SYNOPSIS
I wrote and designed (or redesigned) emails throughout our email flows at The Host Co, while aligning the messaging with our new site, simplifying the language, highlighting customer success stories and increasing points of contact with our team - all of which led to increased open rates and active users.
JUMP TO:
PROJECT OVERVIEW | NON-USER WELCOME SERIES | USER WELCOME SERIES |
INACTIVITY BUMP | GUEST REFERRAL
BACKGROUND
The Host Co helps short-term rental hosts on Airbnb or any other platform elevate their rentals by adding hotel-style amenities via a digital store, while making up to $120k more per year - per listing.
In the summer of 2023, we transitioned our messaging from encouraging hosts to list low-cost physical items in their stores (toothbrushes, snacks, water bottles) to high-end local amenities and services that we curated for them, such as in-home private chef, massage and more. These would not only elevate the guest experience, but our hypothesis was it would shorten the timeline from store creation to active owner (someone who made a sale to a guest), as our users would no longer have to worry about physically stocking stores in listings they may never physically be at.
Alongside our successful web re-design, another priority was emails. Email marketing seemed like the strongest way to convert potential users to active sellers by showcasing how easy it is to use The Host Co because of our features, encourage demo attendance, and showcase successful customer stories.
Up until this point, we had used outside marketing teams to write and design our emails, but we felt these prior emails had issues:
Positioned our product as hard to use (by focusing on labor-intensive physical stores)
Showed our product as a novel, largely untested concept (instead of it being a growing trend)
Inconsistent brand language across emails
Showcased unspecific customer success stories
GOALS
My personal goals for these email redesigns were:
Ensuring our visual designs were consistent and emphasized our brand colors, updated product imagery, and CEO headshot
Simplified language - versus our old emails that often got bogged down in vague marketing language
Prove our product’s ease-of-use - versus our old emails, which could make the product seem intimidating
Tell customer success stories that were attainable to every host on our platform - using our massage and chef services to make $11k, etc
Increase points of contact with our team. By including links to demos, and team member headshots, we wanted these emails to feel welcoming - as if we were guiding the user through an intuitive process.
OUR EMAIL FLOWS
Our email flows begin with email capture on our marketing site, which drops you into a Non-User Welcome Series - which focuses on converting non-users to users (via account creation).
Once someone creates an account, they transition to a User Welcome Series - whose primary goal is to empower hosts to make their first sale by adding products and sharing their store link in their Airbnb or other platform’s automated messaging.
Once users make their first sale, they are placed into the First Sale flow - or if they do not make a sale within a certain amount of weeks, they will be sent to the Inactivity Bump flow - where we check in with them and see if there’s anything we can do to help them activate.
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
As our team’s primary Growth Marketer, I reported to our Head of Growth and was responsible for:
Writing email scripts
Designing email concepts in Figma and Canva
Designing email flow logic in Klaviyo
Uploading and linking emails in Klaviyo
DESIGNS
Below are many of the emails I played a part in designing. To see every email I worked on, sign up for Host Co emails.
NON-USER WELCOME SERIES
Definition: A person who has signed up for our email list but has not yet created an account.
Goal: Push to account creation.
Email 1: How to make $500 EXTRA per booking!
Subhead: Details inside…
What I changed: The previous version did not include CEO headshot, did not list what we offered (and did not highlight our most automated features first), did not push users to a demo, and positioned the step-by-step around creating a physical storefront with stocked products, which created intimidation around activating for busy rental owners.
Email 4: Questions? We got you.
What I changed: The previous version did not include CEO headshot, and positioned our product as a novel concept nobody had heard of. We wanted to present it as a growing trend and a revenue opportunity that could be activated easily.
Email 5: This host made an extra $500 in one booking 👀
Subhead: This could be you...
What I changed: The previous version had a non-smiling headshot, no details on what services the host was selling, and no imagery of their Host Co setup. It also did not mention how easy it was to set up, which was a point I wanted to hit on repeatedly in our non-user Welcome Series, since our key goal was activation.
Email 6: {{ first_name }, you're part of a growing trend
Subhead: Thousands of hosts & businesses are making up to $20k more in revenue every year.
What I changed: The previous version told hosts they would be within the first 1000 hosts to use our platform, which was quickly outdated when we passed that threshold. We flipped the script to position our product as used by thousands of rental hosts, businesses and property managers, and part of a growing trend.
USER WELCOME SERIES
Definition: A person who has created an account. They may or may not have become an active user (made a sale in their store).
Goal: Push to active user (make a sale).
Email 2: {{ first_name }}, just checking in!
Subhead: We’re here to help.
What I changed: The previous version did not mention the fact that our stores are pre-loaded with local services and amenities, so users only need to share their store link to get started. This rapidly speeds up the funnel from a multi-week physical store setup to a matter of minutes. The original email also did not include CEO headshot or any further onboarding steps.
Email 3: Ready to offer 5-star amenities in your rentals? 👨🍳 🛒
Subhead: Check out all the features in your Host Co store.
Goal: To showcase all the features users could activate immediately in their store. This email did not exist, so our flow felt incomplete - we didn’t showcase the multiple benefits of a store that users could plug into right away.
Email 4: The #1 easiest way to add revenue to your rentals
Subhead: We've set it all up for you.
What I changed: The previous version highlighted a labor-intensive product that very few users utilized (mid-stay cleaning). This email featured one of our easiest sellers in late check-outs - no set-up required and an approval process included in our product.
Email 5: The extra revenue already in your properties.
Subhead: This could be your biggest seller!
Goal: To showcase a lesser-known product our users offer - rentals. From baby equipment to pontoon boats, our users get creative. This deep into the user welcome series, we wanted to explore unique concepts of what users can offer.
Email 6: The one thing in the way of up to 30% more revenue
Subhead: Share your store with guests today!
Goal: To lay out the activation process for users. Many users were creating stores but not putting their store link in their Airbnb or other automated messaging, so no sales were made.
INACTIVITY BUMP
Definition: A person who has created an account, but has not made a sale within 14 days.
Goal: To learn the blockers our hosts are facing and get them in contact with our team to help convert them to active users.
Email 1: Question about your Host Co store
Goal: To hear user feedback directly to my inbox so I can pass questions along to our support team.
GUEST REFERRAL
Definition: A guest who has purchased an item or service in a Host Co store.
Goal: To empower guests to offer the gift of one month free of The Host Co to their hosting friends.
Email 1: Know an Airbnb Host? Give them this free gift. 🎁
Subhead: If you loved using The Host Co, just wait until you share it!
