# SophTattoos

Canonical page: https://sunlocke.com/case-studies/sophtattoos-email-sms

Page type: caseStudy

## Summary

After a tattoo session, SophTattoos had no way to check in with the client or to invite them back. Sophia had started the business with no system of her own for staying in touch. We built SophTattoos an email program. We cover the cost of her email list as part of her recurring package. Clients join the list automatically when they opt in on the booking form, the consent form or the website. Those forms collect detailed information about each client. Automated emails check in after each session, ask for a review and carry her deals and promotions. A referral program rewards clients who send someone new. About 15 percent of her bookings come from returning clients, including those her emails bring back. Ads bring in 64 percent of her new clients, down from about 80 percent, and the referral program and live events bring in others. Her repeat client rate, also called retention, holds at about 18 percent year over year, on a much larger client base than she had before. Her regulars rebook through the website.

## Client
SophTattoos

Industry: [Tattoos](/industries/beauty-and-body-art/tattoos)

Services
* [Email & SMS Marketing](/email-sms)

## Before

After a tattoo session, SophTattoos had no way to check in with the client or to invite them back. Sophia had started the business with no system of her own for staying in touch.

## The hidden cost
For a long time, ads brought in about 80 percent of her new clients. She had no list to send deals, promotions or review requests to.

## What we did

We built SophTattoos an email program. We cover the cost of her email list as part of her recurring package. Clients join the list automatically when they opt in on the booking form, the consent form or the website. Those forms collect detailed information about each client. Automated emails check in after each session, ask for a review and carry her deals and promotions. A referral program rewards clients who send someone new.

## How they felt

## Outcome

About 15 percent of her bookings come from returning clients, including those her emails bring back. Ads bring in 64 percent of her new clients, down from about 80 percent, and the referral program and live events bring in others. Her repeat client rate, also called retention, holds at about 18 percent year over year, on a much larger client base than she had before. Her regulars rebook through the website.

## How we did it
We split the list into segments, groups of clients with something in common, and send each segment its own emails. The check in after a session asks how the client is doing, how the experience went, whether they need a touch up and what could be better. When a client refers someone, they get 10 percent of the referred client's tattoo price as credit. They can put that credit toward their own next tattoo or save it. Credits expire at the end of the calendar year. Win back and promotional emails bring her regulars back to book.

## Results
* **18% Repeat Client Rate**: About 18 percent of her clients come back to her each year.
* **15% of Bookings**: Returning clients, including those her emails bring back, account for about 15 percent of her bookings.
* **10% Referral Credit**: Each referral earns the client who made it credit worth a tenth of the new client's tattoo price.