Sephora’s Latest Lines Email and the Novelty Bias

You’ve gotta stay top of mind to ensure ongoing sales success.

“Latest Lines” emails can help. 😄 

“Latest line” emails are strategic promotional emails that showcase your newest product releases or highlight a curated selection from your catalog. And Sephora definitely uses “latest line” emails to their advantage.

In this issue you’ll see:

• How Sephora structures a “latest line” email

• Why novelty bias can help pave the way to a sale

• How you can leverage the novelty bias in your copy (in emails and beyond)

Let’s dig in.

THE BREAKDOWN

Sephora’s “latest line” email

Here's a “latest line” email from Sephora:

(Yes, they did get it right. I'm a devoted LANEIGE user, which I’m sure they could tell from my purchase history.) 

Let's start at the top:

The subject line & preview:

Subject line: Carolyn, NEW LANEIGE just dropped💃🏿🕺🏽

Preview: Take a look at the latest

Here's what works:

• Uses personalization (my name) front-loaded into the subject line—this helps the email catch my eye in my crowded promotions tab.

Here's what we might test:

• Subject line: 

  • Front-load the emojis—this would also help the email stand out in the inbox.

  • Front-load "New" language—this helps amplify the novelty bias (see more on this below).

• Preview:

  • If this is a one-off campaign, then the preview could be more personalized to the product launch. For example, the preview could drive curiosity by mentioning some of the benefits of the new product. (Right now the preview could be true for any new product—this is good for improving the marketing team’s efficiency but bad for increasing the perceived relevance to the reader.)

The body copy & calls to action:

Here's the core of the email body copy:

And this is the section I find most interesting:

Here's what's working:

• The "Did we get it right?" section provides the reader with an opportunity to refine product recommendations so future Sephora emails are more relevant to them. (In-house we say "In a world of 5000+ messages a day, relevance is Queen." And it's true!)

Here's what we'd fix:

• Mobile layout: Due to the current template layout, I don't know what the new product is until I scroll. And the primary CTA appears in the hero. This organization may lead to an increase in unqualified clicks, so we'd recommend revising the layout so that more of the product is visible in the hero.

Here's what we might test:

• Hook:

  • Test a more specific lede. Personalization is good, but in this case, the first name merge tag is the entire hook.

• Email body:

  • "We curated this new beauty with you in mind." is vague and feels templated. As a result, the clarity of value for the reader suffers. We'd test increased specificity, to see if there's meaningful lift in conversions. (And then I'd reco that we review that lift against the cost of resources required to execute, so they can consider the true ROI of increasing copy specificity). 

The cadence:

It’s unclear if this email was configured as an automation or as a one-off campaign, but I can tell you that I'm most likely receiving this email because I've bought several LANEIGE products from Sephora.

(Yay for purchase behavior-based segmentation!)

By leveraging my past purchase behavior, Sephora ensured that the email was relevant and tailored to my brand preferences.

THE PSYCHOLOGY

Novelty bias, who ‘dis?

The novelty bias is widely studied (including here and here) and essentially shows that we’re wired to like new things more than familiar things just because the new thing is, well, new.

By highlighting the new-ness of a new line of products in the subject line and the body copy, Sephora really taps into the novelty bias. The email intrigues me and, even better, the new product is from a brand I already know-like-trust. Both aspects are good for paving the way to a sale.

THE ACTIONABLE TIP

Out with the old, in with the new.

Here’s the key strategy you should swipe for your email marketing copy (and which you can also easily apply to copy across your marketing ecosystem):

Highlight the “new-ness” of your product (when it makes sense to do so).

This actionable tip seems obvious but it’s often overlooked, so it’s worth a mention.

Selling a new product / offer / bundle? Say so.

Adding a new feature? Say so.

Offering a new product upgrade? Say so.

Promoting a new piece of content? You guessed it—say so!