Hey, it's Geb from Email Rev Lab!
At 9:12 PM last night, I signed up for Nature's Way's 20% discount through their pop-up.
One minute later, the email hit my inbox.
Fast delivery. Zero complaints there.
But here's the thing. It didn't land in Primary. It landed in Promotions.
And that single inbox placement is quietly working against everything they've built.
The Brand Bridge:
Tom Murdock started Nature's Way in 1969 because conventional medicine failed his wife, Lavoli. He turned to Native American plant knowledge, her health improved, and she lived another 25 years. That story became the foundation of a company that pioneered herbal supplement standardization in America and now runs 800+ products.
Over 55 years of trust. First brand to standardize herbal ingredients. ISO 17025-accredited in-house labs that test every raw material and every batch before it ships.
But "Trust the Leaf" doesn't mean much if your welcome email sits unopened in the Promotions tab while your new subscriber scrolls Instagram.
The Pop-up Test:
The pop-up is clean and direct. WELCOME20 is prominent. The discount is the hook, and it works. I signed up.
One thing worth noting: there's no second-step confirmation or expectation-setter. No "check your inbox" message after submission. That gap matters more than most brands realize.
The Tech Test:
Delivery in under 60 seconds. That part is solid.
74% of subscribers expect an immediate welcome email. Nature's Way clears that bar.
But the email landed in Promotions. Not Primary. The infrastructure is fast. The sender reputation isn't tuned for inbox placement.
The Inbox Test:
Promotions tab is the polite way to say "we'll get to it later."
Buyers who see your brand in Primary act on it. Buyers who see it in Promotions scroll past it. The discount code sitting in Promotions is a discount code that doesn't convert.
The subject line in the welcome email is functional but not compelling enough to pull someone into Promotions on purpose.
The Email Creative Test:
I'll audit the full creative separately. But from the welcome email I received, the content was well-structured and on-brand. Clear product callouts, the WELCOME20 code front and center, and a consistent visual identity.
The email itself isn't the problem. Where it lands is.
The Fix (3 Steps in Klaviyo):
Warming text at form confirmation. After signing up, show a message that says: "Check your Primary inbox for your 20% code." This primes the subscriber and reduces Promotions tab losses.
Add inbox placement copy to Email 1. In the welcome email subject line or preview text, include: "Move this to Primary so you don't miss your 20% off." Simple. Direct. It works.
Run a sender domain audit. In Klaviyo, check your dedicated sending domain setup under Settings > Deliverability. A misconfigured or missing dedicated domain is the most common cause of Promotions tab placement. Fix the domain, fix the tab.
The Impact Statement:
Most supplement brands lose a significant share of welcome email opens to Promotions tab placement because subscribers never see the email in time to act.
The Curiosity Hook:
Here's what I'm curious about: what's Nature's Way's actual open rate on that welcome email? Because if it's hitting Promotions for me, it's hitting Promotions for a chunk of their list.
The Pitch:
Nature's Way has the brand story, the product quality, and the technical speed to run a top-tier welcome flow. They just need the inbox placement to match.
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.