Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How a Tea Brand Uses Email and SMS to Retain Through Subscription Rituals
Transcript
- Lucas: There's this specialty tea brand, Steep and Company, that sells loose-leaf blends in beautiful tins. And they've built their entire retention strategy around one deceptively simple question they ask at checkout: how many cups of tea do you drink a day? Luna: That's clever. Because that one answer tells them exactly when you're going to run out. Lucas: Right. And it's not just a clever trick. They've turned that answer into a predictive email that lands in your inbox at the precise moment your tin is about to be empty. We're talking about a reorder reminder that feels less like a sales pitch and more like a thoughtful nudge from a friend. Luna: And I love that they're using the ritual of tea drinking, not just the product. It's such a daily habit for so many people. Lucas: It is. And that's exactly why I wanted to dig into this for the episode. Before we get deep into the mechanics though, a quick honest thing. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these episodes without ads. Luna: Yeah, and if these conversations have ever sparked something you've actually used in your own marketing, that's a great way to keep them coming. Lucas: Truly, it makes a difference. So, back to Steep and Company. Their whole system hinges on a post-purchase survey. Simple, one question, but it feeds everything else. Luna: And I imagine they also track how long it takes someone to finish a tin from their order history, right? Lucas: Exactly. They combine that self-reported frequency with actual repurchase data. So if you say you drink two cups a day and you bought a tin that has about thirty servings, their system knows you'll be out in about fifteen days. And they time the email to hit around day fourteen. Luna: That is so specific. But what does the email actually say? I mean, a generic 'your tea is running low' would probably feel a bit robotic. Lucas: Well, they've done something smart. The email subject line is just 'Running low?' and the body is built around a little ritual reminder. It doesn't just say 'buy more.' It says something like 'Your morning ritual is about to hit a snag. We've got you covered.' And they include a one-click reorder button that pulls up their exact last order. Luna: So it's almost like they're saving the customer from a disruption in their day. That's the emotional hook. Lucas: Precisely. And the numbers back it up. They told me that these predictive reorder emails have a click-through rate of nearly 12 percent, and about a third of those clicks convert to a purchase. That's significantly better than their standard promotional emails. Luna: Wow. And for those who don't click, do they follow up with SMS? Lucas: They do, but only if the customer has opted in to text messages. And it's a two-touch sequence. The first text goes out about two days after the email, and it's a simple 'Hey, we noticed you might be running low. Want us to send your usual blend?' with a direct link. If there's still no response after another three days, they send a second text that's a bit different. Luna: What's the second one? Is it a discount offer? Lucas: It's actually something else. They offer a 'reblend' discount, but the real hook is they invite the customer to take a short taste quiz. The idea is to re-engage them emotionally. The quiz asks about your mood and preferred flavor profile, and then recommends a new blend that might suit you better. It's a way to win back someone who might have lapsed because they were bored with their usual choice. Luna: That's really smart. It's not just 'come back,' it's 'let's find something new for you.' That feels much more personal. Lucas: And it works. They shared that these SMS win-back messages bring back about 21 percent of lapsed subscribers within thirty days. For a small brand, that's a huge retention lift. Luna: And I bet the ritual aspect plays into loyalty in a bigger way too. Like, people aren't just loyal to the tea, they're loyal to the afternoon break. Lucas: That's the heart of it. They're not selling tea leaves; they're selling a moment of calm. And they reinforce that in every touchpoint, from the unboxing experience to the email copy. Their tins even have a little card that says 'Brew slow, breathe deep.' It's a small thing, but it creates an emotional connection that a points program can't replicate. Luna: Right. And that's a great lesson for any consumable brand. It's not about hoarding points; it's about being woven into the customer's daily life. Lucas: Exactly. And they've also applied this to their subscription offering. They have a monthly subscription, but they noticed a lot of subscribers were skipping months or canceling after a few deliveries. So they introduced a 'pause and swap' feature that's heavily promoted via email. Luna: Pause and swap? That's a great idea. It gives subscribers control without making them cancel altogether. Lucas: And it's reduced their cancellation rate by about 15 percent. Because when someone wants to skip a month, instead of going through the cancellation flow, they see a simple 'pause next delivery' button. And each pause triggers an email sequence asking if they'd like to swap their blend for something new. It's a classic retention move. Luna: So they're using email not just to sell, but to manage the subscription relationship. That's really forward-thinking. Lucas: It is. And the data they collect from those interactions is gold. They know which blends get swapped, which ones cause pausing, and they can tailor their inventory and marketing accordingly. Luna: And I imagine they also use that data to segment their email list more effectively, like sending different messages to daily drinkers vs. occasional sippers. Lucas: Absolutely. A daily drinker gets a different cadence and content than someone who only brews tea on weekends. They've even created segments based on flavor preferences. If someone buys a lot of chai, they get early access to new chai blends. That kind of personalization is what makes their emails feel less like marketing and more like a thoughtful recommendation from a tea sommelier. Luna: It's like they've built a whole ecosystem around the ritual. And the SMS piece fits in perfectly as the final nudge. Lucas: Yeah, and it's worth noting that all of this is powered by a simple marketing automation tool. They're not a huge brand; they have a team of maybe five people. But they've set up these automated flows once, and they're constantly optimizing based on results. That's the beauty of it. Luna: So for our listeners who run a small ecommerce brand, the takeaway is that you don't need a massive budget to do this. You just need to understand your customer's usage pattern and build a few key automations. Lucas: Exactly. And I think the biggest lesson is to think about retention as a series of moments, not just a single email or a loyalty program. Steep and Company has mapped the entire customer journey, from the first brew to the eventual reorder, and they're present at every step. Luna: And they're doing it with a tone that feels human. That's something a lot of brands struggle with. Lucas: It's a conscious choice. Their founder said in an interview that they never want to sound like a 'brand.' They want to sound like the friend who knows you love a good cup of Earl Grey in the afternoon. That philosophy guides every email subject line and every text message. Luna: That's a perfect place to leave it. I know I'm going to think about my own tea habit a little differently now. Lucas: And maybe check when I last ordered. Because I might be running low myself. Luna: Ha, exactly. Thanks for listening, everyone.