Hate YouTube ads? So do I.
One problem — my marketing brain NEVER powers down entirely.
When I see a half-decent ad, I watch it a bit longer. I study it. Sometimes, I click through to the landing page and discover an eCommerce brand.
That’s how I stumbled upon FLOOF, an online pillow retailer.
I noticed FLOOF’s website copy had some personality to it. That, plus the fact that they’re running ads, tells me they “get” marketing.
So onto their email list I went…
And I was pleasantly surprised they had (what I believe is) a welcome sequence!
Not just one email, but at least FIVE!
And in the first one, they even called it a “VIP Email List.”
This brand’s doing a lot of stuff right.
But I’ve broken down plenty of Welcome emails for you. So I picked Email 3 of the sequence for today’s breakdown.
Keep on reading…
| Table of Contents |
| About FLOOF The Email: A Funny-Filled “Tips” Email in a Welcome Sequence The Subject Line and Preview Text: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next |
About FLOOF
FLOOF is an online pillow company selling luxury, handcrafted pillows made with sustainable materials.
The company was founded by Peter Sivas, who himself comes from a pillowmaking family and is, therefore, a third-generation pillowmaker.
See, the throw pillow market has a TON of options. Too many, one might say. And it’s tough to find the perfect pillow for your space.
Peter’s aim with FLOOF is to solve this problem by ensuring quality across FLOOF’s wide range of styles. The brand is careful about sourcing durable, sustainable materials (hand-testing every fabric before use) from suppliers who meet their lofty quality standards…
And puts the utmost care into construction.
You don’t have to go to a bunch of different shops, hoping and praying the throw pillow you paid way too much for ends up being a piece of crap. FLOOF aims to be the one-stop shop for your throw pillow needs.
Straight from the website:
FLOOF’s pillow prices are nothing to sneeze at, either. But I just laid out why. You get what you pay for — consistency, reliability, and market-leading quality.
Lesson in there.
The Email: A Funny-Filled “Tips” Email in a Welcome Sequence
Today’s email comes from the middle of FLOOF’s Welcome Sequence and offers us a refreshing burst of personality in an email marketing world full of boring:
I like this layout for some eCommerce brands. It’s not too visual-heavy, but still clearly has some more design work.
It balances helpful copy with a pleasing design to help FLOOF keep its emails on brand with the rest of its online presence.
So how about that email copy…
The Subject Line and Preview Text:
The subject line is pretty funny — although it takes a second to “get it” since it’s more subtle:
We all know what this refers to. Although again, this famous phrase is vague enough for your brain to “take a second” before realizing what they’re saying.
At first, it’s a broad question. Questions get curiosity going…
And then it clicks and you realize you recognize this phrase.
That only drives up the curiosity, though. Not that you’ll get salacious things when you open the email… but rather, you want to see what a pillow company’s email could possibly say when you open this.
I mean, it could be referring to the act itself (since pillows go on a bed and whatnot) or something else.
A lot of layers to a five-word subject line.
The preview text offers a more concrete hint about what’s in the email:
There it is! The preview promises to provide pillow-related tips. Could be choosing pillows, fluffing, care, anything.
Humor + helpfulness, balanced.
The Body Copy
The email body opens with the company name and a hero image:
“Let’s pillow talk” continues the spicy (and funny) theme introduced by the subject line and (maybe) the preview text.
The image itself is a nice visual touch. Stylish pillows. Appealing arrangement. Some plants, too.
This brings us to the first section of the copy — the first CTA:
Remember, this is Email 3. Some people may have missed the first two emails. Or wasn’t ready to buy after two emails, but feel ready now.
This first section gives those people a chance to buy. An easy few sales.
The copy itself urges them to buy the pillow at first so that they can use the tips outlined below. But, of course, most people already have a pillow. So it makes sense to include the tips in the same email.
Those tips are next:
The top line of copy implies the tips will be more about selecting pillows. This ties the tips back to the main point of this email — to sell pillows. It gives the customer some shopping guidelines, essentially.
As for the first tip, the headline subtly ties back to the spicy theme found in the subject-preview complex and hero image headline. Keeps the humor going.
The copy is straightforward, mixing practical advice with the benefits of that advice. It ties the tip to a customer goal (having a balanced, aesthetic space).
Up next is tip #2:
One thing I’ve started to notice and appreciate in writing is rhythm.
