Email Swipes | Email marketing teardowns for SaaS brands – Details, episodes & analysis

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Ness Labs book reveal email, featured in Episode 34.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(08:24) Takeaway #1: Use storytelling for these 2 reasons

(09:13) Takeaway #2: Email is all about relationships – and relationships are emotional

(09:49) Takeaway #3: Take risks, then massage your strategy to reduce risk

(10:41) Takeaway #4: Introduce pattern interrupts to balance familiarity with freshness

(11:38) Takeaway #5: Use email signatures to kill 2 birds with 1 stone

(12:19) Takeaway #6: It’s your contractual right to promote yourself to your readers

(14:10) Takeaway #7: Provide value as you sell

(15:05) Takeaway #8: Be strategic if you’re sending consistent content

(16:55) Takeaway #9: Mix things up with other media to deliver more depth

(17:23) Takeaway #10: Nothing sells itself, not even free content your audience will love

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 34

Rand Fishkin recommended Anne-Laure for Email Swipes. Did you hear his episode on winback emails?

Find tons of ideas for ecomm emails that give value (not just sell) in my Welcome Playbook.

Free consult when you sign up to Kit (formerly ConvertKit) using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

When you’re sitting down to write the most important newsletter of your life, where do you even start? If you’re Anne-Laure Le Cunff, you go back to your foundational perspective – then mix your tried and true template with a meta reveal to share the story, capture its weight, and inspire action.

About our guest

Anne-Laure Le Cunff is an award-winning neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and author. She founded Ness Labs, an online learning platform offering evidence-based resources for professional and personal growth, which weekly newsletter has more than 100,000 readers. She is also a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience of King’s College London, where she studies the neurodevelopment and evolutionary neuroscience of curiosity. Previously, she was an executive at Google, where she led digital health projects. Her upcoming book, Tiny Experiments, will be published in March 2025.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(08:52) How Anne-Laure approached the creation of the “the most important newsletter I have ever sent”

(09:58) Her super simple content strategy and how it’s led to list growth

(14:24) The foundational analogy Anne-Laure uses that earns her audience’s trust and loyalty

(11:55) How Anne-Laure gives neuroscience emails a personal touch

(16:14) Why sending this book reveal newsletter felt nostalgic

(22:35) The creative solution that “allowed” Anne-Laure to market her book while still providing her trademark neuroscience content

(27:25) The 3 phrases of the Ness Labs’ list growth that attracted 100K subscribers in just 5 years

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we’re talking about today

Become the scientist of your own life when you subscribe to Anne-Laure’s emails.

Anne-Laure’s book, Tiny Experiments, will help you rethink your approach to goals, creativity, and life itself. Preorder now (until March 2025) to access exclusive bonuses.

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to Kit (formerly ConvertKit) using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Get inspired like Anne-Laure does with James Clear’s 3-2-1 Newsletter

Connect with Anne-Laure Le Cunff on LinkedIn and Instagram

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Harvie free gift email, featured in Episode 24

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(02:47) Takeaway #1: Judge carefully

(04:11) Takeaway #2: Segment your list… but… do so with a grain of salt.

(05:29) Takeaway #3: Test your offers before defaulting to that discount

(06:26) Takeaway #4: Use research to answer your questions

(07:00) Takeaway #5: Use email to test what research can’t answer for you

(07:55) Takeaway #6: Match your copy to what your audience needs to hear

(08:53) Takeaway #7: Realize that there is no objective definition for “valuable”

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 24

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

When you’ve slashed your membership price for four big, back-to-back sales, how do you go back to simpler offers – especially when you know your best customers aren’t even coming for the discounts? Listen in on how we took advantage of a favorite local pop up to build a non-discount-but-still-exciting promo for Harvie.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(01:21) How Harvie founder’s unique background gave rise to Harvie

(03:29) The 3 reasons we needed to rethink Harvie’s promotional offers – and the 1 thing that made it tricky

(04:58) The lightbulb moment – and why it worked

(05:29) Why this email is so short – and what the follow up looked like

(06:31) The other times we tried free gift offers for Harvie

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we’re talking about today

Live in Pennsylvania? Get fresh, local groceries to your door with Harvie

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Copyhackers cart close email, featured in Episode 22.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:39) Takeaway 1: Use your resources the way that works best for you, not how everyone says you should

(07:42) Takeaway #2: Would you say this in real life? Maybe that’s okay, maybe it’s not, but you need to dig into the why

(08:22) Takeaway #3: It’s your job to take the reins on emotion

(09:55) Takeaway #4: Every touchpoint is a branding opportunity. Which means every email is a branding opportunity.

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we featured in Ep. 22

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Get better results from your relationships by reading Never Split the Difference

Listen to more genius insights from Sophia in Ep. 11

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

When you know your best prospects are feeling the pressure of cart close – how do you shift the tone to empower decision-making from a confident place? If you’re Ry Schwartz of Copy School, you serenade your subscribers right through the doors of your program.

About our guest

Ry Schwartz has been deep in the trenches for dozens of 6- and 7-figure program launches and evergreen funnels. He’s written for and/or consulted with top online entrepreneurs and trainers like Amy Porterfield, Todd Herman, London Real, Josh Shipp and Dan Martell just to name a few. And he’s done it all without writing a single line of “copy”. Instead, he developed the Coaching The Conversion Method™ as a faster, more natural and intuitive framework for crafting launch and funnel copy that connects deeply with your prospects, and “coaches” them into being the perfect buyer. Ry has used his signature CTC processes to generate a combined revenue of $75M+ for his partners and clients - while training thousands of students as a guest-teacher inside Copy School (by Copyhackers) and his own training platform, Empire Engineering.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(4:19) How Ryan does and does not use AI – and the process-improving reasons why

(9:05) One of Ry’s humanizing criteria for writing copy

(9:39) The mashup of things that inspired this serenading email (5 entire years ago!)

