But the brand is equally as famous for its email blasts (yes, I used that word in 2018). Here’s an example from just this week…
The subject line read ‘Something for your Monday’ and the image (of two cute little goats) simply linked to the product catalogue on the Glossier website.
This is typical of Glossier, which sends incredibly focused and compelling product emails, but also cheery, almost goofy messages that come straight from the world of social media.
Watercooler moments… with email?
Let’s not beat around the bush here, checking our email is a trope of boring modern life.
But what Glossier understands is that when email blasts are done right they can achieve something on social media (and beyond) akin to the watercooler moment that linear TV used to inspire. If you think that is far-fetched, let me tell you that this article was sparked by my wife showing me those goats (pictured above) on her smartphone as we ate dinner.
Other emails have featured, amongst other things, cute dogs, bathtubs and ice cream. Head over to Twitter and you can find evidence of the impact of these somewhat obscure email blasts:
Witness…
@glossier is so cute they literally sent me an email to wish me a good day
— Meemz-a-lot ???? (@MeelandNicola) April 11, 2018
And this…
[Department stores email me 40% off deals, free gift bags, valid promotions] ugh I hate junk mail
[@glossier literally just emails me a photo of a bathtub] pic.twitter.com/O3x8L8vRuU
— Karoline Ribak (@KarolineRibak) March 22, 2018
And perhaps most revealingly, this…
me deciphering what these random ass glossier emails are trying to tell us pic.twitter.com/w7CzOEn4Xl
— tracy flick (@cheltaylor) April 16, 2018
Pros and cons of such frippery?
There are pros and cons to these left-of-field emails meant to stand out in your inbox.
As much as these messages clearly grab attention there are those who have no time for such trivialities. You could even say that the majority of consumers generally only want transactional emails (receipts, delivery notifications etc.) or coupons.
This sentiment is seen in Lily’s tweet below:
I can’t believe Glossier can email me 6 million times a day but not send me one single coupon
— Lily Gray (@lilygray99) March 16, 2018
A more passionate critique comes from another twitter user, who also clearly dislikes marketing emails that don’t deliver something worthwhile:
i literally dread checking my email so much because i get so intimidated and then i open my inbox and its 200 of this. i'm expecting every corporate email to either be a coupon or a tracking number if it doesn't have either of those i don't want it! glossier is on thin ice pic.twitter.com/4YnqaXtOON
— nobody (@zingingcutie22) April 6, 2018
The idea that many people are fed up with cute email marketing is explored in an article on Racked.com titled “Re: The Stressful Email Marketing Tactic That Will Not Die.” The author, Eliza Brooke, names and shames brands that have prefixed their marketing email subject lines with ‘Re:’ in an effort to trick the recipient into opening.
Brooke writes: “This tactic totally works, especially if you’re not paying close attention to who sent the email. (I often am not.) What makes it doubly annoying is that brands have been doing it for years, and shoppers have been complaining about it for just as long. Yet nothing has changed.”
This a tactic that Glossier has used in the past, taking the gimmick to its nth degree with one of its most innovative bits of creative email. As you can see in the tweet below, Glossier designed an email which was designed to look as if it was sent by accident, an internal memo drawing attention to ‘Phase 2’ (a new Glossier product).
L'email de @glossier est tout simplement parfait ! Looks like we're all working @ #glossier #genial pic.twitter.com/piaml8DD09
— Delphine Ladrière (@Delphine_L26) March 14, 2016
As Brooke points out, Glossier has also riffed on the ‘out of office’ automated email reply, as shown in the image below.
One can understand how these tactics must really annoy some Glossier customers who just love the products and don’t really desire to wallow in the brand’s arch copywriting. Equally, one might suggest such customers should unsubscribe from email marketing.
For what it’s worth, I love this stuff
Whilst we’re still on the topic of these ‘funny’ emails (before we talk about product emails), I must say I like them a lot. If you’re a pureplay beauty brand with a young(ish) customer base that are digitally savvy having a noteworthy brand is important. People need reminding! Customers are not going to pass your store on the street, you don’t have one (apart from one New York showroom and the occasional London popup).
Glossier’s product range is fairly small, the company is young, and so the risk is contained by marketers who know the brand and product inside out and an army of fans who take pride in championing what is still somewhat of a cult brand.
And when simple creative ideas are pulled off they can completely change some customers’ perception of email and make them more likely to open the next one. Take Glossier’s email that contained downloadable smartphone wallpapers as an example – the execution is excellent (click here to take a look) and the confidence is palpable (if a brand can be confident).
@glossier's email marketing is so, so good – loving the weekly downloadable phone wallpapers
— ANNA BOYLE (@__annaanna) April 10, 2018
I pretty much agree with Jenn in the tweet below…
I feel the need to compliment @glossier’s marketing because when I get emails from them I don’t groan and roll my eyes. They’re cheeky and I love it ????????????????
— Jenn Vance (@JenniferLVance) February 27, 2018
There’s something about cheek – when it’s done well it is also fairly transparent. Take the below example of a Glossier cart abandonment email – the final line “No, but it does trigger this email” is totally up front about marketing automation, about what this email is and why the customer has received it. The same goes for the call to action (“Get back in there”).
