Most niches could do better with more text and less visuals.
The apparel niche is the exception to this rule of thumb.
Clothing is quite the visual product. Customers need to see what it looks like on its own and on a human body to see themselves in it.
But that doesn’t mean you must cut out any semblance of copywriting.
You still need it for differentiation and making your email more than a giant digital billboard.
Thursday Boot Company gives us an excellent example here.
Plenty of high-quality images…
But also some funny copy using clever tactics to appeal to men’s deepest desires (hint: sex).
Keep reading for all the details…
| Table of Contents |
| About Thursday Boot Company The Email: A visual-focused product launch email… With humor The Subject Line and Preview Text: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next |
About Thursday Boot Company
Thursday Boot Company, aka Thursday Boots or simply Thursday, is a footwear and apparel company that sells high-quality products like:
- Boots
- Shoes
- Jackets
- Socks
- Belts
- Bags
It was founded by Noah Walsh and Connor Wilson in 2014 while they were students at Columbia University’s business school.
Noah and Connor founded Thursday to solve a problem they had — a struggle to find good boots.
(Excellent reason to build a business, btw… and makes it easier to be excited about your work and gain a passionate following.)
After a surfing trip to Nicaragua, they met a man who made boots by hand. This showed them they could design and build boots, and so they set to work.
10 years later (at the time of writing), Thursday now sells boots in every US state and almost every country on earth.
(Their boots look quite nice, by the way. I might have to get some myself!)
So why the name Thursday?
“On Thursday we work hard, but it’s also the unofficial start of the weekend, and we design our products with that versatility in mind. With a focus on comfort, durability, and the highest quality materials, we deliver direct-to-consumer footwear at the lowest markup in the industry. Your life isn’t one-dimensional. Your footwear shouldn’t be either.”
Clever. I love how the name reflects the niche they aim to serve in the footwear and apparel markets.
Classy enough to wear to work, stylish enough to wear on a date, casual enough to hang out with friends.
Lesson in there.
The Email: A visual-focused product launch email… With humor
Today’s email is a product launch email — it’s announcing a new jacket Thursday released:
A mix of copy and visuals. I’m not usually one to lean so heavily on visuals, but the apparel market is the exception.
It’s tough to sell products like this to a broader market. Text-based emails only work in the apparel niche if you’re more of a “personal brand” where the apparel serves the customer’s identity.
(Study Few Will Hunt’s emails if you want to see what I mean).
NOTE: This isn’t the whole email. Most of the rest contains images of the jacket and pairing ideas (in terms of shoes, belts, etc.). Those are simple enough to where I don’t need to show you (for brevity’s sake).
The Subject Line and Preview Text:
Subject lines don’t have to be creative. Sometimes, you can just tell the reader what’s inside:
The exclamation point is fitting here because a product launch is always exciting. You could get by with no exclamation, but it’s really just a style preference.
It actually might look a bit less conversational sans exclamation point.
The preview text complements our subject line with some “sensory” copy:
“Buttery soft, hand-finished suede…”
That’s descriptive. You can almost feel the material in your mind. I love it.
I also like how Thursday uses the ellipsis in the preview text as if it’s an unfinished thought, and you have to open it to see what else the brand will say.
Overall, a straightforward yet strong subject-preview complex.
The Body Copy
Thursday starts the email with a logo, hero image, and some hero copy — fitting for an apparel brand.
Well, actually, the hero “image” was multiple images appearing every few seconds. Each image was either the jacket itself or someone wearing the jacket. Different colors were seen. A nice touch.
Putting a logistical or financial selling point at the top is common for emails with hero images. For instance, here, we have free domestic US shipping and returns for all footwear and jackets.
Another example: If it were a Welcome Sequence, it could also state their welcome discount.
Lastly, the copy pays off the subject line by indicating this email will detail the new trucker jacket line.
But now, we get to my favorite part…
The body copy:
I love this. Appeals straight to the target demographic (men, duh) and hit one of their key goals (sex sells, don’t you know?).
It’s “dimensionalization.” It takes a benefit (look good) and makes it concrete to the reader’s life.
Oh, and…
Rather than just tell them women will be all over you, the writer relates his own experience in such a situation (well, one woman… but you get the picture).
That’s story-based social proof right there — and you don’t need a customer testimonial yet. Genius.
Masterful.
