🧠 This welcome email from Jones Road Beauty has a lot to love (and some things I'd change). Here's the psychology behind what works & what doesn't 👇
You can watch the video breakdown below, or keep reading for a summary.
1. Subject Line
"Don't forget to break the seal"
✅ This subject line speaks to a common pain point with this viral product - if you don’t “break the seal” on the Jones Road Miracle Balm, you won’t have a good product experience (something unique to this product).
❌ No personalization in the subject line: Some low-hanging fruit worth testing.
🧠 Cocktail Party Effect: We pay more attention to personal and personalized information, like our names.
✅ This subject line speaks to a common pain point with this viral product - if you don’t “break the seal” on the Jones Road Miracle Balm, you won’t have a good product experience (something unique to this product).
❌ No personalization in the subject line: Some low-hanging fruit worth testing.
🧠 Cocktail Party Effect: We pay more attention to personal and personalized information, like our names.
2. Header Image / Gif
✅ This header image is a gif of the Miracle Balm’s seal being broken, so customers immediately understand what to do and how. The use of the product is a big pain point for customers because it's unique to this product - and if you don't break the seal, your product experience will be a poor one.
🧠 Picture Superiority Effect: Images convey more meaning and are more easily understood than words.
🧠 Picture Superiority Effect: Images convey more meaning and are more easily understood than words.
3. CTA ("Watch Bobbi Break the Seal")
✅ Bobbi Brown - the famous makeup artist - is the face and creative force behind Jones Road.
A personal connection with Bobbi is important because her involvement is what attracts many folks to this brand.
❌ When you follow this link it doesn’t actually show Bobbi breaking the seal. It goes to an IG reel showing the different shades of Miracle Balm.
🧠 Parasocial Relationships: These are one-sided relationships that form between an audience and performers (or in this case, a celebrity make-up artist).
A personal connection with Bobbi is important because her involvement is what attracts many folks to this brand.
❌ When you follow this link it doesn’t actually show Bobbi breaking the seal. It goes to an IG reel showing the different shades of Miracle Balm.
🧠 Parasocial Relationships: These are one-sided relationships that form between an audience and performers (or in this case, a celebrity make-up artist).
4. Body Copy
❌ There’s no spatula included with the product, and this section of the email made me look through my order to see if I had missed it - a disappointing experience that could be avoided with a bit of personalization.
4. Bottom Section
✅ Nice bit of personal connection here with a CTA to join the Facebook group.
❌ This is potentially distracting to include in the email - depending on the priority this would be stronger as a standalone email (especially as there seems to be a repetition of emails that address this “break the seal” pain point in their Welcome journey). Something worth testing.
❌ This is potentially distracting to include in the email - depending on the priority this would be stronger as a standalone email (especially as there seems to be a repetition of emails that address this “break the seal” pain point in their Welcome journey). Something worth testing.
Choice Hacking 3S Framework Score:
🎯 Simple: Is this email easy to navigate - is it clear what I need to do next?
The design is a bit crowded and the CTA itself ("Watch Bobbi break the seal") isn't actually paid off. But it's now clear how I'm supposed to use the product.
🧠 Salient: Is this email easy to pay attention to and remember?
The header gif does so much heavy lifting that the rest of the email isn't really necessary.
❤️ Soulful: Is this email easy to love and emotionally engaging?
Legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown is the face of the brand, so I would've liked to see more of her face/name/presence in this welcome email.
The design is a bit crowded and the CTA itself ("Watch Bobbi break the seal") isn't actually paid off. But it's now clear how I'm supposed to use the product.
🧠 Salient: Is this email easy to pay attention to and remember?
The header gif does so much heavy lifting that the rest of the email isn't really necessary.
❤️ Soulful: Is this email easy to love and emotionally engaging?
Legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown is the face of the brand, so I would've liked to see more of her face/name/presence in this welcome email.