Friday, January 27, 2023
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 The key elements to include in your welcome email
📦 Where to build connections of maximum value
📦 Email stitching – Yay or nay?
📦 Is your brand set up for success in 2023?
📦 Pampering your pooch, charcuterie boards, and pre-workout
Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎
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Remember when we said Pilothouse has so much more to say about The Ridge? Well, we weren’t lying. This week’s DTC Brand Breakdown is going all in on email.
From their eye-catching welcome emails to their hot deals and exclusive testing opportunities, we've got the complete rundown on what Ridge has been dishing out.
So sit back, grab a cuppa, and let's dive into the juicy details 👇
🪵 Against the grain
The Ridge has an interesting approach to their welcome email. From a messaging standpoint, this is a whole new way to meet a brand for the first time.
Usually, welcome emails:
But Ridge takes a different approach…
As new subscribers, we’re immediately served with offers, merchandising, and trying to make a sale. 🤑
It could work! Going against the grain isn’t always a bad thing, especially with a product as simple as a wallet. Wallets have a lesser consideration point than other more expensive products.
But let’s put ourselves in the shoes of someone who’s never heard of the brand before. All of this promotional material could be a little overwhelming so instead, let’s circle back to their kickas* story.
They started off as a Kickstarter leading into another successful Kickstarter. 9 years later with over 2M wallets sold, this clearly isn’t just any other wallet.
The Ridge could reiterate what caught the consumer’s attention in the first place by outlining their story and why their product is more special than their competitors. We’ve read their story of course but it’s music to our ears. 😍
From a design perspective, these guys do a great job at creating beautiful email experiences with a cohesive brand experience from email to site. They have strong product imagery, bold fonts, and easy-to-digest emails that put the product front and center. 👌
They also take advantage of their real estate well to provide what we call ‘trust sections’ that touch on things like free shipping, free returns, and warranty. This small addition removes barriers of entry and makes it feel like a risk-free purchase. 🙌
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⬇️ Less is more
We are big fans of less is more with short and sweet emails. Brands like The Ridge don’t need to hit subscribers with a ton of copy and info, but that’s another discussion entirely!
Needless to say, this email looks great. Again, they do a fantastic job of creating a cohesive experience and all of their products are shot really well. 📷
We sense that some stitching may have occurred here. That’s when brands already have a fully designed email, but instead of sending it as one package, multiple sections are stitched together.
This is common! Many brands miss the mark but look no further than The Ridge to see a brand that gets it right.
🪙 Two sides of the same coin
Here we compare the same email in light mode and dark mode on mobile. Light mode shows us a cohesive experience, while in dark mode, extra borders are added to the content that distracts from what is otherwise a solid email.
⛳ On par
We don’t have much to say about this email, which is a good thing! It looks great in both light and dark mode, with strong messaging and vocabulary like “Lifelong Quality” and “The Perfect Gift.”
The offer is big and bold, with tailored call-to-actions that really drive home the objective of the email and the intended actions for the subscriber.
💪 Strong, simple, and sweet
The Ridge pushed the offer and wrote a solid blurb of copy that relates to the consumer. We’re not sure that shopping for a wallet would help in this context, but whatevs!
They could start with an angle about having extra cash from the holidays instead of being exhausted from all of the festivities to frame things more positively.
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🏆 Fully, completely
Strong branding across the board makes this another really nice email. We like the badge for reviews serving as a seal of approval, and the design is cohesive that avoids the unnecessary risks of stitching.
The messaging doesn’t quite find its footing between buying for yourself or a loved one. Gifting is the secondary message, but it’s boldly emphasized in the second section. With shorter emails like this, you’ll want to pick a goal and follow through.
🛰️ Coming to the dark side
This is an awesome email. The design is cool and the unique selling points (USPs) of the product are here in style. There’s space to include a review or two, but this one is polished to a beautiful shine. 🌟
The below images show us what happens when our friends in dark mode open the same email and we vastly prefer the light mode version. 👀
🚀 We love changes that stick!
The Ridge is killing it in the design department. That merchandising section with the three material options is absolute fire. 🔥
Copy-wise, there’s room to try a different angle. The Ridge touch upon seasonality with the new year/new you vibe, but ideally, we’d look for something more direct and actionable like “leave your sh*tty wallet in 2022 and upgrade for 2023” or use, “Carry less and live more,” from their about page to help drive more sales.
That concludes this week’s deep dive into The Ridge and their email content. Stay tuned for more breakdowns and killer insights from the talented team at Pilothouse.
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🤑 The Oodie - Davie Fogarty: Lessons From a Fast $400M.
💸 Andrew Wilkinson at C-Suite in Victoria: Bootstrapping vs. VC vs. PE vs. Angel.
😎 Pretty Boy - Ben Feys and Kevin Niehoff: Nailing your Brand Identity and Balling on a Budget.
🥤 Sansorium - Fiona Hepher: Sipping Sober with a 30% Return Customer Rate.
❤️ Rootd - Ania Wysocka: Helping a Million Users in the Age of Anxiety.
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Michael Venditti. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
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