I taught myself guitar in high school and college.
In fact, I was the serenade guitarist for my college fraternity one semester.
(Let me tell you… playing Ed Sheeran and Backstreet Boys in front of 100 sorority women as your fraternity brothers sing the lyrics is a rush like no other.)
Unfortunately, I fell off after getting too busy toward the end of and post-college. I even lost interest.
But recently, I feel the urge to pick it back up. I want to get good at it for real. And I want my future kids to play an instrument.
(No, I didn’t marry any of the aforementioned sorority women.)
What better way than to teach them the same instrument that I know?
Turns out a company specializes in helping kids start playing guitar. It’s called Loog Guitar.
I only found Loog through a friend/colleague who must’ve bought from them recently.
(Perks of being a marketer is always finding cool new brands!)
He shared the excellent post-purchase email he received from them after ordering. So yes, I broke it down for you.
You’re about to learn how to start a strong customer relationship, set email list expectations, and gather market research and feedback BEFORE their order arrives.
Keep on reading…
| Table of Contents |
| About Loog Guitars The Email: A Simple but Effective Post-Purchas Email The Sender, Subject Line, and Preview Text: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next |
About Loog Guitars
Loog Guitars is an online musical instrument retailer that sells instruments designed to help younger kids start learning the instrument.
It’s most known for its 3-string guitars — 3 strings makes it easier to start kids on the guitar.
Loog was founded by Rafael Atijas (CEO at the time of writing) in 2010 as, funny enough, part of his Master’s thesis at New York University. The goal, to me, seemed to be a unique way to teach children
Well, he conceived of the idea for the original 3-string Loog guitar in 2010 as part of that thesis.
Rafael launched a Kickstarter in 2011 to make the Loog guitar a reality. He raised $65,618 from people worldwide, and the Loog was officially born.
Over the years, Loog added more guitars (acoustic and electric) to expand its target age range. In 2019, it launched another Kickstarter, raising $557,812, to expand its product line further.
Now, it sells various guitars, ukuleles, and piano keyboards and accessories for them. It also has an app with lessons, digital songbooks, and more.
The brand has even collaborated with Fender to make special Stratocaster and Telecaster Loog guitars!
Cool stuff.
I won’t use a Loog (I’d go right back to the 6-string) when I get back to guitar, but I probably would start my future kids on one of these!
The Email: A Simple but Effective Post-Purchase Email
Today’s email is a Post-Purchase “thank-you” email:
A plain-text email with nice, attractive formatting and a logo at the top.
It looks like an email a person might write to you.
Nice and short — you can get the whole email in one glance.
And yes, I realize it doesn’t have a bunch of line breaks. That’s okay. Not every piece of copy must be in the hyper-direct-response-style.
This way feels more natural given the niche.
The Sender, Subject Line, and Preview Text:
All three of these are in one screenshot since my friend sent me it:
The subject line is just “Thank you!” with the preview of “You’re what makes us great.”
Doesn’t need to be complicated. The customer just bought, so context tells them this is a post-purchase thank-you. That’s enough to get opens.
I like the sender name, though. It’s not just “Loog,” but someone AT Loog. In this case, the founder/CEO.
The Body Copy
We open with the logo and a paragraph:
(Ben is the friend who sent me this email for this Breakdown.)
A genuine, personal-sounding thank-you is a fantastic way to start a “just purchased” post-purchase email.
My favorite bit is the “you just made this world a more musical place, and that’s amazing :-)”.
It adds some personality to the email AND appeals to the reader’s desire to be a part of something bigger.
Yet Loog isn’t going to let this email slide without SOME sort of CTA. Not an urge to buy again, but something else:
A survey!
I didn’t click through (since I didn’t get the email), but, if I had to guess…
It was about the purchase/ordering process. Can’t be about the product since the customer just ordered.
Good idea to collect that data — you learn how to refine it for ease of use AND gain some general market research insights.
Notice how Loog qualified the survey, saying it only takes two minutes to complete.
That, along with the friendly tone, will boost clicks. Customers want to help a good company, and if you make it easy, they’re far more likely to do so.
The overall way Loog wrote this section makes them more sympathetic, too. It feels like they’re asking a friendly favor instead of a cold *cue robot voice* “Your opinion is valued.”
