Shownotes:

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on March 5, 2025. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

When you're sending personalized election results to millions of people across hundreds of constituencies, how do you pull it off —especially since results only start rolling in at 2 AM? If you're Jay Oram, Head of Development at Action Rocket, you build a sophisticated system of automation, live data rendering, fail-safes – and sheer dedication – to deliver real-time results straight to voters' inboxes.

About our guest

I love email development, the challenges, the code, the community. Day to day I look after the code me and my team create at ActionRocket.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:03) The process that gives the Action Rocket team the headspace for such diverse clients

(05:23) Why the BBC email strategy is decidedly unique

(08:17) How the Action Rocket team delivered real-time election results to millions on a six-week deadline

(09:57) The one mistake that almost ruined election night emails – and the matrix of backup systems, manual overrides, and late-night troubleshooting that saved the day

(16:23) Why they didn’t use classic first name personalization – and what they went deep on instead

(23:52) What the team learned from the process – and how they’re using it to go even bigger next election period

(28:55) Jay’s favorite brands for email inspiration—and why he reads eversingle email in his Promotions tab

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we’re talking about today

Check out the amazing work ActionRocket is doing

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to Kit (formerly ConvertKit) using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Check out Dr. Squatch’s on-trend emails

Connect with Jay on LinkedIn

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on July 10, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Sinch April Fool’s Day email, featured in Episode 20.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(02:26) Takeaway 1: Block the big things into your content calendar

(02:09) Takeaway #1.1: Feeling pressured by certain email norms? Strip it down to the why and reformat accordingly

(02:48) Takeaway #2: Don’t stop until you hit the dead end of the customer experience

(05:08) Takeaway #3: Build brand loyalty when you use (real) exclusivity

(05:28) Takeaway #4: Find good mentors. Or… maybe be a good mentor.

(06:18) Takeaway #5: Don’t stress if your creative process fluctuates with time

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 20

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Shownotes:

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on July 3, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

When your audience is a bunch of email developers, designers, and marketers – split across three different products – how do you wow them… and segment them… at the same time? If you’re Megan Boshuyzen, you develop a dozen interactive April Fool’s Day emails that deliver a perfectly crafted, Buzzfeed-style user experience.

About our guest

Megan Boshuyzen is the award-winning Senior Email Developer at Sinch Email, overseeing email development for Sinch Mailgun, Sinch Mailjet, and Sinch Email on Acid. She also leads Email on Acid’s monthly “Notes from the Dev” show, helping to advance the email development space by spotlighting thought leaders and sharing best practices. A graphic designer turned email developer, Megan believes that well-designed emails can transform the way businesses communicate with their customers and create positive change. Prior to joining Sinch Email, Megan co-founded Mango and Marigold Press – an award-winning, independent publishing house – and went on to spend more than four years building and growing the email program for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s PJ Library.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:39) The system Megan uses to ship emails for 3 brands with her 2-person team

(06:27) The crazy timeline they gave for this email – and why it still wasn’t long enough (!)

(07:52) The bajillion variations of emails and landing pages Megan and Julia developed for this one email send

(09:04) Why they didn’t link to an external quiz for the non-interactive audience (this one surprised me)

(15:42) The creation process of the email (and landing pages) – and where they swiped design inspiration from

(19:49) The types of responses the email generated – and how that’s informing their future strategy

(24:00) Megan’s favorite brands to swipe from – and why developers tend to use curated feeds for inspiration

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we’re talking about today

Make coding emails even faster with Megan’s email design system tutorial for Parcel Unpacked

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Check out Uproot’s fun-and-well-designed emails

Send better email with Sinch’s email offerings

Find Megan on LinkedIn or on her website

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on August 21, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Powtoon webinar registration email, featured in Episode 26.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:54) Takeaway 1: Use data to personalize for relevance, not for attention

(06:03) Takeaway #2: Collect data! Interviews, reviews, polls – whatever, wherever, it’s such critical stuff

(06:32) Takeaway #3: Make sure you’re using the right kind of data for personalization

(07:40) Takeaway #4: Weigh the complexity of personalization vs. the output and value it’ll give you

(08:24) Takeaway #5: Lean more on behavioral data than on data that you ask for

(08:53) Takeaway #6: Value those replies, read them, respond to them, and use them!

