The Impact of Email Marketing on the Health and Nutrition Industry

Email marketing is one of the most reliable ways for people and businesses to stay connected with one another. For businesses, it’s one of the most effective ways to generate revenue when considering that it generates $42 for every $1 spent—in other words, a whopping 4,200 percent ROI!

Of course, there’s more to the story. Just because you do email marketing doesn’t mean you reap the potential benefits. It takes a dynamic team of email marketers who can tailor your email strategy to:

• Automatically engage subscribers
• Grow e-commerce sales
• Cultivate brand loyalty with relevant, on-brand messaging that’s true to your vision as you follow along and track results in real time

At SmartBug Media, our team of email marketers and Klaviyo experts have helped businesses in the health and nutrition industry increase their revenue in as few as 30 days. We’d love to tell you all about how we made it happen for three clients—read on!

And if you'd like to copy some of the exact email templates and flows we use for clients, download your copy free here.

Proof You Can See

Before engaging in any marketing effort, you want a guarantee that the efforts will result in driving revenue. 

Email marketing demographics can offer some insight into the frequency and rate at which the general public checks their email. According to our research: 

• 99 percent of email users check their inbox every day, with some checking 20 times a day.
• Of those people, 58 percent of consumers check their email first thing in the morning.
• 74 percent of baby boomers think email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands, followed by 72 percent of Gen X, 64 percent of millennials, and 60 percent of Gen Z.

According to an email benchmark report for 2022 from CampaignMonitor, the average for key metrics are as follows: 

• 21.0 percent open rate
• 2.2 percent click-through rate
• 10.4 percent click-to-open rate
• 0.1 percent unsubscribe rate

No matter your industry, click rates are more valuable than ever due to ever-changing privacy updates. This means you must deliver unique, organic content that compels your customers to come back for more, one click at a time.

Now, let’s go over how successful email marketing helped drive revenue for three of our health and nutrition businesses.

Case 1: Fresh Results

Beginning in May 2020, we worked with Dr. Danielle, a specialist in natural and organic nutritional supplements used by both naturopathic doctors and customers. Over the course of a year, her company received 51 percent of its revenue from email.

When Dr. Danielle approached SmartBug, the brand was typically only sending transactional and promotional emails. For a nutritional brand, this strategy hurts email engagement, since customers are looking for support and advice in their health journey. Dr. Danielle also wanted to be seen as a trusted, expert advisor and share her advice and content effectively to her email subscribers.

In the end, SmartBug’s efforts turned email into the most effective marketing channel of the company, with over 50 percent of revenue coming from target email automations and personalized campaigns.

Some of its best-performing metrics include:

• 6 percent average monthly click-through rate
• 20.2 percent average monthly open rate

Of the yearly revenue derived from email marketing:

• Revenue from Klaviyo increased by 65 percent
• Flow revenue increased by 37 percent
• Campaign revenue increased by 29 percent

Here were our most successful email engagements:

Best Automated Flow: Welcome #1

Welcome emails are one of the most successful types of emails. More than 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, generating four times as many opens and ten times as many clicks as other types of emails.

Dr. Danielle’s welcome flow emails (emails triggered every time a certain behavior occurs) delivered:

• 9 percent click rate
• 48.5 percent open rate
  
  

Best Email Campaign: St. Patrick’s Day Flash Sale 

The holidays are a great time to create excitement and exclusivity with your subscribers. It was the perfect opportunity to treat Dr. Danielle’s subscribers to a limited-time sale while reminding them about other products and benefits.

Dr. Danielle’s email campaign (manually created and scheduled emails) delivered:

• 1.4 percent click rate
• 19.1 percent open rate

Ready to learn how our e-comm marketers can help you? Get in touch!

Case 2: Losing Weight, Gaining Revenue

Beginning in May 2020, we engaged with a company specializing in weight loss through nutritional and natural methods (this company has chosen to remain anonymous). Over the course of a year, this company made $8,287,944 from email, accounting for 31 percent of its total revenue.

The ultimate goal for this company was to move from relying only on promotional email tactics to building a personalized content strategy to help subscribers on their health journey. The brand already had a strong presence on YouTube and their blog, but this content was not being properly used via email.

As a result of the promotional email tactics, overall email performance was sub-par. Under 20 percent of total revenue came from email, and open rates and click rates were low because the email list was not engaged.

After working with SmartBug to fine tune their communication strategy, our client saw the following results.

Of the yearly revenue derived from email marketing:

• $2,032,937 (8 percent) came from flow emails
• $6,255,007 (23 percent) came from campaign emails

One of the biggest improvements to email stats: 

• 7.27 percent average monthly click-through rate

Here were our most successful email engagements:

Best Automated Flow: Browse Abandon #1

Browse abandonment emails are notoriously short and sweet yet highly effective. They are automatically sent when a customer has browsed your website but has not made a purchase. It’s a subtle nudge your customers may need, with or without a discount incentive.

Our Browse Abandon #1 automated flow delivered:

• $187,450 total revenue
• 4.4 percent click rate
• 43.2 percent open rate

Best Email Campaign: Labor Day Sale

Holidays are a great time to excite your subscribers by offering a discount to stock up on their favorite products, and we did exactly that with this client.

Our Labor Day Sale email campaign delivered:

• $124,460 total revenue
• 1.4 percent click rate
• 13.8 percent open rate

Case 3: Supplementing Revenue with Email Flows and Campaigns

Beginning in October 2020, we engaged with a company specializing in multi-collagen and superfood supplements (this company has chosen to remain anonymous). Over the course of a year, this company made $6,085,942 from email, accounting for 30 percent of its total revenue.

One of the major goals for this brand was to create an email strategy to move more customers from being one-time purchasers of supplements to being subscribers and repeat buyers. Before working with SmartBug, the majority of revenue came from new customers through paid media and marketing efforts. 

SmartBug was able to flip the model for the business, driving loyalty and engagement through email marketing efforts. With a more personalized communication strategy, strategic automated emails, and a diversified campaign strategy, our client saw email revenue grow to 30 percent of total revenue, a majority of this increase coming from repeat purchases from existing customers.

Some of its best-performing metrics include:

• 17.6 percent average monthly open rate
• 7.6 percent average monthly click-through rate

Of the yearly revenue derived from email marketing:

• $6,085,942 (30 percent) came from flow emails
• $2,691,972 (13 percent) came from campaign emails

Here were our most successful email engagements:

Best Automated Flow: Post-Purchase

You can nurture brand loyalty by continuing to provide value to your customers long after they’ve purchased. With this client, we offered hand-picked resources to help buyers make the most of their products, like e-books, video tutorials, and recipes.

Our post-purchase flow delivered:

• $960,700 total revenue
• 14 percent click rate
• 48 percent open rate

Best Email Campaign: Labor Day Sale

Like the previous client, our Labor Day Sale email campaign offered incentives, such as offering free shipping and gifts, during the days leading up to Labor Day.

This email campaign delivered:

• $28,470 total revenue
• 1 percent click rate
• 13.3 percent open rate

Drive Revenue with SmartBug’s E-Commerce Experts 

Now that you’ve seen the features each Hub has to offer, how do you pick which one is best? 

At SmartBug Media, our dynamic team of email marketers and Klaviyo experts have helped businesses in the health and nutrition industry tailor an email strategy to engage audiences, grow sales, and cultivate brand loyalty.

Ready to find out if we can do the same for you? Get in touch with us today!