Fashion or functionality? Eyeglass wearers used to have to choose between the two.
Before the emergence of direct-to-consumer eyewear brands, prescription and non-prescription glasses were expensive and came in limited styles.
New and revolutionary players have reframed the landscape, so to speak. The foundation of the traditional eyewear industry has been shaken.
Combining affordability, functionality, and a fashion-forward approach is the modern way to marketing spectacles.
Eyewear brands have evolved to accommodate individual preferences and a large segment of a buyer persona, the younger generation, who are more concerned about fashion over function and comfort when choosing their glasses.
We've analyzed emails sent by some of the popular eyewear DTC brands and compiled a list of top tips to apply in your email marketing strategy.
Reach more prospective buyers, develop deeper audience engagement, and improve your brand image with these proven tactics.
- Introduce new products to cater to a wider audience
- Address budget concerns
- Provide ways to help them pick the perfect frame
- Encourage style expression by offering customizable designs
- Remind them about eye health and related information
- Send practical tips on taking care of their purchased eyewear
- Show your support for a meaningful cause
Ready to take a closer look? Let’s begin.
Introduce new products to cater to a wider audience
Your customers will get bored if you release the same eyewear over and over again.
Introducing newness can save your business and your relationship with the customers.
The more product options you can offer, the more you can cater to various preferences.
It can therefore widen your audience base and lead to a higher conversion rate. No wonder top eyewear brands are constantly introducing new products to the market.
You can try several effective strategies when launching a new product or design variant.
Pair Eyewear is a great example to follow.
Pair Eyewear makes use of the word “family” wisely to convey their message. They relate the new and wider base frames as expanded family members.
The repetitive use of the same words throughout the copy helps retain the message to the readers.
After a friendly-looking banner image, their proposition follows, making the audience feel more assured of getting the perfect fit however wide a frame he needs.
It’s also a great practice to show each product separately like what Pair Eyewear does here.
They place short descriptions about the style each frame represents, and a convenient CTA button is always ready to be clicked the moment an item catches your eye.
Address budget concerns
Many people stick to their budget very strictly and they always want to get the most out of their money (well, who doesn’t?).
So when purchasing a product like glasses, price is a major concern.
How can you handle this purchasing issue in your newsletter?
Let’s take a look at this email from Ace & Tate.
They craft an email that eases their customers’ worries by suggesting a “Buy now, pay in installments” mode of payment.
They address the problem while stating a relatable situation (waiting for payday to buy).
It’s also important not to crowd your emails with too many offers so that the readers can focus and retain the information well. In this case, Ace & Tate adhere to one offer: the installment plan.
Provide ways to help them pick the perfect frame
Choosing a pair of eyewear is highly individual and depends on one's style.
It’s a huge challenge to know what type of frame will suit you. You don’t want to go to different stores and try on all the spectacles they have, which is too time-consuming.
Luckily, some eyewear brands have developed ways to help their customers know what they should be looking for.
We love this email from Cubitts in this regard.
First, the catchy banner image grabs attention from the start.
In the copy, they highlight their discovery about human noses.
They include figures to give more credibility like 27.45% of people have a lower nose than 'average' and 19% of people have a wide nose.
This email empowers the audience to be certain that they can find the perfect glasses by assessing their noses. It can help them simplify the decision-making process when choosing the best frame.
The crucial information you’ll learn in the top part of the email complements what’s below the copy, that is No matter the nose, there's a frame in the Cubitts collection for it.
In other words, use education first to help them decide and then lead them to your offer. It is a great way to convert undecided prospects into buyers.
Here’s another innovation devised by Warby Parker to help tremendously in picking the best type of frame.
A virtual try-on is a technology that uses augmented reality and machine learning or AI to allow customers to try on products, like clothes and accessories, before they buy them.
A virtual try-on is a great addition to your marketing as it replicates the in-store fitting experience.