(09:34) Takeaway #7: Balance plain text strategy with well designed emails (for ecomm)

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 26

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki’s email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Shownotes:

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on August 14, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

When you have robust data on your leads’ pain points – how do you best use it? If you’re Anna Levitin and the Powtoon team, you use your leads’ language to craft highly relevant subject lines – and increase email opens, webinar registrations, and webinar attendance rates.

About our guest

Anna Levitin is an Email & Lifecycle Marketing Specialist, formerly Email & Marketing Operations Lead at Powtoon. Anna is an email enthusiast with a talent for AB tests, segmentation, and positive ROI. Cultural anthropology background empowers her passion for understanding customers' behaviors, anticipating their needs, and delivering personalized content. She has vast experience working with SaaS and e-commerce products. Anna is an international speaker at email conferences, podcast guest, and vivid evidence that email is far from dead.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(05:23) How webinars fit into the overall Powtoon content strategy - and how they use them to build community and celebrate their customers

(09:14) How they deeply personalize their webinar flows based on each user’s data

(10:49) How they swiped from one of their sales rep’s hack to increase open and attendance rates

(19:26 How they use design to demonstrate the varied benefits of their webinars

(21:42) How they weave feedback throughout the customer experience to continuously personalize the user experience

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we’re talking about today

My $37 customer interview packet can give you the Voice of Customer Data you need to swipe the Powtoon subject line strategy. It has everything you need to run better customer interviews: email templates, goal setting sheets, checklists – and 114 questions, divided by your research goals.

Want more ideas for using your customer data than just subject lines? Check out my $43 masterclass on generating endless ideas from customer reviews.

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Create videos in minutes with Powtoon See how Grammarly gamifies usage in their emails and how Slack visually categorizes their emails

Enjoy the fun, engaging emails Casper and Inspired by Iceland

Connect with Anna on LinkedIn

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on September 04, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the PodMatch cold pitch, featured in Episode 28.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:50) Takeaway 1: Look at cold pitching as a sprint, not as a project

(05:06) Takeaway #2: The more research you have, the stronger your hypotheses are going to be

(05:55) Takeaway #3: Give yourself the time to let the full process happen, without pressure

(06:08) Takeaway #4: Be quick with cold (but not in the way you think)

(07:12) Takeaway #5.1: Don’t be scared to follow up

(07:41) Takeaway #5.2: Find that balance of following best practices

(10:32) Takeaway #6: Responses is where you’re going to feel that human relationship-ness of email, for better or for worse

(11:44) Takeaway #7: Again, find your space within best practices – and use this to know if you’re breaking them safely.

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we featured in Ep. 28

Swipe all the interesting bits on the Podmatch website

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

Shownotes:

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on August 28, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

When you’ve built your business on a serve-first mindset – how can you rethink cold email to reflect that mentality? How can you show perfect strangers that you’re here to guide and support – whether or not they become a customer?

If you’re Alex Sanfilippo of PodMatch, you disregard your mastermind’s “don’t do it!” advice and offer your $1,200 course, completely free – and build relationships as you build up the global podcasting community.

About our guest

Alex Sanfilippo is the founder of PodMatch.com, a software that automatically matches podcast guests and hosts for interviews. Alex is also the host of the top-rated podcast, Podcasting Made Simple, and a lead educator in the podcasting industry. Alex's sole focus is to serve independent podcast guests and hosts so they can grow their influence and revenue so they can better serve their listeners!

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(02:42) Alex’s original cold pitching strategy and why he decided to overhaul it

(06:37) The creation process of this email and Alex’s genius workflow for writing like he speaks

(09:22) The #1 strategy that people don’t realize that makes cold email successful – and how Podmatch takes it to the next level, across all of their emails

(10:41) Why Alex only sends one email and not a whole cold sequence (plus, a good litmus test for knowing when you can break best practices)

(13:17) One really unique thing about the responses that this email generates

(14:50) Why Alex’s mastermind advised against his strategy – and how he used that story to generate more accountability and commitment from recipients

(17:20) Why this send was so scary and Alex’s multi-prong strategy for dealing with negative responses

(20:06) How this email is truly serving and impacting podcasters – and how Alex makes personal communication scaleable

(27:37) Alex’s favorite emails to swipe from

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we’re talking about today

Want to be featured as a guest on podcasts? Have a podcast and need great guests? You need Podmatch.