This directness shows a brand intent on communicating with honesty, something which isn’t always seen with marketing automation (take this example of patronising triggered emails).
Luckily, there’s more to Glossier’s emails
Quirky pictures of bathtubs aside, Glossier turns out some beautifully designed emails often highlighting individual products.
These emails stand out, not simply because of their excellent design and copy, but because retail email marketing is too often a mishmash of products and half-hearted messages which the magpie consumer will nevertheless click on, albeit in pretty small numbers relative to the volume of emails sent.
Glossier finds focus, which is admittedly something that easier to do when you’re a pureplay with a relatively small product range, and products which aren’t as likely to suffer from the whimsy of individual taste (as in fashion, where sending an email pushing just one dress, for example, would be more divisive).
Anyway, let’s look at some examples. ‘Email marketing bae’ provides a perfect example – a product, a testmonial and a call to action…
nothing groundbreaking, but i just liked this @glossier email with a good testimony and CTA. also, my employer should probably just start direct depositing my paycheck to glossier instead of my bank account. pic.twitter.com/9zMukxQIlW
— email marketing bae (@baemail_) March 5, 2018
And here’s a teaser email (ahead of the launch of Glossier’s serums)…
If you want to see how Glossier structures a product tease campaign, take a look at this excellent article from Email Design Workshop which lays out each stage of the campaign, from obscure teaser to product intro to ‘how to’ content.
There are lots and lots of other examples, some as simple as the image above, and others including something a little more involved, like a flow chart or the double message below (via reallygoodemails).
What makes these messages work from a technical point of view is the large text (suitable for mobile viewing), the large images (also great for mobile), the consistent clickthrough button (a blue box with a compelling call to action) and the no-fuss copywriting often in social media vernacular.
But ultimately what I love about these emails is that each one is a message. It says one thing, defiantly. The marketing team have sat down and asked “What do we want to say? What is our message?”, rather than “What shall we put in this email?”
There’s a big lesson there for many retail marketers.
Customer service via email seems good, too
More tweets attest to the brand’s ability to delight customers with ‘hand written’ customer service emails from the so-called ‘gTeam’.
Automated(?) customer service email asks how my recent concealer purchase is working out. I mention it’s a bit too light, but fine. Within the hour they arrange to send me a darker color free of charge. Shout out to the customer service team @glossier for being the bomb dot com pic.twitter.com/PZ34ADFMy5
— mackenzie mcmahon (@mcmahoneater) April 13, 2018
Emily Ackerman summarises how refreshing this approach can seem to those used to interacting with bigger brands or more staid customer service representatives.
Would like to take this opportunity to shout about how amazing the Glossier customer service is ???????? my best friend told me how great they were and I can confirm ???? and you can tell it’s a real life person replying to emails not just the same regurgitated speech ????
— emily ???? (@emilyakerman) March 20, 2018
This is no accident. An article from Digiday reveals that the customer service team is integrated into the marketing team and regularly gets involved with product decisions. There are 30 ‘editors’ who each have their own relationship with Glossier products and are committed to candid responses to customers.
Each editor focuses on one channel only, be it email, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
The email referral scheme works
I don’t want to dwell on this too much – it’s another part of Glossier’s email marketing that can be seen on social media (like everything Glossier does).
Again, witness:
Best email ever @glossier pic.twitter.com/avJ3inSqd0
— KYIALA (@itsschellmann) February 2, 2016
And this…
Getting emails that someone used your @glossier referral code pic.twitter.com/uq7pkRtFX9
— ii (@MANIPOPPINS) 7 February 2018
And this…
me creating fake email accounts to get that glossier referral coupon pic.twitter.com/khSVJYOc21
— rachelle toarmino (@rchlltrmn) March 7, 2018
That second tweet hints at the problems some retailers have with referral schemes, and perhaps even more so with discounts for new registrants which can undercut a multichannel retailer (see tweet below).
me, a cheapass: why would I go to the glossier popup and pay full price when I can just keep making new emails to use 20% off codes when I order online
— sarah (@sarahkonggg) March 26, 2018
But Glossier has thrived precisely because of word-of-mouth, so offering money-off incentives when customers share on social media makes sense.
As Econsultancy writer Nikki Gilliland points out, “Glossier relies on the authentic devotion of its loyal following – some of which just so happen to have a powerful social presence.”
Conclusion
I was going to write a conclusion about the nature of brand, about hawks and doves, about whether large multichannel retailers can take anything from Glossier’s strategy, and about whether it is actually just the products themselves that Glossier fans are in love with.
Then I was going to tie this all back to email marketing.
But I think I will continue being lazy and leave the final words to two more Twitter users. The first could be seen to be a backhanded compliment…
The only email I care about @glossier pic.twitter.com/jxCnfqRdj5
— cate Ⓥ (@catestudies) January 22, 2018
But the second says it all…
Every time I think I’m done spending money @glossier emails me. pic.twitter.com/IDegePPHIb
— lauren harbury (@laurenharbury) March 5, 2018
Superb blog! Very useful advice within this post!