The ad wins the first order. Email wins the second.
What we set up in email for the new customers our ads bring in, so the first order is not the last and the cost of getting them pays back sooner.
Written by Pedram Ghozat, founder of MediaBoostr, and PedramAI · Updated
Paid ads find buyers, then the trail goes cold
Most brands spend real money to win a first order and then send the new customer the same newsletter as everyone else.
Each of these makes a new customer cost more than it should, because the second order that would pay them back never comes.
Email is how a new customer pays back
We start from paid acquisition. We don’t sell email as a separate service, and we don’t claim to run deep lifetime-value programs. We work on the part of email that decides whether the customers our ads bring in were worth what they cost.
That part is narrow and practical. The offer has to carry from the ad to the inbox, the first week has to build belief, and the post-purchase emails have to earn a second order. When a second order comes in, you can afford to pay more for the first one, and the ads can reach further.
In one fashion brand we worked with, around 30% of revenue came from existing customers through email, helped by a small gift in every package. Paid ads didn’t have to carry the whole business.
Every step keeps the promise of the step before it.
Six steps from first click to second order
What we set up or fix for brands where we run the ads. Flows first, because they reach every new customer without anyone writing a new email.
Carry the offer from ad to inbox
The pop-up, the welcome email and the ad say the same thing. If the ad sells a bundle, the pop-up doesn’t switch to 10% off. During a sale, the pop-up and the flows change to the live offer too.
A welcome flow that builds belief
Three to five emails over about a week. The promise from the pop-up first, then best sellers with reviews, how the product works, the common objections answered, and an honest deadline on the welcome offer.
Catch the near-misses
Browse, cart and checkout abandon emails for people who came close. Remind them, answer the question that stopped them, and keep any incentive for the last email, if at all.
Post-purchase built for order two
Thank them, show how to get the most from the product, ask for a review once it has been used, then suggest the next product. A small unexpected extra in the package gives them a reason to open the next email.
Campaigns that sell without a code every week
Product stories, customer stories, how-to emails, launches and restocks, with offers spaced out. When there is an offer, a bundle or a gift protects margin better than a site-wide percentage.
Land in the inbox
SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your own sending domain, one-click unsubscribe, and complaints kept low, as the big inbox providers now require of bulk senders. People who stop opening get a last email, then a stop.
The flows, example emails and deliverability rules in detail are in our email marketing guide.
Five flows decide most of the payback
Each one is triggered by something the customer does, so it runs every day once it is set up.
Win-back comes after these five, timed to how long the product lasts. It matters, but it can’t fix a post-purchase flow that never earned the second order.
Brands whose new customers buy once
If the ads bring first orders and very few come back, the email that follows them is usually where payback is lost.
Questions
Do you run email marketing as a separate service?
No. We work on email where it decides whether paid acquisition pays back: the offer from ad to inbox, the welcome flow, post-purchase and the second order. Brands with large retention programs often keep a specialist for the rest.
Which email flows should we set up first?
Welcome, browse abandon, cart and checkout abandon, post-purchase and sunset. Flows reach every new customer automatically, so they come before a campaign calendar.
Should every email have a discount?
No. Discounting in every campaign trains customers to wait. Most sends should sell with stories, proof and how-tos. When there is an offer, a bundle or gift usually protects margin better.
How does email help Meta ads?
A second order makes each new customer worth more, so you can afford to pay more to win the first one. That lets the ads reach further while still making money.
Why do our sale emails go to spam?
Usually missing authentication, a high complaint rate, or mailing the whole list many times in a few days. Authenticate the domain, send to the most engaged first, and stop mailing people who never open.