A while back, I was working with a brand in the pet health supplement space.
They were all about how carefully they selected and sourced their ingredients and maintained a strict manufacturing process. It was woven into their story, pages, and many of our emails.
This kind of brand can’t cut corners because doing so would defeat the entire point.
They’d be no different than the mass-manufactured BS in the pet aisle.
But costs were rising.
Inflation, supply chain pressure, ingredient costs creeping up — the usual suspects for physical product eCom.
After cutting costs wherever possible, they ran out of options to preserve quality.
So, for the first time in company history, they had to raise prices…
From their flagship product to their back-end offers.
I put together a price hike campaign using everything I knew about customer psychology, the brand’s audience, and what makes people feel good about paying more rather than resentful.
It was 4 emails, sent to just 5,600 subscribers.
Results:
$23,690.41 in revenue, or $4.23 per subscriber.
That’s a lot of money for the audience size…
And every repeat customer stuck around and continued buying at the new prices afterward.
I’ve since run other price hike campaigns using the same approach with similar results.
But I’ve been on the other side of it, as a customer of a SaaS tool that raised prices in a way that felt tone-deaf.
No real explanation or goodwill built, so it felt like “we need to make more money.”
Yeah, businesses exist to make money, but more money typically comes with more value.
Two price hike campaigns, only one done well.
Today’s newsletter walks through how to do it right (like I did) — so that you drive serious sales AND keep your customers around afterward, happily paying the new price.
Why A Price Hike Campaign Done Right Works
A price increase works so well for two reasons.
First, it offers a real sense of urgency around something permanent.
I don’t just mean the fake “I have limited copies of my digital eBook” BS, though.
Even ending a promotion feels a bit arbitrary, in a subtle way. Like, the price is increasing back to normal for no reason.
A price hike’s scarcity is real because you have to raise prices for real, material reasons. There’s no artificial scarcity or arbitrariness.
Waiting genuinely costs them money because they can’t ever get the current price again.
Real (and permanent) consequences = real urgency.
Second, it feels helpful.
You aren’t shoving crap they don’t need in their face or making them feel pressure.
Instead, you’re guiding them toward a limited-time opportunity that they’ll never have again.
Since they’re on your email list, this adds to the exclusivity of being a subscriber. They hear about the price hike first and have the most time to take advantage.
What To Do in a Price Hike Campaign (and the Psychology Behind Each)
Give (And Clarify) Urgency and a Real Deadline
All price hike campaigns have a deadline. That deadline is when your prices go up.
You ultimately decide when those prices go up, which determines when you run the campaign.
Don’t make the deadline too long or too short. Too long kills the urgency, while too short can cost you sales by missing opportunities to email readers more.
I’d say 5-7 days is a good window — long enough to act, short enough to make action urgent.
Communicate the deadline clearly in every email. Make it clear.
Helps drive home urgency and overcome potential customer confusion-related friction.
Finally, make it feel like a genuine heads-up instead of pressure.
Pressure makes the customer feel defensive. The urgency should lean friendly but helpful.
Explain Why Prices Are Going Up
Announcing a price increase without a reason is a big mistake.
It turns what may be a necessary business move into a cash grab from the customer’s perspective.
They can’t see behind the scenes, so they don’t know why it’s happening. And they, unless they are a die-hard fan, will err on the side of the uncharitable explanation.
So… tell them why prices are rising. That could be things like:
- Rising ingredients costs
- New regulatory standards
- Relationships with better manufacturers
- Earning a certification that costs money to maintain
Whatever the reason is, tell them.
Transparency goes a long way. But trust-building isn’t the only benefit.
You can frame the price increase as a positive by demonstrating the alternative — usually, cutting corners somewhere else..
For example, NOT increasing prices could mean you have to compromise on ingredient quality.
If you’re known for your stringent quality standards, you’re eliminating a significant reason people buy from you. You’re cutting out what makes your brand, your brand.
Framed that way, the price increase stops being something that happens to the customer…
And starts being something the brand chose to do for them.
Just think:
Porsches are pricey for a reason. If they started selling them for half the price, they’d have to compromise in some way that turns off their more discerning clientele.
Paying a little more for the same quality product starts to feel a lot more reasonable than paying the same price for a worse one.
Help Customers Stock Up
If this is the last chance to buy at the old price… then it’s a GREAT time for the customer to stock up.
Customers are in that mindset. The best thing you can do is show them how much to buy.
For instance, if your product is consumed at a predictable rate (such as a supplement or drink), do the math for them.
