Moneyball Mindset: How to Maximize Email Clicks for Your Ecommerce Brand
Can you spot what’s wrong with this 7-figure brand’s email strategy?
(Hint: it’s killing their list with every email…)
And it’s all due to the Moneyball concept.
I was asked to audit this brand after they saw email revenue tank year-over-year by 67% to start 2024.
Their fancy agency just wasn’t getting it done.
It took me 30 seconds to know why.
And it all started with Moneyball, the Brad Pitt / Jonah Hill film based on the book.
Like the film says: most ballclubs try to buy players.
But that’s not right: they need to buy wins.
And to buy wins, they need to buy runs.
And the SAME concept applies to email, SMS and ecommerce.
See the screenshot above again.
This agency – like 95% of every agency out there – focuses on the wrong thing.
Open rates. Designs. Copy. Segmentation.
Clearly they didn’t read my bestselling Ultimate Ecommerce Email & SMS Playbook or access my MachX Email Masterclass.
I don’t blame them; most agencies have never been to the top.
So they have an imperfect understanding of email marketing.
As a former VP of Email, SMS and Retention, I know the secret.
Brands shouldn’t focus on creating emails.
Nor creating designs. Nor segments.
Instead, they SHOULD be focusing on creating one thing:
EMAIL CLICKS.
More clicks = more conversions.
When clicks are up, conversions happen.
So how do you create clicks?
Here are the top 3 ways to maximize your clicks:
1) Segmentation without Personalization is Pointless.
There’s NEVER a scenario where you segment out your list and not personalize the email you send to that segment.
Go back to that screenshot.
Note how this brand’s agency was segmenting out the list… but they sent the SAME EMAIL to every segment.
So the “Engaged Brand Advocates” got the same email as the “Disengaged One-Time Buyers”.
Why would anyone do that?!
They are totally separate groups of subscribers, fans, customers and shoppers.
There’s no scenario where your emails are segmented but not personalized.
So how do you personalize?
- Dive into your customer data & actually use it in your emails
- Go beyond first name & personalize products, rewards, financing & purchase data in emails
- Design different creatives & copy for different segments
- Use dynamic recommendations in your emails
The easy way out is to do segmentation. Anyone can do that.
But personalization is super hard.
Which is why agencies don’t do it.
And you suffer.
So refocus all your efforts on personalization.
Your customers will thank you for it by clicking & converting more.
2) Focus less on campaigns & more on automations.
The screenshot above shows an agency working HARD on campaigns.
But they clearly don’t know the 80/20 rule.
The best emails are automations; they yield the BEST clicks because customers convert faster.
So instead of focusing energies on campaigns, they should be focusing on automations.
Alas, not the case: which is why revenue was down 67%.
Refocus your energies on automations because they offer BETTER CLICKS.
The click-to-convert rate on those emails are sky-high.
Yet most brands obsess over day-to-day campaigns for some reason.
Break free from a campaign mindset and focus on maximizing your automation clicks.
3) Every relationship starts with a click.
Ignore the people that scream COPY, DESIGN, SEGMENTATION and other buzzwords.
If the email doesn’t get clicked, it doesn’t matter.
Sounds harsh?
It’s actually what your subscribers tell us.
Fact: 84% of customers demand personalization but only 15% of brands actually deliver on it.
So most brands aren’t sending good emails at all.
Time to rethink what you’re being fed.
Email clicks are all that matter.
Why?
Because every relationship starts with a click.
Customers CLICK because they are interested in what you are selling right now.
No click, no sale.
You could spend 8 hours on a great design. If it gets no clicks, it’s a waste.
Especially campaigns because subscribers are moving on to the next one.
Ignore open rates, also. Email clicks are all that matter.
Like Moneyball.
You’re not buying campaigns, nor designs, nor subscribers.
You need to buying clicks.
So refocus all your energies on getting clicks.
And in order to get clicks, you need to focus on:
- Clickable designs
- Personalization
- Automation
But start with the mindset shift and remind yourself:
Every relationship starts with a click.
So…
What happened after we came in and changed the ENTIRE strategy for this 8-figure brand?
Here’s what happened:
- 290% Revenue Growth
- 5x the number of clicks
- 46% of revenue from email
- Profitable, predictable and sustainable revenue from email
And most importantly… HAPPIER SUBSCRIBERS.
Refocus on clicks, the Moneyball approach.
Don’t buy great designs. Nor great emails.
Buy email clicks. Because those convert.
After you read this, take a good hard look at your email program and ask:
Am I maxing out my clicks?
Based on my hundreds of audits, probably not.
Click here if you want to maximize your email clicks this year.
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