(Must be all the Greek and Latin poetry/plays I’ve been reading recently *sips cup of tea with pinky out*)
See, anyone can string words together into logical arguments or stories. But copy that’s rhythmic and, dare I say, musical… you can’t help but read it. It’s more natural. It drives you forward.
This tip headline is musical. Mix and match alliterate. All three words are no more than two syllables. Great stuff.
Again, the copy mixes advice (solving problems/being helpful) with goals/benefits/future-pacing. I like how the advice is specific. Using numbers to catch the eye can erase customer uncertainty. Had FLOOF left out “like 3 or 5”, it would’ve lost some of its punch… even if the reader knows that 3 and 5 are odd numbers.
Finally, Tip 3:
See how FLOOF repeats “Always” in parenthesis? This is another technique for writing like a polished version of yourself. It emphasizes the point while maintaining a natural sound in the reader’s mind.
FLOOF gets into the specifics again, detailing each step in proper pillow fluffing. The last sentence adds yet more of their signature humor with the “for a designer’s touch.” Also, the image of a “gentle karate chop” is funny.
See that? I said “image.” Descriptive, specific copy strikes again. It’s far better than “Complete by chopping the center.”
I like how each tip has that little red image with “TIP X” in it. The visuals are enough to enhance the email’s look without being too visual-heavy.
Onto our second CTA button:
Good choice of copy. “FIND YOUR FLOOF” is more fun than “Shop FLOOF” or “Shop pillows now.” The reader is smart enough to know this is a CTA, so it’s ok to have fun.
The next block has a bunch of different things I like:
I like that first line since it leads (past the discount disclaimer) right to the social share buttons. And it offers a reason to follow. They don’t just say “follow us”.
They say “get inspiration anytime, anywhere.” They offer an actual benefit to follow — free inspiration/advice on room decor.
Then, the icons depicting the key brand positioning points — hand-made, cruelty-free, and high-quality fabrics. Never hurts to include these in here.
And then the little section urging the reader to ask questions. Replies help deliverability. Even if the reader writes a separate email, making yourself open to emails is a good sign to the customer.
But I really like how they say, “or just want to say hello?” More personality. More of the “making themselves open to the customer.”
Lastly, the sheep icon. I don’t know if that’s a brand thing (probably is) but it gives yet another touch of personality.
I love this last section:
Look familiar?
That’s because this is the statement on FLOOF’s “Our Quality” page that I put at the start of this Breakdown.
I appreciate it within the context of email marketing, too. It helps them cement their “why” and their positioning into the reader’s head.
Even more specific: It complements the body copy in this particular email. Remember that this email is tips on finding pillows — so this bottom section reinforces the belief that FLOOF is the place to go for pillow expertise and the pillows themselves.
Takeaways
Here are some big takeaways:
1. The Copy Mechanics
This email is more about the structure and strategy than the copy itself. Still, a few takeaways.
The big takeaway is using brand-appropriate humor. And not using too much of it. Too much humor can be cringe. Balance is key.
Beyond that, I appreciate the use of larger font sizes, bolding, and spacing to enhance readability.
The copy itself has some rhythm to it — especially the tip headlines — and does “tip + benefits of tip” well to flesh out the importance of each tip.
2. The Email Structure
The email structure is as follows:
- Hero image + copy
- Ready-to-buy copy
- CTA 1
- Tip 1 image + headline + copy
- Tip 2 image + headline + copy
- Tip 3 image + headline + copy
- CTA 2
- Miscellaneous matters (social media, discount disclaimer)
- Brand positioning points
- Contact email
- Quality statement
3. The Overall Strategy
A few big takeaways:
1. Overcoming hesitations
Welcome Sequences must hit a variety of angles to cover all the hesitations buyers may have.
In this case, a big hesitation seems to be overwhelm with throw pillow options. FLOOF makes it easier by offering shopping tips so the reader can narrow their search.
Which leads to the other takeaway…
2. First impressions and relationship-building
The Welcome Sequence is the “first-impression-maker”. FLOOF is establishing itself as an authority in throw pillows early and demonstrating its quirky brand personality.
This further reduces buyer hesitation by making the buyer trust FLOOF… so that the buyer doesn’t have to do as much hard thinking. It also gets the buyer to like and remember the brand.
3. Being helpful
Part of any email marketing is being helpful. Help customers solve problems, and they’ll like you more. And therefore buy from you. Pretty simple.
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 FLOOF for all sorts of comfy, stylish pillows!