Hey, it's Geb from Email Rev Lab!
The Lead:
At 1:39 AM, I signed up for Gaia Herbs' newsletter at the bottom of their homepage.
No discount mentioned. No incentive. Just a plain form that says, "Sign up for news on sales, product releases, and exclusive deals."
Then the confirmation showed up: "Thanks for subscribing! Check your email to receive your discount code for your first order!"
Wait. There IS a discount code? Why wasn't that in the sign-up form?
The Brand Bridge:
Ric Scalzo started Gaia Herbs in 1987 with less than $2,000 of his own savings. His belief: people deserved to know exactly what was in their supplements.
That belief became "Meet Your Herbs," a traceability tool that lets buyers trace every product from soil to capsule. It's one of the most transparent systems in the herbal supplement industry.
But radical transparency in the product doesn't help if the email signup hides the main reason to subscribe. If a buyer doesn't know there's a discount waiting, they're less likely to go looking for it.
The Pop-up Test:
The first thing I saw when I landed on the Gaia Herbs site was a pop-up. But it wasn't a discount offer.
It was a notice that they don't ship internationally, redirecting visitors to iHerb.com.
That's a dead-end for a lot of potential buyers. If someone lands on the homepage ready to purchase, this pop-up doesn't capture them. It sends them away.
No email capture here. No offer. No second chance.
The Sign-up Test:
The email capture form is buried at the bottom of the page.
The copy says: "Sign up for news on sales, product releases, and exclusive deals."
That's a weak hook. "News on sales" is not a strong reason to hand over your email.
There's no mention of a discount. No incentive front and centre. No urgency.
But then the confirmation message says: "Check your email to receive your discount code for your first order!"
The discount exists. They just don't tell anyone about it until after they've already subscribed. The offer should be in the form, not the confirmation.
The Inbox Test:
The email arrived at 1:39 AM. Same minute I signed up.
That's fast. Real-time delivery is exactly where it should be. That part works.
Here's what's interesting: Gmail actually surfaced the offer in the inbox preview automatically, showing "10% off · Code BEWELL" in the Promotions tab.
So Gmail did Gaia Herbs a favor. But the email still landed in Promotions, not Primary.
And the subject line: "Welcome to your best health 🌿"
That's a soft, lifestyle-brand subject line. No mention of the 10% off inside. No code preview. A buyer who only checks Primary would miss it entirely.
The Email Creative Test:
Inside the email, the offer is clear: 10% off with code BEWELL10.
The design is clean and on-brand. There's a hero image, a "Shop Now" button, a quiz CTA, and a grid of four bestsellers: Thyroid Support, Oil of Oregano, Adrenal Health Nightly Restore, and Male Libido.
Good bones. But there's a key issue.
The email does too many things at once. It introduces the brand, pushes a purchase, runs a quiz, and showcases four products.
For a first-touch welcome email, that's too much. The subscriber just signed up. They need one clear next step.
Right now, the email pulls them in four directions.
The Solution:
The biggest bottleneck isn't the email itself. It's everything before it.
Here's the fix:
Step 1. Put the discount offer in the sign-up form. Change the copy from "sign up for news on sales" to "Get 10% off your first order. Enter your email below." One line. That's it.
Step 2. Update the subject line to include the offer. Something like "Your 10% off code is inside" or "Welcome. Here's your code: BEWELL10." The offer is the reason to open. Put it in the subject.
Step 3. In Klaviyo, simplify the welcome email. Lead with the discount code. One CTA: use the code. Move the quiz and product grid to Email 2 in the sequence.
The Impact Statement:
Every subscriber who skips the Promotions tab without opening is a buyer who never saw the code. They subscribed to a deal they didn't know existed.
The Curiosity Hook:
Here's what I'm curious about: what's Gaia Herbs' welcome email click-through rate? Because if the code isn't in the subject line and most subscribers land in Promotions, I'd bet it's well below where it could be.
The Pitch:
Gaia Herbs built one of the most traceable supplement brands on the planet. The "Meet Your Herbs" system is genuinely impressive.
They just need the email infrastructure to match. The trust is already there. The conversion system isn't.
I send these audits daily because bottlenecks like this can be fixed in one day with the right information.
Want me to audit your Klaviyo account the same way?
Reply to this email, and I'll send you a free breakdown of where your welcome series is leaking revenue.
Geb Vence
P.S. I run Email Rev Lab. We've generated $334k+ for brands by building systems that feel like conversations, not ads. I only work with 3 brands per month. Schedule your call here.