How one template designer drives 5-figure digital product sales with email automation

Mitkus found that he still: 

• Lacked control over how he spent his time

• Had to do tasks he didn’t enjoy

• Was working for the profit of others

That’s when he decided to go all in with Pathpages (formerly Notionway), a digital product business that sells templates for the no-code productivity app Notion.

He’s since grown the business to 5 figures in monthly sales and email marketing has been core to his efforts. He has a particularly effective set of automations that keep the sales coming in consistently, bringing much-needed stability to his business. 

We recently spoke to Modest about his story. He shared his thoughts on email design, setting up automations that generate sales, strategies for growing an email list, and more.  

You can start in many places when email marketing. As a former designer, Modest began by creating the template he would use for all his emails. His aim was to find a good visual composition that would make the emails easy to read, scan and click.

This is where MailerLite’s visual email builder and the high levels of customization it offers stood out. 

The result is a clean black-and-white design that stands out for its simplicity. Check an example in the image below.

Modest is a solo entrepreneur so he needs to use his time efficiently. He knew that email automation would be key to his success because once set up, workflows keep generating sales without his input. 

MailerLite’s automation workflows help Modest at various stages of the customer journey, including gathering testimonials and increasing customer value through upsells. 

His main automation is set up to convert new email signups into buyers. The workflow identifies the recipient’s interests and then sends relevant content. 

Here’s how it works

The automation starts when someone downloads one of his free Notion templates or signs up for his email list. It first checks if the person is already a customer. If they aren’t, it sends emails on topics that are based on the templates Pathpages sells. 

When someone clicks on an email for a particular template, the workflow uses this as a sign they are interested in that topic and automatically sends related follow-up emails. 

This automation lets Modest send emails about products he knows customers are interested in. What’s more, this all happens automatically, so he can focus on growing other parts of his business. 

Once set up, Modest needed to power his automation with subscribers. He promotes his list with free Notion templates (left in the below image) and a newsletter signup form (right in the below image).

Modest says the newsletter signup form is effective at converting people who already know his brand and are familiar with his content. This is because people only sign up for newsletters if they already trust that the content they receive will provide value. 

The Notion template lead magnets are better at converting people who are new to his brand, as they provide instant value to anyone who hands over their email. He thinks that lead magnets are essential if you want to grow quickly.

Whichever method you choose to build your list, Modest points out that good distribution is essential. If people can’t see your lead magnets, they won’t be able to download them.

Creating an effective email marketing strategy is an ongoing process and Modest is still testing where his weekly newsletter fits into his overall strategy. 

Much of Pathpages is driven by Modest’s personal brand so in his newsletter he tries to give a mixture of educational and promotional content from this standpoint. 

However, the data shows signs that people mainly interact with the Notion templates. He’s considering sticking to more e-commerce and sales-focused content like discounts and promos to meet this demand. 

He also had a tip for anyone looking to use their newsletter to generate product sales.

The key learning here is to always check the types of emails and content your audience responds to. Use your MailerLite email performance reports to discover these insights. 

Useful metrics to check include:

• Open rate: Look at which subject lines lead people to open your emails. This highlights the type of copy and content that stands out in the inbox

• Clicks: Check which email links people click on. This shows the type of content and the offers people find attractive 

• Click maps: See the percentage of people who click on each of the clickable elements in your email. It’s an easy way to see what people interact with

• Unsubscribe rate: Look for emails that result in a higher-than-average unsubscribe rate. This is a sign that people think the content is low-quality or irrelevant to their needs 

It’s also easy to test different types of content with MailerLite. Our A/B testing features let you test different versions of emails, subject lines, automation steps, and even forms and landing pages to see which versions are the most effective. 

One of Modest’s favorite MailerLite features is the iOS app. This lets him add widgets to his iPhone home screen that provide real-time insight into his email marketing strategy. 

Modest can easily use this knowledge to adjust his strategy when things are working (or not working). Ultimately, this leads to more sales, signups, and conversions.

Modest has plenty of plans going forward. He will continue to grow his Pathpages brand and keep testing what works with email. 

He has also recently started a personal brand newsletter and digital course business that teaches people how to use his strategies to build their own digital product business. You can find out more here.