Making reminder emails fun and nudging lapsing users to re-commit to using your product

In Onboarding Lessons series, I’m showing you how to apply great onboarding ideas to your SaaS onboarding drips,
what not to swipe, and how to drive signups for paid plans by showing the value of your product from day 1

Sometimes there are several actions that lead to an “aha!” moment. But sometimes, there is one action your new users must take before anything else can happen.

An example of a situation like this is heat mapping and in-page analytic software. Without your new users installing code on their website, there’s absolutely no way for you to deliver the insights they need to see the value (and convert).

Even when it’s a straightforward copy-paste, there’s always a chance that your new user will be distracted by 20 other things happening right now, from a scheduled call to an urgent email to whatever else life’s throwing at them these days (hello, WFH).

If your new users don’t complete this 1 necessary step, all you can do is keep reaching out until they do — or unsubscribe.

The question is: how do you balance “We really, really need you to do this asap” and “Totally not nagging”?

Some ideas from cux.io — heat map software with a playful voice and a “just ask” approach to getting their new users to do. the. thing.

Disclosure: In this series, I’m writing about email sequences I sign up for and like. Cux.io is not a client, and this post does not represent a full and accurate picture of their onboarding campaign. Rather, my goal is to show how looking at an onboarding sequence “from the outside” can help you experience it the way your new users experience it and see new opportunities for optimization.

Lesson plan: how to get your new users to act, without being ignored or coming across as a heavy-handed inbox invader with cux.io

• Email 1 - welcome email - on signup

• Email 2 - plug in the code reminder - next day

• Email 3 - reminder - day 3 after registration

• Email 4 - reminder - day 7 after registration

• Email 5 - after code implementation - success!

• After that: educational emails helping you make sense of the information you’re now getting from cux.io

But how exactly does the team try to persuade their new users to drop everything and install the code already? Let’s dig in.

Having been on the receiving end of repetitive reminder emails, I really appreciated the fact that the cux.io team doesn’t just set up the same email to go out on repeat pretty much forever.

One of the problems with the “same email on repeat” approach is that very soon the repeated subject line is ignored as irrelevant to current goals (sort of like banner blindness, but for emails.

The second steal-worthy feature of the cux.io approach is that they take into account possible problems their new users might be experiencing (from confusion to lack of time), and tailor their emails to solve those assumed problems, so that it’s easier for their new users to act.

Lastly, they keep the tone of their emails light (like with the unicorn example in the headline), so that it doesn’t feel like one more thing to do (even though it is) - and always bring the conversation back to the benefits of taking 5 minutes to install the code.

Now take a look at what exactly each email does to motivate new users to act.

Email outline:

1. Welcome — and join the group of marketers that want to make data-driven decisions.
   What to swipe: building in pre-commitment to following through on installing the code as a member of the group.

2. Next steps — from the immediate next step (as in, install the code) to the final benefits (such as better UX for website visitors).
   What to swipe: what’s especially great is that CUX doesn’t make you go search for the code (minimizing distractions, and saving you from being lost on the way to the cux.io tab); instead, the code is available right in the email. And, of course, future-pacing

3. Got questions? Get in touch!
   What to swipe: at this point, there’s no reason to assume that a new user needs extra help or custom support, so there are no additional links or schedulers.

Email outline:

1. Thank you for choosing CUX to use on your website. To make it work, add this code to your website. Here’s how.
   What to swipe: reminder about the previous commitment (see Commitment 2.0 in this post - the new user signed up for CUX, so it’s safe to assume they want to try it out and improve their website (to get more customers)

2. Code is easy to install. If you’re stuck, here are 2 ways to install the code.
   What to swipe: in addition to the code, this time the cux.io team includes instructions - since the code wasn’t installed right away, the new user might need some help.

3. Once you add code to your website, we’ll send you additional information on how to use CUX to get the most out of your account.
   What to swipe: setting up for the next steps — additional motivation to get the step done and start using the tool.

Email outline:

1. Reminder about the clock ticking (for reaching the “aha!” moment, but also for getting the intel the new user signed up for in the first place, triggering FOMO - everything OK?
   What to swipe: This is the closest the email sequence comes to what can be perceived as nagging (and could potentially backfire).

2. Offer to get help from a support specialist.
   What to swipe: at this point, it is possible that the new user doesn’t know how to quickly install the code and doesn’t have the bandwidth to deal with figuring out what to do (even though it should take less than 10 minutes). So it makes sense to offer help from support, instead of including the code for the third time.

3. Reminder: what happens after the code’s in place.
   What to swipe: bring the reader back to the reason it’s worth their while to act.

Email outline:

1. We’ve got a small problem (no data).
   What to swipe: “help us help you” approach.

2. Let’s fix it!
   What to swipe: here’s the solution!

3. This is what happens if you fix it.
   What to swipe: bringing it all back to benefits. Time and again.

Email outline: welcome from the team.

Following emails: customer education sequence & information about the trial.

• No such thing as “bugging” when you need your users to do something

• You can have fun with brand voice — and make it more personal (and you don’t need to have GIFs in every email to do that)

• Start with the 1st thing — once it’s done, keep educating

I help B2B SaaS startup founders and marketers get more traction with research-driven conversion copy — without slowing down their growth initiatives.