Email Marketing: The Tuesday Email That Changed Everything

We worked with a pet brand on email for some time. They had solid products and a decent email list. Nothing really broken on the surface, but not much was compounding either. Engagement was just kind of... there. Like it did enough to not worry about but not enough to get excited about, and we wanted more.

We wanted to build relationships with our customers.

As a brand, the emails you send out every week should lead to some form of growth. Whether it be more opens, more clicks, or more revenue. Something needs to tell you that you’re headed in the right direction with email.

That said, we tried something that, in hindsight, sounds almost too simple to have worked the way it did.

We created a weekly series strictly designed to drive customer engagement. We weren't gunning for any purchase at all with these emails. We just wanted to provide customers with emails they can connect with and relate to when it comes to living with a pet (their little baby).

Let me tell you how it worked.

Every Tuesday, people on their list who showed interest in previous emails started getting an email from us even if they've never bought before. Nothing promotional. Not a "here's what's new" email. A real email.

The kind that actually gave them something. Pet care tips they hadn't thought about. Hacks that made being a pet owner easier. Product recommendations that genuinely matched what their life looked like.

They were written for someone who loved their animal and would do anything to give them their best life.

That's it. That was the idea.

Within the first 30 days, customer purchase revenue which also included subscription orders, climbed 150% and by the 90-day mark, it had grown to 400%.

I'm not even kidding.

The engagement numbers told their own story too. Open rates kept climbing week after week from 30% to a recurring 60%. Click rates followed. And people were actually writing back.

Actual replies.

You don’t usually see that in email marketing nowadays. It was clear that customers were loving these emails heavily.

Eventually, people were telling us what they loved about the emails, what they wanted to read next, and even what their furry friend had been dealing with lately.

The inbox became a conversation, and the brand became something those list members looked forward to hearing from. Totally excited for next Tuesday's email.

Here’s why this strategy worked so well

Each time a customer read their Tuesday email, it made them feel like the brand knew them, like the brand thought about them during the week, and wanted to hand them something useful before asking for anything back.

That feeling compounded over time. Every week the email lands, the trust gets a little deeper. Every week someone opens it, the relationship gets a little stickier. And when someone trusts you and looks forward to hearing from you, buying from you stops being a decision and starts being a reflex.

Like they just can't help wanting to give you their money with the world's brightest smile on their face.

The list we sent to mattered too. We weren't blasting this to everyone. We sent it to the people who had already shown interest in the brand and were willing to take action on an email even if it's just an open.

That group became so engaged that people were replying to Facebook & Instagram comments on behalf of the brand.

Holy moly! How in love were they huh?

The truth about this whole thing though, is that nobody is going to remember the brand that emailed them a 20% off coupon every day of the week.

But they are going to remember the brand that taught them something useful about their dog's anxiety, or helped them figure out why their cat wasn't eating, or recommended something that actually helped their situation.

That memory lives in a completely different place in a person's mind rent free. It drives a completely different kind of loyalty too.

The kicker: Any brand can do this. The niche doesn't matter. The size of the list doesn't matter, even if you're just starting email. What matters is deciding that your customers deserve something worth reading, and then actually delivering it on a schedule they can count on.

Pick a day. Show up every single week. Give more than you ask for. Watch what happens.

We already know what happens. We saw it in the numbers.

Your customers are waiting to love you. You just have to give them a reason to.