An example could be, “If you go through one bottle a month, buying three now locks in today’s price for the next three months.“
Helping them buy by showing specific numbers:
- Makes stocking up feel like a natural move here (instead of a cheap urgency tactic)
- Makes you appear genuinely more helpful by giving product-related advice
- Eliminate analysis paralysis and thinking-related friction by helping customers pick the right amount for them
Heck, if you want to take it further…
Create limited-time bundles that help them buy the amount they need in one click. No need to even mash the “+” button when upping the quantity in their cart.
Nail this and you can create a “sales surge.”
Nail The Tone
A price hike with excessive apologizing or hedging sends the wrong signal. Customers have no reason to be comfortable with rising prices if the brand isn’t confident in its own decision.
It can sound like you’re worried about being perceived as going for a cash grab, even when you aren’t.
Don’t think of it like you’re asking for permission.
Instead, you’re informing customers of a decision that was made for good reasons, giving them plenty of notice, offering them a window to act before it takes effect, and even helping them load up at the old price.
That’s reasonable, and your copy should reflect that.
State the increase, explain why, and move forward.
Confidence in the decision is what makes the customer feel like they’re dealing with a brand that knows what it’s doing — and what it’s worth.
Yes, a few customers may not like it. A couple may even unsubscribe. But they’d like it even less if you sounded timid.
May as well say it with your chest.
Who Do You Send This To?
Send this to your engaged subscribers segment.
The first one can go to everyone to broaden reach, but keep in mind that some won’t yet have a relationship with you or your product.
They may not buy or engage at the same rate.
The focus on people who have shown interest in your brand.
When Should You Send a Price Hike Campaign?
That depends on the type of product/business model. A few quick examples:
Physical product eCommerce
Raise prices when costs genuinely increase, but only after you’ve exhausted other ways to cut costs without compromising quality or your mission.
Digital Products (courses, eBooks)
You can increase digital product prices whenever without alienating existing students since they have lifetime access.
This will knock non-customers off the fence. They may decide, “I’ll get in before it becomes more out of reach.”
That said…
Adding value to the product before raising prices will convert more non-buyers.
It’ll also improve satisfaction among existing customers since they now get more value for the old price they paid.
Services
Similar to physical product eCommerce, consider raising prices when costs increase. If you’re a solopreneur, that could literally mean your personal expenses — depending on your client relationships.
For example, one of my past mentors reviewed her retainer contracts yearly and raised rates with existing customers.
A good number accepted the increase, while a few parted ways amicably.
How Much Do I Raise Prices By?
Raise prices by enough to preserve margins at least.
It’s ok to add a tiny bit more to inch your margins a bit wider, especially if you sell a premium product.
Too little an increase doesn’t help and signals a lack of confidence, while too much risks feeling unjustified and loses sales + customer trust.
Raise Prices, Drive Sales, And Keep Customers
A good price hike campaign is transparent and urgent, uses a friendly tone, and feels helpful to customers.
Done right, it can generate a sales surge and preserve customer trust, keeping them around and encouraging them to continue buying at the new prices later.
Don’t be shocked if the first and last emails perform best. Announcement emails use novelty (gets all the “ready to buy” people), while last call emails have the most urgency.
The middle emails are harder, as with any focused campaign.
Some brands don’t do anything. HUGE mistake.
Others resort to half-hearted reminders throughout, or maybe their regular broadcasts + a reminder at the end.
Still others try to put strategic thought into theirs…
But end up with something haphazard that doesn’t feel intentional.
None of these are ideal. They’re leaving money on the table.
That’s why I created the Perfect Price Hike Formula.
It’s a price hike campaign framework and template I developed working with real clients + my own expertise in customer psychology and copywriting.
That brand I mentioned at the beginning? That was who I developed it with.
But I also helped another brand that sold non-consumables (harder to create “stock up” urgency) do $7,042.75 over 3 emails to just 3,600 subscribers.
The full campaign is now 7 emails after further testing and development with other clients, meaning even more money-making potential.
What’s inside:
- Email-by-email bullet-point framework to teach you each email’s underlying psychology and structure (includes walkthrough video)
- Plug-and-play template — swap in your brand, products, etc. then schedule/send (includes walkthrough video)
- Pro tips for modifying the template and making even more sales (including using your thank-you page post-purchase)
- A few lessons on price hike campaign psychology
- Breakdowns of real-world Perfect Price Hike campaigns I ran for clients (you can use these as templates for your own price hike campaign, too)
⇒ Learn more about the Perfect Price Hike Formula here
What To Do Next
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