That last sentence in the copy reinforces the idea that you’ll always wear this. It defuses a bit of potential buyer’s remorse before the purchase since the reader will feel validated in wearing the jacket often and getting the most use.
Lastly, that emoji makes the SMS message being quoted feel more real. People text with emojis. Especially couples.
The writer managed a smooth transition into the jacket’s features and benefits, too:
Visual, descriptive language. The reader once again can engage their senses mentally — touch, sight, even maybe even smell.
I enjoy the “Type III jacket” proof point. It reassures the reader this jacket is a tried-and-true style option.
It appeals to the customer’s desire for status in some sense. If he looks effortlessly stylish, he get positive attention. And not just the romantic type.
His friends will compliment him. People will look his way. Ultimately, he wants to be thought of as stylish as much as he wants to look stylish.
For this section overall:
By starting with the “girlfriend story”, it feels less like the writer’s just telling you the features. It’s still within the frame of “here’s my experience with the jacket,” even if he’s just telling you what makes it great.
Onto the first CTA, which is a button:
Nice way to squeeze in another selling point/objection defusal. Thursday doesn’t have to mess up the theme of the copy above, yet still can tell the reader they have color options.
There are more CTAs, each increasing in the “sale ask’s” directness.
But let’s get to some more visuals:
Boom. The three colors.
You have a few images that show each one, then a few more to show people wearing each color.
Now, people can see what they look like on someone.
Next, a different style of visual:
Another reason visuals sell in the apparel niche:
You can do diagrams like this image.
This email described the jacket quite nicely already. Now, it can show you where the features/materials are.
You know what to expect when you buy the jacket.
Selling, after all, is about being helpful and transparent.
Then, of course, there’s the button with a more standard CTA. Not much else to say there. It does its job.
Finally, we have more images showing off the three colors:
I think this section is 100% needed. Customers can visualize how each color looks even more. They microcommit by imagining themselves in each color and picking which looks best to them.
The remainder of the email was:
- Soft cross-selling, consisting of a headline that said “Suede Jackets Go Great With”… followed by images of boots, shoes, and stylish commuter bags.
- Images of various products with hyperlinks
- Some “Shop XYZ category” at the bottom.
Takeaways
Here are some big takeaways:
1. The Copy Mechanics
Not as much copy as other emails, but still… three GIANT takeaways:
1. Descriptive language
Let’s start with the nitty-gritty. Thursday uses sensory language (wow, English class paid off!) to get the customer seeing and feeling the product in their minds. It describes the materials themselves and the overall look.
It hits the right emotional triggers. It future-paces by making your mind imagine what the jacket is actually like.
2. Story-Based Social Proof
The main section of the copy is a story that also offers social proof.
Sure, it’s not another customer saying what the jacket has done for them. But it’s still showing proof of the jacket’s quality rather than just telling them about the benefit. Stories are almost always more interesting than a list of benefits.
Plus, it manages to work the benefits themselves into the story fairly well.
3. Dimensionalization
The story I mentioned doubles as a dimensionalization tactic.
It makes the reader imagine themselves achieving a result they deeply desire in real life. It’s not just “so you look good”—it’s something like “women can’t keep their eyes off you when wearing this jacket.”
I don’t know about you, but as a man…
That second one is a LOT more likely to sell me on the jacket.
2. The Email Structure
The email structure is as follows:
- Hero image
- Headline
- Story
- Features
- CTA 1
- Images selling color availability
- Image selling features
- CTA 2
- Image selling colors more granularly
- Final CTA
One way to make this even better — I bet Thursday could chop off everything except the parts I highlighted without a negative structural impact.
3. The Overall Strategy
This email does pretty well for casually launching a new product line.
I’m not sure if they did any prelaunch work, but if not, a prelaunch campaign could get the list warmed up and excited and make the most of their launch.
That said, to piggyback off my Email Structure section…
Thursday could repurpose everything below the highlighted sections into a new email. For
instance, they could write emails about how to pair their jacket with other items.
Maybe add more story-based stuff that appeals to the target demographic, or stories about where the jacket idea came from, things like that.
The more you dive deep into individual angles that resonate with your audience, the more successful your launch can be.
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list using the signup form below for more Email Breakdowns and other helpful marketing content.
- Share this with someone who might find it helpful (or entertaining).
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Check out Thursday Boot Company for gorgeous, top-quality boots, shoes, bags, jackets, and more!