Cart Abandon Email Marketing Flow Tips & Tricks

Hey it’s Max from the Inbox Newsletter.

I've audited hundreds of cart abandonment flows this year, and after a while you start to notice which structures consistently separate the great flows from the average ones.

That's why today I'm sharing the 6 hacks that consistently show up in every 10/10 cart abandonment flow I come across.

Use these to recover more revenue, boost your list health, or to just get your flow locked in before BFCM traffic hits.

Let's get into it!

1) Dynamic Product Block At The Top Of Every Email

The exact product a subscriber left in their cart should be the first thing they see when they open the email.

Your hero should be a thin header line, then the abandoned product, then the CTA button. Nothing else!

When someone opens the email and the product they were just looking at is right in their face, they buy. Adding hero images or brand intros above the product just delays the impulse click.

2) Aggressive Copy At Every Touchpoint

The copy across your cart abandon flow should not, out of all things, be "forgetting something?" or anything similar…

The reason being is that soft copy like that makes the reader think about the extra work they have to do to complete the purchase.

Instead use aggressive copy that makes the purchase feel like it's already in motion…

A great example is "Your order is ready to ship." That reframes the abandoned cart as an active order that just needs to be finalized, which is a way easier action for the reader to take.

3) Send 4 Emails In The Flow

This is the sweet spot for hitting the ROI ceiling across most brands we manage.

Every day you wait past the first email the lead gets colder, so you need enough touch points to catch subscribers on the right day with the right angle that finally gets them to convert.

Anything less than 3 is leaving money on the table, and anything more than 5 starts pissing subscribers off at that point.

4) Split The Flow By Past Buyers vs Non-Buyers

Non-buyers and past buyers need completely different messaging in the same flow.

Non-buyers should get the welcome discount reminder right in Email 1. They just signed up, they got the offer, they haven't used it yet, so keep it in their face.

Past buyers should get zero discount in Emails 1 and 2. They already know the brand and don't need a bribe to come back yet. Save the discount for Email 3 if they still haven't converted.

This split saves you thousands in unnecessary discounts on past buyers who were going to buy anyway…

5) Send At Least One Text Based Email

Text-based emails always outperform designed ones on engagement because they read like a real message from a real person… which also means they land in the primary inbox way more consistently than the design-heavy sends.

Style it as a personal note from either the founder or someone on the support team.

That's usually the touch you need that finally pulls hesitant subscribers off the fence.

6) Space Emails 1 Day Apart

Any longer and the abandoned cart intent starts fading fast…

Any shorter and you're pushing subscribers away from the sale instead of pulling them toward it…

If you're running an aggressive brand you can send 2 emails on day 1 (one immediately at abandonment, one around 4 hours later). Everything after that should stay 1 day apart.

BTW - Thanks for being here.

Here are 20+ free cart abandon email templates you can steal 🙂 

Free templates »

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand:
Everyday Dose

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i3TT27ksm3jlnua48hH69tzhqsM6f0lq/view?usp=drive_link

Notes:

Great email coming from the warehouse manager. Sending emails from a character or someone on your team is a great way to break up your calendar without always defaulting to the voice from founder…

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max Sturtevant

P.S
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