Imagery paints a picture in the reader’s head by tapping into their 5 senses.
In doing so, it moves the product/service and its results/benefits from the abstract to the tangible — making the sale easier to make.
That’s what Beckett Simonon does in this here Labor Day sale. It helps turn the product into a “luxury experience,” positioning itself in a league above the competition.
Keep reading to see what I mean.
About Beckett Simonon
Beckett Simonon is a made-to-order, direct-to-consumer shoemaker that manufactures high-quality shoes at reasonable prices.
The brand emphasizes transparency, sending customers regular updates about their orders and the production process as it happens.
Since they only make shoes when ordered and skip the middleman, they match supply exactly to demand without too high of pricing. This allows Beckett Simonon to get creative with design and careful manufacturing — no need to focus on pumping out volume.
This prevents impulse buying and reduces waste, helping consumers and the planet without giving up the luxury shoe-buying experience. It also means better shoes.
The Email: A Labor Day Sale That’s Heavy on the Imagery
Many brands run holiday sales with nothing but flashy graphics and “sale” everywhere.
That may work for them…
But many brands find the copy-heavy approach to make them good money — especially those selling high-quality, higher-priced products like Beckett Simonon.
The email manages to be heavy on the sales while remaining compelling…
That’s because Beckett Simonon’s writer is amazing at making shoes sound like an entire luxury experience.
Let’s take a look:
The Subject Line: “Reward Yourself”
Two words. Action-oriented. Benefits implied.
Or, in other words…
The subject line tells the reader to do something and indicates a benefit inside.
This went out around or on Labor Day, so the reader has that floating around in their head. This is important — the goal of sales copy, after all, is to “enter the conversation in your reader’s head.”
Think about it: This subject line would only work on a birthday or holidays. Any other random day, and it might look like some generic and uninteresting sales piece.
The Body Copy: Lets Tap Into Those Senses!
Beckett Simonon has simple text-based emails, yet they’re beautifully formatted, with attractive branding elements at the top and bottom.
They also use bold liberally. The bolding appears to be there mostly for relieving the eyes and breaking up the text…
But it also draws attention to benefits and imagery-driven copy.
The first section wastes no time treating the reader like a VIP, given what Beckett Simonon calls their email list.
I love how Beckett Simonon frames their product. They aren’t just selling shoes…
They’re offering a reward that lets the hard-working reader indulge in some self-care (a phrase I DESPITE, but the intention here is awesome so no judgment).
I appreciate how they’ve got an implicit CTA 3 words in. The reader knows there’s a product on the other side, but hey, it doesn’t hurt to give them a chance to click.
Of course, Beckett Simonon has some benefit-driven copy about good shoes and happiness and health.
That offers them the perfect segue to increase the perceived value of their shoes in the customer’s eyes:
They explain why poor-fitting, bad shoes are bad for your health (not just your aesthetic)…
Before using that fact as a launchpad to present their product as “above” the competition.
Then, you get into features-benefits:
Man, I love the sensory language here. Neither adverbs nor adjectives are abused but used where they fit when describing the features.
This flows into each feature’s benefit, bolded to draw eyes and break up the text.
The feature-benefit bullets continue:
That’s how you do features. Don’t just list them — add some “show” to the “tell” with descriptive language. Gives the features some depth.
Beckett Simonon ties it all together:
I don’t think any more words are needed here.
Once Beckett Simonon is done getting you excited to buy, they go straight to the pitch. They add in some urgency since this is a limited-time holiday sale:
Notice how they have two CTAs at the end. One directly urges them to claim their rewards, followed by urgency-laden warnings…
Then a big red SHOP NOW button.
Great way to nail the sale for anyone who didn’t convert earlier in the email.
As you can see, the countdown timer is at 0 since I pulled this email long after the sale ended. But hey, shows you they ain’t using fake urgency!
Takeaways
Two big takeaways here.
Imagery
Practice using imagery in your copy. It involves the reader in the copy by getting them to mentally experience the product/result with their senses.
It’s also more fun to read than bland product descriptions.
Turn Your Product Into an Experience
This goes hand-in-hand with the imagery concept by turning regular features not just into benefits…
But experiences.
After all, experiences resonate more with your audience than products.
The customer ain’t just buying a shoe… they’re buying “self-care” (again, I hate that phrase, but the concept is still valid) and luxury.
And that self-care/luxury comes in the form of a comfortable, durable, and wearable piece of art they can enjoy for a lifetime.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list.
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Go check out some shoes from Beckett Simonon.