The further away your audience is from intent, the more aspirational the message. The closer they are to intent, the more direct the message. This means we speak to your audience differently depending on where they psychologically are in their decision-making process, aka where they are in the sales funnel. The jewelry industry applies this concept to its creative exceptionality well.

Let’s take a look at Brilliant Earth’s ads.

Context

Brilliant Earth knows from my recent searches that I’m shopping for engagement rings. As I scroll through Pinterest, I get this ad with an aspirational image of a newly engaged couple in a moment of happiness. They are giving me an image of how I could feel if I click their ad. The copy reads:

“Love Looks Good on You.”

The product is barely visible in the image, but the image appeals to my emotions. I’m on Pinterest, not a marketplace. It’s a website where people get inspired, so that’s what the ads must do as well. After clicking the ad, I see a much closer shot of hands wearing an engagement ring. I’ve expressed intent by clicking, so imagery is less emotional and more direct to the product.

The Ad‍

• The image appeals to my aspirational emotions.
• The product is an accessory of the moment.
• The copy reinforces the emotions of the image.

The Landing Page‍

• Image is zoomed in on the hands.
• Showcasing the product in context.
• Copy speaks to personalization. Not it’s not about emotions it’s about what you want out of the product specifically.

The Deal Page‍

• Imagery focuses on the product. No fluff.
• Product details such as size, materials, exc. This page is all about value and the product.

So we’ve learned how imagery starts by appealing to customers' emotions at the top of the funnel and zooms closer to the product the further down the sales funnel the customer is.

Rizen Jewelry does this differently between engagement and value based messaging in their emails.

Engagement Driven Content

‍For a new subscriber they’ve sent an engagement based email to get them to browse their content and see if they will open and click their email before sending them value based messaging. The image above the fold is not of a specific piece of jewelry. It’s a medium full body image of two women evoking a feeling. Highlighting their faith based brand message. The imagery appeals to the brand not the product.

Value & Browse Driven Content

‍In this email the customer sees 10% off their first order (value) followed by another lifestyle image evoking the brand message (aspirational). Following that the user is invited to browse products or click into their landing page to browse on their site.

So within this one email they try to engage the user with a combination of value, aspirational branded imagery, browse, and conversion. This is a catch all email. Common practice when you’re not ready to sacrifice short term bottom line but don’t want to completely abandon the strategic investment into your customers life time value (LTV).

In email you ideally want to have dedicated emails for:

‍Creative is zoomed out.‍

• Engagement: Educate the customers about your product and brand through editorial content or get them to interact with your brand through social or other channels. In these emails creative is “zoomed out.”

‍Creative is medium zoom.‍

• Browse & Discover: Allow your customers to browse and discover what categories of products you offer. They may know you for one thing without realizing you have other benefits or products. In these emails creative is “medium zoom.”

‍Creative is zoomed in.‍

• Conversion: Deal based emails to drive sales. In these emails creative is “zoomed in.”
• Value: Add promo codes and discounts in order for customers that need value to be motivated to purchase. In these emails creative is “zoomed in.”

Some other examples from other brands.