Firstly, let me declare my appreciation for Jordan Watson (also known as Youtuber “HowtoDad”), for his contribution to feet everywhere.
He revolutionised flip-flops as you know it — personally I know them as “jandals”, but I’ll “flip-flop” before I “thong”. Aussies for ya 🙄
I first heard of his flip-flops when one of his marketing videos got shared to a group chat.
Then, on the first proper beach get-together this Summer, here is me, making my way down the sandy path, arms full of gear, and yup!… jandal blowout.
Which is fine, I just put everything down, plugged the straps back in, picked everything back up, kept walking, had another blowout, put everything back down, plugged the straps back in… ♾
My local beaches have black sand. You do not take off your jandals if you want skin on your feet.
Going for a swim? Leave them on the part of the sand that is still wet from when the tide was in and put them back on to head back to your towel.
So, I mostly sat in one place that day.
Oh, you want me to grab the sunscreen for you? Sure. It’s a few short steps. Oh, wait up, blowout… I’ll just balance on one foot while I fix my jandal. Oh well, maybe I’ll rest my other foot on the sandARRRRGHHH!?!?!?!
Spent a lot of my day pretending to be a Pelican hiding from those dinosaurs that hunt using motion detection.
Jordan’s version of jandal has a bread-tag shaped plug that will not let the straps pop out and surprise you as you’re wandering the beach. OK let’s be real… the house, shops, park, beach, etc.
Crafty.
The marketing team behind this also deserves applause. Look how they hang in retail stores. Clever 👏
I’d show you the back of them but I stood on a roach before, so I’ll just pirate this from their website:
I wanted to buy online, so I signed up to the email list so I’d remember to order later.
Aaand waited. Got to thinking the team was a little busy and hadn’t set up the sequences to help new customers get to know the brand and get buying.
But this week they hit up my inbox. Good stuff, but I reckon they are leaving a lotto money on the table.
No email sequences for new subscribers, can’t tell if there is a new customer one as I ended up looking for a local stockist and buying there. Welcome sequences can increase engagement by 33%!
Scroll through their socials and you will be giggling and feeling at home. But their emails are missing a bit of that Kiwi vibe and the humour that Jordan is known for. This is a doubly missed opportunity, cos apart from being so on-brand, humour in marketing helps expand your audience as people share/forward/refer.
Overly focused on aesthetics. This is not unique to Golden — a ton of consumable products apply the same design principles used everywhere else, inside of their email marketing. But for better results… tell stories. They fast-track the whole know/like/trust factor, because our brain doesn’t block them out as being just another ad. Try to use plain text designs where possible, so that readers get the gist of it even if tech is being a little $%&#@ and ain’t loading. The storytelling bit applies to A N Y industry, not just direct-to-consumer products. You could own a home construction company or a t-shirt print shop; doesn’t matter. Stories sell.
Not speaking to just one person. In fact, there was not a single use of the word “you” in their email. You-ing is great for making each reader feel doted on and helps with writing, too… instead of feeling intimidated at masses of people reading your words, you imagine your ideal customer scrolling the email by themselves and saying “yes! so true! love it! I’ma grab my card right now”
Here is theirs:
I’ve put it back in the blender and this is what popped out…
Subject: Don’t put your foot in it
Preview text: A gift that isn't socks
My recipe:
Updated the subject line and preview text to allude to gift-buying without straight up saying “this is another promotional email where we are going to tell you to buy stuff”. It’s easy to go for the obvious — puns that include our brand name, or clearly stating what is inside the email, but if someone is new to our brand… they are not obliged to care.
Hinted at Jordan's natural speaking voice and personality. He keeps a straight face when making a joke and embodies a Kiwi laid-back vibe, so the goal of the email isn’t to be full-throttle ROTFL, but to feel familiar and comfortable.
Made the reader the hero in their own story. Let them save somebody, we just happen to manufacture the parachute.
Showed them how the product works without them having to click away (most email programs will play GIFS now) because we don’t want to lose them to the internet until they have made a decision. Obviously, this doesn’t display correctly in my email screenshot, but I’d opt for a GIF similar to this, including the commentary/caption:
Acted as though the reader already owns a pair and enjoys an improved lifestyle because of their wise choice 😎 A little bit of flatter goes a long way.
Reminded them of how sucky a seemingly small problem actually is, to help them take more urgent action, whether for themselves or as a gift. A lot of business owners get trapped in thinking “but my product doesn’t really solve a problem or a need”… but it is totally OK to highlight a 1st world frustration like jandals blowing out, and add urgency around avoiding that!
Streamlined the layout so our lazy lizard brains know exactly where to look/read next, and exactly what to click on to take action. Sure, the team might want to tinker with the formatting of the buttons or images but honestly guys, I wouldn’t lose sleep over the gradient colours in the background or having a big ol’ branded image at the top. That is wasted real estate. You gotta hook ‘em fast, their inbox is full of bait from other brands!
Changed up the footer, to tongue-in-cheek dissuade anyone out of unsubscribing.
Anyway, I’m happy to see them get going with their email game, and you definitely want a pair of these.
Summmerrrrrrr!
Bernadette
P.S If you see a brand of something you’d love me to remix content or emails for, send it my way.