How this founder turns one-time buyers into high-value customers with email
Emergency medical kit brand Live The Creed used a thriving Instagram account to generate customers. But when algorithm changes slashed the page's visibility, sales took a hit.
Founder Jonathan Barbera compensated for this with Meta Ads, but the high acquisition costs ate into his profitability. To make ads work, he needed a way to turn these one-time buyers into repeat customers. Enter email marketing.
When you pay high acquisition costs through Instagram ads you’re not making much money on the first sale. Collecting email addresses lets you increase the average value of the customer over time as you communicate with them via email.
Email marketing enables Jonathan to promote Live The Creed to people on his list at no cost beyond what he pays for MailerLite, boosting profitability and increasing the viability of his paid campaigns. Here’s the strategy he uses to stay successful.
Step 1: Choosing MailerLite
Jonathan is a busy solo founder, not a marketer. He also has a young family. Both these factors mean time is precious.
He needed an email solution that would make it easy for him to scale his marketing.
We’ve got kids and being able to do activities with them is important to me. Part of that means putting in place systems that scale infinitely without requiring too much input. MailerLite helps us to achieve that efficiency.
He found that MailerLite has everything he needs to create effective email marketing strategies that lead to sales. Below are some of his most used features.
Jonathan uses customer shopping data to segment customers and automate emails.
He nurtures leads and generates sales with welcome and post-purchase emails.
Jonathan builds every email he sends with our easy-to-use Drag and drop editor.
He built his website form and pop-ups in MailerLite and added them to his Shopify site in a click.
Step 2: Promote an entry product with paid ads
Jonathan’s customer acquisition strategy involves promoting a low-cost, high-value first aid kit to acquire customers. It’s the perfect product for Meta Ads, since it doesn't take much nurturing to make sales.
Most of our customers come from a small kit we sell. It’s easier to get into and sell than a bigger item.
Once someone buys the product and has been impressed by the quality, Jonathan can upsell his other items.
The key is collecting the buyer’s email address on the first purchase. He does this using MailerLite forms and pop-ups integrated with his Shopify store.
I really liked that you have so many different sizes and ways to integrate the pop-up on your website.
Jonathan also allows people to sign up for email marketing during the buying process. Once someone joins his list, the nurturing process begins with a welcome email—focused on connection. He then moves on to more sales-focused emails later in the sequence.
Step 3: Upsell higher-value products with automation
Jonathan’s e-commerce email marketing aha moment came when he realized he could use automation to send sales-boosting emails without lifting a finger.
By using MailerLite’s Purchases specific product trigger, Jonathan can automate follow-up emails that begin 2 weeks after the initial purchase. This gives buyers time to see the product’s value first-hand.
These messages highlight higher ticket items that complement the first purchase, such as larger first aid kits for your car.
This simple automation, which Jonathan set up in no time, now consistently drives repeat sales—turning one-time buyers into returning customers.
MailerLite has 10 triggers that you can use to create automation for almost unlimited use cases. Read this article to find out more about our automation triggers and ideas to use them.
Step 4: Send a value-packed newsletter to boost sales
Jonathan’s newsletter is a key driver of repeat sales, but he’s careful not to flood inboxes. He sends 2 to 4 emails per month, depending on what’s happening in the business.
When we send an email we want our customers to care to open it as it’s something they don’t see in their inbox every day.
He sends various content types including product promotions, sales, free resources, and more.
One of the key strategies is promoting seasonal sales with multiple emails. While the initial announcement goes out to his entire list, he uses segmentation to ensure that only people yet to buy receive the follow-up messages.
We don’t want to keep contacting people who already bought in the sale. We create a segment of people who haven’t made a purchase in the relevant period and send the campaign to only these people.
Jonathan also uses our resend to non-openers feature to ensure that as many people as possible see the email offers.
Step 5: Build trust with testimonials
The Live The Creed newsletter isn’t just about promoting products. Jonathan also shares testimonials and case studies to show potential customers how impactful his first-aid kits can be.
Since Jonathan’s products are used to save lives, he has a lot of extremely impactful stories to share.
People write to us because they used our kit to save someone’s life. They might have come upon an accident when they were driving and used our kit. That is really powerful. It’s a more effective way of driving customer loyalty than promoting a sale.
By focusing on real-life impact, Jonathan creates a deeply engaged audience. When he does promote a product, his subscribers are ready to buy.
Step 6: Promote limited edition items
Jonathan has had a lot of success with releasing limited products and promoting them in his emails.
The combination of scarcity and direct access to a passionate audience via email means these offers are extremely effective.
We try to do one every month or two. Through email, we sell out in an hour or two every time. Email has been a really helpful way to reach customers.
Step 7: Experiment with list growth tactics
Jonathan is always trying new ways to grow his list. As well as using website pop-ups to collect signups, he promotes a lead magnet—a guide to individual first kits—on social media.
Another tactic is collaborating on giveaways with other brands. Here’s how it works:
Multiple brands team up to offer a bundle of their products as a prize
Each brand promotes the giveaway to its audience
Entrants agree to receive marketing emails from all participating companies
Jonathan can then email these people about his products to generate sales. While these audiences are typically less engaged than a subscriber who specifically joined via one of his offers, it’s an extremely low-cost way to grow his list, making it worthwhile.
He also keeps an eye on the engagement of the new subscribers. He can then unsubscribe those who don’t interact with his content.
This strategy works for Jonathan, his customers, and his business
With this strategy in place, Jonathan can achieve his goal of making sales and boosting customer value without stressing about email marketing.
Thanks to automation, newsletters, and creative list-building tactics, he’s turned email into a scalable sales engine that works in the background—freeing him up to focus on growing his brand and spending time with his family.
Start e-commerce email marketing today
MailerLite has all you need to grow your store with email marketing. Connect your store with a click, automate marketing based on shopping behavior, and segment customers for targeted messaging. Start today with a free trial.
