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*The following emails are in chronological order of how we received them after purchasing.
Email opt-in
ColourPop’s email opt-in is pretty dang standard. While they have the basics here, there are a few ways they could optimize their lead capture.
Note: There is a more optimized pop-up for text opt-ins on their homepage, so ColourPop could be trying to focus more of their efforts on capturing SMS contacts as opposed to email.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- The copy here is pretty generic and not that enticing. Shoppers won’t be as willing to enter their personal information to “keep in touch” or “stay in the know.”
- ColourPop actually offers 15% off in their first email, so they should test some language here about entering your email for a discount.
- This opt-in is hidden at the bottom of the homepage, and the black and white colors don’t catch your eye, which could impact lead volume.
👋 Welcome email #1
The first email from ColourPop gets delivered immediately after opt-in. The design is fun, eye-catching, on-brand, and the offer is front and center. However, the font size and color choices could be affecting performance.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- The offer text is a little bit hard to read (thin, white font), which could reduce conversions. Visitors decide to click in a fraction of a second, so making the offer clear, accessible, and legible will win almost every time.
- ColourPop uses a unique code with an expiration date, a smart tactic for prompting immediate action. But again, this text is pretty small and hard to read, so we’d suggest making it stand out more.
🏀 Campaign #1
This email campaign came one day after opting in, and it’s likely a one-time campaign for March Madness (go Knicks... 🏀 But wait, ColourPop, aren’t you based in LA?).
It’s a super visual email with not a lot of copy, which makes sense for a brand that’s focused on aesthetics.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- Again, that white font is pretty hard on the eyes with light color backgrounds. 👀 We’d suggest testing other iterations and focusing more on contrast.
- We love this stacked, mobile-focused bottom menu that scales well on any device. Not everyone will like your offer, so a comprehensive bottom menu on every email will allow more folks to get into a conversion funnel. (And if you count the clicks from this menu at the end of the year, the numbers are usually insane!)
📬 Campaign #2 (Three emails)
This email campaign came next, with three emails delivered in just 48 hours, all with similar messaging. 😮💨 If up-front conversions are the goal (and your engagement isn’t super low), this strategy can work… but it’s also email overload.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- We like the use of a top nav banner, but the offer is a little confusing and gets introduced without much context (though 80% off is killer!). Is it the Pop Art Collection that’s on sale, or something else? We also wonder why they left it out in the third email. 🤔
- Much better contrast here! The black text is way easier to read.
- Love the use of “poppy” artwork here to complement the Pop Art makeup. It creates a fun email experience.
🌈 Campaign #3
The next campaign was for ColourPop’s Creme Gel Liner, complete with uber nostalgic colored pencil vibes. ✨
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- The hero creative image here is awesome. It’s eye-catching, colorful, and does a brilliant job of showing the depth of this product and how many variations are available.
- Good job sneaking in that 80% off deal again, which makes this email valuable for subscribers instead of just being a promo for a product.
✅ Order confirmation email
After placing an order with ColourPop (someone on our team is ‘bout to look so fly 💁), we received this order confirmation email. The design is pretty basic compared to their other colorful emails, but there’s a touch of personalization that goes a long way.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- Love the personalization in this email. It reads like a note from a friend, which is a nice brand touch.
- We also like that they gave a heads up about shipping times to address any issues up-front. Great strategy for customer satisfaction! (And also props for the cryptic hint-dropping about a new launch.)
- ColourPop should try testing an upsell or cross-sell recommendation somewhere in this email. (This is allowed for US oompanies… other countries, do your homework!)
📦 Shipping confirmation email
A few days later, we received a shipping confirmation email with a similar structure.
💡 Pro tips from Pilothouse:
- Same note here: test adding upsells, cross-sells, or recommended products to these emails. And if not in the transactional emails, ColourPop should be sending separate post-purchase upsell emails (which they’re not currently).
- Great use of the bottom menu, but it should be in the Order Confirmation!
🔥 Further observations and suggestions
ColourPop’s emails are eye-catching, concise, and clear. There’s solid alignment between the email design and the brand feel. 🙌
However, our team has a few observations and tips for a more cohesive email strategy in the future:
👉 ColourPop’s email series lacked a defined Welcome Flow to introduce you to the brand. It seemed we just got thrown into their campaigns list and received whatever was on the calendar for that day (sometimes multiple emails).
👉 We’ve included a small percentage of the emails we received, which totalled 17 in 10 days. 🥴 This strategy might work if your only goal is up-front conversions, but if you’re aiming to build brand trust and grow a loyal audience, we’d suggest using a much lighter touch upfront (no more than one email per day) to minimize opt-outs. Gotta respect users’ time and inbox real estate.
👉 The amount of bulk campaigns sent probably means there’s no email segmentation on the back-end, which is an opportunity for improvement.
👉 We also didn’t receive a delivery notification email or a full post-purchase flow, which is a big missed opportunity for upsells, cross-sells, gathering reviews, and building brand loyalty.
Okay, DTC’ers, that’s it from us today. Sayonara until next Saturday. 👋
Stay tuned for Part 3 of our breakdown on ColourPop.