Check out the amazing PodMatch course/community by taking the PodScore quiz

Plan more effective campaigns with my Promo and Launches Playbook or with my Campaign Ideation Masterclass

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Get the high-value emails that Alex swipes from: Michael Hyatt and Brendon Burchard

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on July 24, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Copyhackers cart close email, featured in Episode 22.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(04:39) Takeaway 1: Use your resources the way that works best for you, not how everyone says you should

(07:42) Takeaway #2: Would you say this in real life? Maybe that’s okay, maybe it’s not, but you need to dig into the why

(08:22) Takeaway #3: It’s your job to take the reins on emotion

(09:55) Takeaway #4: Every touchpoint is a branding opportunity. Which means every email is a branding opportunity.

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we featured in Ep. 22

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Get better results from your relationships by reading Never Split the Difference

Listen to more genius insights from Sophia in Ep. 11

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on July 17, 2024. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Shownotes:

When you know your best prospects are feeling the pressure of cart close – how do you shift the tone to empower decision-making from a confident place? If you’re Ry Schwartz of Copy School, you serenade your subscribers right through the doors of your program.

About our guest

Ry Schwartz has been deep in the trenches for dozens of 6- and 7-figure program launches and evergreen funnels. He’s written for and/or consulted with top online entrepreneurs and trainers like Amy Porterfield, Todd Herman, London Real, Josh Shipp and Dan Martell just to name a few. And he’s done it all without writing a single line of “copy”. Instead, he developed the Coaching The Conversion Method™ as a faster, more natural and intuitive framework for crafting launch and funnel copy that connects deeply with your prospects, and “coaches” them into being the perfect buyer. Ry has used his signature CTC processes to generate a combined revenue of $75M+ for his partners and clients - while training thousands of students as a guest-teacher inside Copy School (by Copyhackers) and his own training platform, Empire Engineering.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(4:19) How Ryan does and does not use AI – and the process-improving reasons why

(9:05) One of Ry’s humanizing criteria for writing copy

(9:39) The mashup of things that inspired this serenading email (5 entire years ago!)

(11:09) How Ry sets the tone of cart close emails to empower confident decision making

(14:23) What “projectuition” is – and how Ry uses it to normalize and validate pain points

(17:11) The feedback Ry got from this email and video

(19:58) The strategic change Ry would have made to this email if he could go back in time

(21:28) Ry’s favorite brands to cull inspiration from – and why

Links from this episode

Take a look at the email we’re talking about today

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Free consult when you sign up to ConvertKit using this affiliate link. Terms and conditions here.

Be amazed by how fresh AppSumo keeps their descriptions for similar products over and over again

Get enthralled by the “mundane moment” storytelling of Cheryl Rerrick and Tarzan Kay

Connect with Ry on LinkedIn

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player

♻️ This is a replay episode originally aired on March 26, 2025. I’m resurfacing it because – as much as we love fresh content – replaying smart ideas deepens the insights. And a second listen usually surfaces something you missed the first time ‘round. So, earbuds in — pen out. Let’s make this listen actionable. ♻️

Shownotes:

Let’s dive into the strategies and methods used in the Collishop birthday email, featured in Episode 40.

Ideas you don’t want to miss

(3:12) Takeaway #1: Start small and scrappy

(5:42) Takeaway #2: Unexpected insights can come from unconventional approaches

(08:19) Takeaway #3: Diversify your customer feedback collection

(10:31) Non-Takeaway #4: How people don’t provide feedback is just as important as how they do provide feedback

(11:30) Takeaway #5: Creative button copy belongs in secondary links

(12:17) Takeaway #6: The key to successful luxury emails? Storytelling

Links from this episode

Take a look at the emails we featured in Ep. 40

Check out Jasper’s holiday tips that impressed me in the Email Uplers holiday roundup

Hear Jo talk about how Hiut Denim does luxury email marketing well at the end of Ep. 1

Plan more effective emails with my Ecomm Playbooks or SaaS Success Pack

Follow Nikki on LinkedIn

Get Nikki's email musings at ⁠nikkielbaz.com/subscribe ⁠

Let me know what you thought about the episode by emailing [email protected]

Subscribe to Email Swipes and never miss another episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

Or find on your favorite podcast player