Loog closes the email by setting future expectations:
That’s a great closing. Tell the reader what to expect by being on the list.
But it’s not just the act of setting expectations that’s great. It’s the content, too:
Loog promises tips to get more out of their purchase. That’s key for the post-purchase period.
You must make it easy for the customer to get set up, and then help them achieve a “quick win” with their product.
Do that, and they’ll be pleased with their offer + your customer service. THAT, my friend, is how you secure long-term customer retention.
Finishing this section is a signoff from the founder/CEO, adding a personal touch to the whole thing.
We now have two PS’s. First:
Interesting choice to acknowledge it’s an automated email. Some readers would know, while others may not realize it.
I’m sure the reader appreciates the honesty in either case. It makes their claim that you can reach out for feedback more credible.
Also, encouraging replies makes you more approachable while boosting deliverability (replies tell email providers people want to hear from you).
Next, the PPS:
Clarity and helpfulness are the top priorities immediately after purchase.
That goes for the earlier “expectation-setting” thing I discussed, but it also goes for shipping.
Customers feel a LOT more at ease if you lay out exactly how to track their order and what to expect around that issue.
Just be as helpful as humanly possible. Customers will thank you for it… with words AND dollars.
Takeaways
Here are some big takeaways:
1. The Copy Mechanics
Formatting
Loog uses fewer line breaks than you might typically see from text-based email. However, brands differ in voice and style.
Loog needs to feel less “direct-response-esque” and more approachable. Having several sentences per line break helps with this.
Adults can read paragraphs, too, so there’s not always a need to do one sentence per line.
Also, Loog bolds and underlines the survey CTA link to draw attention and indicate it’s clickable.
“Part of something bigger”
Loog has a line of copy that makes the customer feel like more than “just a customer.” They “just made this world a more musical place.”
Such language gives the customer a sense of contributing to a greater cause.
It plays a role in overcoming buyer’s remorse (almost EVERY purchase at ANY brand causes some level of post-purchase doubt)…
And strengthens customer loyalty. Think about it:
Customers want to make more purchases if their money is also moving some good cause forward — as if every purchase is one more step toward getting there.
Heck, that’s why I’m still subscribed to my American-raised meat subscription box AND my animal organ supplements.
Objection-defusal
A big hesitation for taking surveys is the time involved. Without an incentive, it’s harder to get people to finish a survey.
That’s why Loog promises it will ONLY take two minutes.
The customer has a bit of a “post-purchase high,” and they’re not in the middle of something else — unlike if they got this email a day later while working.
Thus, this “two minutes” defusal is likely enough to get plenty of survey responses.
Encouraging replies
Loog encourages replies to facilitate conversation, making the customer feel more comfortable and important while boosting deliverability.
2. The Email Structure
The email structure is as follows:
- Thank-you
- Bonding/connecting copy
- Survey CTA + objection-diffusing (“it only takes two minutes”)
- Expectation-setting
- Signoff
- Reply-encouraging PS
- Shipping reminder PPS
Fairly simple structure. Easy to use as inspiration for your own post-purchase “thank-you” email.
3. The Overall Strategy
The ultimate strategic goal of ANY post-purchase onboarding sequence is to establish customer loyalty.
That means the customer returns for multiple repeat purchases AND tells their friends about Loog.
However, the FULL sequence accomplishes this. That’s way too big of a goal for JUST one email.
That would be like going on one date and then proposing!
Instead, the first email accomplishes several “proximate” goals that build toward the “marriage” of long-term customer loyalty:
- Create a strong, positive first impression
- Make the customer excited for their item(s) to arrive
- Set expectations for being on the email list
- Prepping the customer to achieve a “win” with their item(s) as quickly as possible (which is part of #3 in this list)
Each goal builds on the last. Once the customer achieves that quick win, their trust in and satisfaction with Loog jump.
The next few emails in the series are supposed to accomplish this by providing instructions on use and care, maybe some song or lesson ideas to practice, etc.
Once the customer achieves that win, you deepen the relationship and introduce upsell/cross-sell offers.
You also collect product reviews and secure referral business.
Creates a nice flywheel of more loyalty from this customer, more “warm traffic”, and more social proof.
I could go into much more detail, but that’s outside the scope of this blog post. I think you get the picture.
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 Loog Guitars if you want to teach your kid how to play a six-string!