Some of the competitive advantages of featuring a virtual try-on are:
- Personalization
- Convenience
- Customer satisfaction
- Reduced product returns
- Improved conversion
The banner text “Virtual Try-On for all” sounds inclusive and inviting. Emails need to sound friendly to make the subscribers want to read more.
Given a virtual try-on and a wide range of options, what if your customers haven’t found what they’re looking for in eyewear?
Try the next tip, which is…
Encourage style expression by offering customizable designs
For some, eyewear may seem like a simple necessity to improve their sight.
With this mentality, they would only need one pair of glasses that’s durable enough to last long. Therefore, to increase demand, you should position eyewear as more than a necessity.
Then, give your audience a way to express their style by offering customizable eyewear and emphasizing the designs available.
With custom-made eyewear, they do not have to compromise on style and color. It’s an offer that is hard to resist so it makes your brand stand out while increasing your sales.
Take Jimmy Fairly’s email below as inspiration where they give the customers the ability to customize their lens color.
It engages the audience well using the subject line Wear the rainbow 🌈 and a banner GIF showing a model who wears different frame colors on various attires.
This alone makes a good argument for why you need such customization to complement your outfit.
Using GIFs, you can stop scrolling and they’re more likely to be noticed than static images.
Remind them about eye health and related information
It’s a good practice to pause promotional emails to send informative content such as wellness tips.
Eyewear brands like Stoggles publish emails about eye health and related tips to keep their audience engaged.
Stoggles have a good mix of promotions and relational content in their newsletter.
They send relevant eye care tips such as basic steps to protect your vision, a list of foods that are good for eyesight, and the benefits of having regular eye examinations.
Aside from taking care of one's eyes, people should look after their glasses too. It’s something you can share with your customers, too.
We’ll share an example in the following section.
Send practical tips on taking care of their purchased items
Add pieces of advice such as a how-to-care guide in your marketing mix.
Here’s one way to do it from Cubitts.
They use a catchy subject line “How to care for your frames” and a hooky email preheader “And – more importantly – how not to.” ͏ ͏
They continuously hook the readers with the banner text “Please don’t do this.” which gives a warning to spark curiosity.
In the email body, there’s also a link to watch the full video of what they call “crimes committed in the kind-hearted pursuit of frame care”.
Just because you share care guides for your products doesn’t mean that they’re not durable enough.
In crafting your emails, make sure to clear any misconceptions about the quality of your products.
Take for instance the way Cubitts share a warning for the mistreatment of eyewear.
They balance out the message by saying “Your frame may be sturdy and repairable, your lenses durable and replaceable, but they deserve respect.” at the bottom part of the copy.
What are the benefits you can gain from sending a how-to-care guide and is it worth it? Here are some benefits:
- It enhances your brand reputation.
- It can increase word-of-mouth recommendations.
- It improves brand loyalty and customer retention and deepens engagement.
- It increases the product’s perceived value.
If you haven’t tried sending an after-sales service email yet, we suggest you try it.
Show your support for a meaningful cause
Brands make a difference in people's lives by providing products and solutions they need.
And some brands take it a step further by sharing a meaningful commitment to a charitable cause. In doing so, they raise awareness of their brand’s unique value proposition and resonate well with their socially-minded audience.
We see that the market has evolved, having younger millennials participate in social causes.
They want to spend their dollars on brands that align with their values. That’s why it’s always helpful to demonstrate how you’re giving back to the community.
We recommend that you choose a cause you genuinely care to support so you’ll be more motivated to make an impact, rather than faking it for attention – authenticity matters!
Pair Eyewear has partnered with the Born This Way Foundation to release a limited-edition collection in support of the mental health movement.
Jimmy Fairly shares their support of the En Avant Toute Association, a gender equality organization, through solidarity sunglasses.
In this email, they emphasize what value they’ve been committed to since day 1, showing a steady grasp of their proposition.
As a final tip, don’t be afraid to learn from brands that have already succeeded. This way, you can cut the cost of a learning curve to jump right into what works best within the ever-growing eyewear industry.
