Hello there 👋

How's it hanging?

With the cost of ads going through the roof and every market feeling more crowded than ever before, we wanted to give you something that you can...

👉 Write in ten minutes flat (5 mins if you use the template at the end of this email)

👉 Whack in your post-purchase sequence

👉 Turn the customers you've already worked so hard to convert into customers that come back again and again.

So we've put together a 100ish-word snippet of copy you can add to your order confirmation email that will boost your customer retention, AOV and refund rate.

(Post-purchase wins are our favourite because they're all upside baby.)

Let's dig into it 👇

100 words to take your order confirmation emails from box-ticking to loyalty winning.

July is a hectic month for the two of us. Between us, we have 9 birthdays to buy for. Which means that our inboxes are chock-a-block with order confirmation emails.

Almost every single order confirmation email we got ticked all of the boxes from a logistics point of view.

They all did the necessary stuff like confirmed our orders, gave us the tracking link, told us what happens next. And when we close those emails, we leave knowing that everything went to plan, when we're going to get our deliveries and that we can tick that task off our list.

That alone is a win.

But when we know that upwards of 80% of people are going to read these emails, we can do more than just tick boxes.

There’s a moment right after the checkout high fades where your customer doesn’t just want facts and delivery details.

They want to feel smart, excited, and like "yes, I'm so bloody happy I just bought this". They want reassurance that they didn't just make a mistake or do something they'll later regret.

(Especially in ecommerce where that immediate gratification you get when you shop IRL doesn't exist.)

That’s a huge opportunity for your brand.

Because while we all have logistics questions we want answering after a purchase (when will this arrive? What did I order again?), we're also all a bit messy.

As soon as we hit buy now, the ol' buyer's remorse kicks in and we're thinking things like:

“Wait, did I really need this?”
“Who is this brand again?”
“Is this worth the wait?”

And if your email doesn't answer those subtler, more empathetic questions, our brains start to fill in the gaps on their own. In fact, some studies estimate that 74% of us start to feel doubt over our decision as soon as we've hit that "buy now" button. ​

And studies building on that research show that regret is a straight‑line predictor of somebody hitting return or cancelling their order.

So, in very real terms, if your confirmation email only answers the logistics questions and ignores the human ones, you’re handing that anxious part of your customers' brains a blank page that they usually fill with ‘Maybe I should cancel or return it when it arrives."

However, if you flip these emails into something that's more than just "You ordered the thing". Something more like "You made the right call. Welcome to the club", then you're answering those doubts before they take root.

And even better, most brands we see don’t go that far.

Which means when you do, you stand out instantly.

But the best part? You can tick all those boxes in 100 or less words with a clever paragraph that ticks all the boxes.

And it goes a little something like this 👇

Those 101 words pack in so many clever little customer retention tricks it's unreal.

👉 Expressing sincere gratitude to the customer

Saying thank you to your customers might seem a bit obvious, but it's a game-changer.

A Journal of Marketing found that:

Basically, saying thank you (and meaning it) = more return customers and ever-increasing AOV. Not bad for 2 words!

👉 Tell your brand story

Notice the super-specific details of the story (sourdough, lockdown)? They help with something that researchers call narrative transportation, which is where the customers' brains start to picture your story as they read it and align themselves with your brand. And, as a result, remember you much better.

Plus, telling a brand story can raise perceived value of your product by 2,706 %making your customers more likely to feel like they got a bargain than to feel buyers' remorse.

👋 Bonus tip: if your brand or product has a clever name or a personal relevance or something that makes people say "aha! I get it!", this is a great place for it. ​We're sending an email on this in a few weeks, but it's called The Generation Effect. And it says that we remember information far better when we figure it out for ourselves or get that "aha! moment" of realising what something means. The classic example of this is Slamecka & Graf's 1978 study that showed people have up to 2× better recall for words they had to complete themselves (“H _ R S E → HORSE”) versus words they merely read. More recently, we've seen challenger brands like Seep use it to great effect on their website 👇

👉 Create a sense of belonging and social proof

Now we’re getting into Social Identity Theory (AKA, making the customer feel like you're the brand for them), so there's lots of things happening here.

1. We're creating an emotional connection. We're not just saying "people who enjoy herbal drinks", we're going deeper to make it a statement about who they are as a person. This makes the customers feel seen, and Harvard’s research shows that customers that feel seen and connected with a brand are 52% more valuable over time than those who are merely “satisfied.” AKA, they come back more often, spend more per order, and actively advocate for your brand.
2. We're also using the Bandwagon Effect (19,000 people) to reenforce the purchasing decision they just made and reduce buyer's remorse.
3. We're also using Reference Group Effect by showing that people just like them are fans of the brand too. In other words, the copy is saying "Other people you’d probably like and trust made this exact choice, so you can trust it." Again, nipping the doubt in the bud before it flowers.
4. There's a sprinkling of Optimal Distinctiveness Theory too (remember that from a few weeks ago?) with that "discerning drinkers who like their tipples with a slice of weird" line. It’s not just a shared interest (herbal liqueurs), it’s a shared point of view, which is way more powerful.

Now, that makes it all sound more a lot more complicated than it actually is. As a rule of thumb, as long as you're creating a sense of community that's around shared ideals and values rather than interests in common, you're absolutely golden. (We've written more about that here.)

👉 Create a sensory first-use tip

You’ve already thanked them, told them who they are, and made them feel part of something. The last step is making them picture using your product for the first time.

This is a technique known as future pacing, and it basically means getting your customer to mentally rehearse or imagine what it’ll be like to use (and love) your product.

And it works. Studies show that when people can vividly picture using something, they’re significantly more likely to follow through, enjoy it, and keep it. ​

And the best part? It doesn’t have to be a long description. One quick tip with a quick sensory detail (“generous pour”) and a desirable outcome (“herbal twist on a Whiskey Mac that keeps on giving”) and you've moved your customers from “I hope I like this” to “I can’t wait for that first sip.”

☝️ And there you have it.

100-ish words and you've taken customers from knowing when their order is going to be delivered to eagerly waiting for it to land on their doorstep. Not bad!

Copy, edit and paste this into your post-purchase email 👇

Write that in your brand voice, add some details from your brand story (go back to last week's email if you need a hand there) and you're cooking!

In less than 10 minutes, you've got something that's ready to drop into your Klaviyo flow or Shopify emails that's going to cut refunds, shrink WISMO tickets, and massively boost the chances your customers remember you and come back for a second order.

All from 110 words. Not bad, eh?

See you next week for more ways to do words gooder.

Peace and love ✌️ Jack and Joe co-founders, co-brothers & co-pywriters at Do Words Good​