Hey Jacob, I was also following their emails for a while but tbh my feeling was that they are TOO aggressive.
I don't have any data to back this up but just by talking with irl friends who are not into marketing - almost all of them agree they would unsubscribe or mark as spam a brand that sends them 1-2 emails per day (that's how much I was getting!)
Also, what I found weird was that even though I did their quiz to the end (that's when I became subscribed the first time) - their retargeting emails would always link me to the beginning of the quiz (which as you know is 50+ questions). Ain't nobody got time for that xD
Of course I have absolutely no data behind this, and since they've been doing for a while, it probably works.
Just my gut feeling is that this is not really a good strategy.
None of their emails go to my Spam (but I have been engaging), so they are getting at least decent enough engagement and opens to prevent being flagged as Spam.
I'm mixed on the linking back to the beginning of their web "onboarding" quiz funnel every time. And to be fair, their first emails on day 1-5 if you open on mobile will actually link you into the app and push you to log a food.
Then once it's been 1 week+, all their emails link back to the quiz.
It sounds like they need a bit more segmentation in their emails. What this currently solves for is users who explored the app, didn't convert, and didn't come back. Then when they see Simple's emails 1+ weeks later, they don't have the same intent they did to start, so Simple needs to build that intent and motivation again through the quiz flow.
I believe that we are highly aware and remember the different apps we try, but most consumers don't. If they click on one of Simple's emails 2 weeks later, they aren't going to purchase or even try the app if Simple tried to push them straight there.
So do I think it's a bit of an annoying UX? Yes.
Do I think they tested this and found it converts better? Yes.
Do I think they need to test more segmentation? Yes.
Now back to the quantity of emails:
- I doubt they send that many emails to paying users
- If you're a non paying user or churned user, there is less risk to sending more emails because you can't churn again...
- Majority of people never come back to apps, so if you're emails are performing, then increasing the quantity is often okay. Sometimes it can be a short term strategy at the sacrifice of long-term brand building
- I do like the many different types of emails though
I also believe they send more emails to people engaging with their emails and will stop sending to people who aren't, so we have likely gotten a higher quantity than others since we click around.
So long story short, should you copy and paste this strategy? Probably not, but there are elements that I think you can pull out and use.
Hey Jacob, I was also following their emails for a while but tbh my feeling was that they are TOO aggressive.
I don't have any data to back this up but just by talking with irl friends who are not into marketing - almost all of them agree they would unsubscribe or mark as spam a brand that sends them 1-2 emails per day (that's how much I was getting!)
Also, what I found weird was that even though I did their quiz to the end (that's when I became subscribed the first time) - their retargeting emails would always link me to the beginning of the quiz (which as you know is 50+ questions). Ain't nobody got time for that xD
Of course I have absolutely no data behind this, and since they've been doing for a while, it probably works.
Just my gut feeling is that this is not really a good strategy.
What do you think about this? :))
Hey Kristijan!
I can see both sides of this.
None of their emails go to my Spam (but I have been engaging), so they are getting at least decent enough engagement and opens to prevent being flagged as Spam.
I'm mixed on the linking back to the beginning of their web "onboarding" quiz funnel every time. And to be fair, their first emails on day 1-5 if you open on mobile will actually link you into the app and push you to log a food.
Then once it's been 1 week+, all their emails link back to the quiz.
It sounds like they need a bit more segmentation in their emails. What this currently solves for is users who explored the app, didn't convert, and didn't come back. Then when they see Simple's emails 1+ weeks later, they don't have the same intent they did to start, so Simple needs to build that intent and motivation again through the quiz flow.
I believe that we are highly aware and remember the different apps we try, but most consumers don't. If they click on one of Simple's emails 2 weeks later, they aren't going to purchase or even try the app if Simple tried to push them straight there.
So do I think it's a bit of an annoying UX? Yes.
Do I think they tested this and found it converts better? Yes.
Do I think they need to test more segmentation? Yes.
Now back to the quantity of emails:
- I doubt they send that many emails to paying users
- If you're a non paying user or churned user, there is less risk to sending more emails because you can't churn again...
- Majority of people never come back to apps, so if you're emails are performing, then increasing the quantity is often okay. Sometimes it can be a short term strategy at the sacrifice of long-term brand building
- I do like the many different types of emails though
I also believe they send more emails to people engaging with their emails and will stop sending to people who aren't, so we have likely gotten a higher quantity than others since we click around.
So long story short, should you copy and paste this strategy? Probably not, but there are elements that I think you can pull out and use.