(11:09) How Ry sets the tone of cart close emails to empower confident decision making

(14:23) What “projectuition” is – and how Ry uses it to normalize and validate pain points

(17:11) The feedback Ry got from this email and video

(19:58) The strategic change Ry would have made to this email if he could go back in time

(21:28) Ry’s favorite brands to cull inspiration from – and why

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we’re talking about today

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Be amazed by how fresh AppSumo keeps their descriptions for similar products over and over again

Get enthralled by the “mundane moment” storytelling of Cheryl Rerrick and Tarzan Kay

Connect with Ry on LinkedIn

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Sinch April Fool’s Day email, featured in Episode 20.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(02:26) Takeaway 1: Block the big things into your content calendar

(02:09) Takeaway #1.1: Feeling pressured by certain email norms? Strip it down to the why and reformat accordingly

(02:48) Takeaway #2: Don’t stop until you hit the dead end of the customer experience

(05:08) Takeaway #3: Build brand loyalty when you use (real) exclusivity

(05:28) Takeaway #4: Find good mentors. Or… maybe be a good mentor.

(06:18) Takeaway #5: Don’t stress if your creative process fluctuates with time

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 20

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

When your audience is a bunch of email developers, designers, and marketers – split across three different products – how do you wow them… and segment them… at the same time? If you’re Megan Boshuyzen, you develop a dozen interactive April Fool’s Day emails that deliver a perfectly crafted, Buzzfeed-style user experience.

About our guest

Megan Boshuyzen is the award-winning Senior Email Developer at Sinch Email, overseeing email development for Sinch Mailgun, Sinch Mailjet, and Sinch Email on Acid. She also leads Email on Acid’s monthly “Notes from the Dev” show, helping to advance the email development space by spotlighting thought leaders and sharing best practices. A graphic designer turned email developer, Megan believes that well-designed emails can transform the way businesses communicate with their customers and create positive change. Prior to joining Sinch Email, Megan co-founded Mango and Marigold Press – an award-winning, independent publishing house – and went on to spend more than four years building and growing the email program for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s PJ Library.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:39) The system Megan uses to ship emails for 3 brands with her 2-person team

(06:27) The crazy timeline they gave for this email – and why it still wasn’t long enough (!)

(07:52) The bajillion variations of emails and landing pages Megan and Julia developed for this one email send

(09:04) Why they didn’t link to an external quiz for the non-interactive audience (this one surprised me)

(15:42) The creation process of the email (and landing pages) – and where they swiped design inspiration from

(19:49) The types of responses the email generated – and how that’s informing their future strategy

(24:00) Megan’s favorite brands to swipe from – and why developers tend to use curated feeds for inspiration

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we’re talking about today

Make coding emails even faster with Megan’s email design system tutorial for Parcel Unpacked

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Check out Uproot’s fun-and-well-designed emails

Send better email with Sinch’s email offerings

Find Megan on LinkedIn or on her website

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Drizly goodbye emails, featured in Episode 18.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(06:11) Takeaway #1: Build your brand’s human side with safety nets

(06:16) Takeaway #1.1: Test your sender names

(07:43) Takeaway #2: Keep the customer front and center when using humor

(10:24) Takeaway #3: Weave branding into your email strategy

(11:32) Takeaway #4: Find mini-niches to spotlight and engage with

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 18

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Thinking of starting a podcast? I highly recommend Chana Greenstein’s podcast bootcamp (nope, not an affiliate!)

Missed the Rev episode with Nick Guadio, Reputation REVamped? Listen here

Sign up for excellent ecomm insights from Eli Weiss on his weekly All Things CX & Retention (I don’t use the term excellent for many newsletters – this one’s uniquely insightful)

Missed the Bitly episode with Devin O’Toole, Love and Links? Listen here

Have fun with Jared’s website here

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

How do you bid farewell to your subscribers after building a fan base who consistently posts your emails to social? Oh, and you’re not tasked with sending one or two goodbyes – your brief includes 19 (!) reminders. If you’re Jared Jones, formerly of Drizly, you lean into the humor of the situation and craft a sendoff that perfectly matches the absurdist voice your brand is loved for.

*About our guest*

Jared Jones is a writer, musician, and one-time podcast guest living in Boston, Massachusetts. He's currently trying to sell his first screenplay so if you happen to know any famous movie producers, well, that'd be pretty neat.

*Ideas you don’t want to miss*

(05:25) How Jared used his comedy background to develop the Drizly voice – and his “test the fences” barometer

(11:43) How the team planned the 19-email-20-push (!) Drizly goodbye – and how the idea was borne from the absurd amount of emails they had to send

(12:49) How the “last Western” movie influenced the idea and imagery of the campaign

(16:55) Jared’s brainstorming strategy – and elusive methods for defining a creative process

(21:25) The results of the goodbye emails (and other fun subscriber reactions over the years)

(28:30) How Jared is transitioning to a new role at a 100-year old brand that has tighter fences

(30:13) Jared’s favorite brands to swipe emails from

(32:14) A neat trick Jared uses to build loyalty with his readers

*Links from this episode*

Take a look at the emails we’re talking about today

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Check out the product description pages (PDps) on Firebox’s site

Follow Jared’s journey as he shapes the evolving Stanley Black and Decker Craftsman voice

See how Liquid Death’s voice touches everything they do

Replace your Drizly fix with another “absurdist” brand, Goodr

Check out how Chubbies speaks straight to their audience

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing podcast@nikkielbaz.com

*Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode*

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player