not enough to justify a recurring expense for these customers.
So the email reminds the reader what they receive with a USCCA membership.
Once again, the use of bold is excellent. Each list item is a complete sentence, but the main “benefit” is bolded to draw the eyes, emphasize the benefit, and improve readability. The rest of each list item’s sentence puts those benefits into context.
They stick the main feature at the end because, in general, benefits > features. Insurance is the USCCA’s most known feature, but promoting the general benefits of the membership may be more persuasive.
Guarantee For Good Measure, and One Final Push
A great offer and incentive for joining now are often strong enough to close a lot of customers.
But what about the fence-sitters? What else can you say to get them off their behinds and buy?
How about a great guarantee?
According to the email, the USCCA offers a 365-Day Money Back Guarantee — and reassures the reader that that ain’t a typo.
So on the 364th day, the customer can get their money back, provided they follow all the rules.
This removes all risk from the customer’s end.
“But what if they all use the guarantee, and you have to issue a ton of refunds?”
That’s not a worry with a good offer. In fact, it means more revenue because more customers will see the benefits (since there’s no risk to joining) — and will ultimately want to stay on board.
Risk-removal rant over.
Topping this guarantee off is a line about “pork chops at the grocery store” that adds a personal flair and boosts the relatability factor…
And then a magnificent CTA reminding them of the chance that’s quickly slipping away.
A great end to a great email (and a great end to what was likely a great campaign, too.)
Takeaways
This email offers an excellent example of a cart closer.
It cuts to the chase, injects proper urgency, and offers CTAs for numerous levels of product skepticism.
Plus, it feels like a real person wrote it. That first paragraph in particular makes it sound like the assistant did dash off this email minutes before the end of her workday…
Even though a copywriter or team of marketers probably planned and wrote every campaign email in advance.
Now, this email lets us zoom out to offer creation.
The membership and the guarantee themselves will be enough to sell plenty of customers and earn a baseline level of revenue.
Adding good copy to sell the membership benefits and running a giveaway customers value only boosts sales.
The lesson?
Aside from being urgent in your cart closers…
Copy only goes so far. Decent copy with a great offer fills your wallet faster than world-shaking copy with a “meh” offer.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list.
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Check out Delta Defense if you want to work there… or if USCCA’s offer sounds like it’s right for you.