AMAZON: THE PERFECT 3-LINE EMAIL

Morning!

Firstly, who checks their emails on Christmas day? Is seeing the family that painful?

Only kidding, I hope you are all having the merriest of Christmas' and are getting some quality time with your loved ones.

Nonetheless, I hope you still have time for a quick bit of Christmas Day marketing.

I won't keep you for long. Short and sweet is the aim + it's a cracker.

I'm about to breakdown one of the best emails I've ever received, from one of the biggest companies in the world...Amazon.

Let's get into it!

Was this email forwarded to you?

Breaking Down The Strategy

This story starts a couple of days ago on the 23rd of December. At the time I was sitting in the office at home absolutely scrambling for last-minute gifts for people.

That day I'd been to Cheshire Oaks to try and get some last-minute gifts - but the mission was unsuccessful.

The day before that I'd been to the Trafford Centre on the same pursuit - again, to no avail.

I'd done it again, I'd left Christmas shopping to the last minute and had come away empty-handed. For lack of better words, I'd fucked it.

But as I sat there and began to reassure myself that everyone would understand why I forgot about them at Christmas, I got an email...

Boom.

It was like an angel coming down from heaven to bless everyone who (like me) had left everything until way too late.

I open it up to find one of the simplest emails I've ever received.

2 lines. 1 call-to-action (CTA).

But that's all they needed.

Here's why I love it:

1. They identify a clear pain point

How many people just market for the sake of marketing? Answer: way too many.

"It's Easter so let's do an Easter campaign."

Horrendous idea. Yet, so many brands (even at the top level) do it.

Instead, Amazon has clearly spent a lot of time understanding their audience and identifying their most significant pain points.

One being: they leave buying gifts to the last minute and then end up in a panic.

2. They majestically position their product as the solution

"The last-minute gift they'll love."

What a beautiful bit of copywriting that is.

The exact thing 99% of people will be looking for in this situation is:

A) Something last-minuteB) Something that they won't hate

And there Amazon is sliding into your inbox like an angel.

They identified the problem, then boom, they have the perfect solution - their gift cards.

3. They quickly battle the only possible objection

When it comes to last-minute gifts there are very rarely any objections to purchasing. In fact, there is often only one: they have to be able to get it instantly.

And that's exactly what Amazon adds to their email:"Give eGift Cards Instantly."

Instantly - that's the word that matters here.

People aren't looking for something big or great, they just want something quick.

So Amazon makes sure readers know that their gift cards provide that speed.

4. The beautiful timing

Everything else aside, the thing that makes this email is their timing.

They could have sent this exact same email any other day of the year and chances are it would have flopped.

The copy and everything else is great, but it's the TIMING that had the impact.

Think about how it works in boxing. Sometimes it's not about how hard you punch or how fast your hands are. It's often the best-timed punch that lands the knockout blow.

And that's exactly what Amazon had here.

They knew that at 21:23, 2 days before Christmas their audience would be at their breaking point when it came to buying last-minute gifts.

The desire. The demand. It was there in heaps.

Then boom. There's the knockout blow from Amazon.

It was an absolute marketing masterclass.

And if there's anything you take away from Amazon here, let it be that your research pre-writing can often be 10,000 times more important than the campaign you've actually written.

The campaign they wrote here was amazing, but the timing... oh the timing. That's what made this campaign so great.

I'd love to know the stats on conversions, but all I'll say is I'm very confident Amazon sold a hell of a lot of gift cards from this 3 line email.

Now, how can you do the same?

1. Spend time to get to know your audience

When are they most desperate for your products? What time of year do their pain points hurt most? When should you hit them with that killer blow email?

Those are the questions you need to be finding answers to.

2. Identify a clear pain point in your campaigns

Don't send a campaign because it's Easter, send one because there's a clear pain point you need to address here.

3. Serve yourself on a platter as the solution

Don't just come in and address a pain point your target audience is dealing with, come in and show yourself as the solution.

They don't need anyone else pointing out their problem, they need it solved.

Let that solution be you.

Right, that's it, Christmas Growing Viral is over.

Now stop being anti-social and go enjoy the rest of your Christmas with your family and friends.

— Niall

What did you think of this week's breakdown?

I can't build the biggest marketing newsletter in the world without feedback. Click on a link to vote:

• 👍 Loved it and Merry Christmas!

• 😐 Meh - was ok.

• 👎 I am scrooge. Not interesting to me.

This has been a breakdown of Amazon's marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

Don’t forget to subscribe to get next week’s breakdown straight to your inbox!