- A sports nutrition reorder cycle is servings in the tub divided by servings used per week, and that number varies a lot from one customer to the next.
- Ask how often people train, or how many scoops they use, because that one answer fixes most of your reorder timing.
- Flavor is the main reason people try, stick with or leave a sports nutrition brand, so tag flavor on every order and treat new and returning flavors as news.
- Performance claims need real evidence behind them, and the FTC judges the whole email, including product names and images, not only the literal words.
Why is sports nutrition email marketing a servings problem?
Sports nutrition doesn't run out at a steady pace. One customer has a protein shake every morning. Another only uses it after lifting four days a week. A third does two scoops a day while bulking. Same tub, three very different reorder dates.
Pre-workout is even more uneven, since people usually take it on training days only. One delay for everybody is early for some customers and late for the rest.
How do you time reorder emails by servings?
Start with servings per container, then estimate how many servings a week a typical customer uses. Here's the math, labeled as an example:
- Say your protein tub has 30 servings. One scoop a day, every day, finishes it in about 30 days.
- The same tub used only on 4 training days a week lasts about 7 to 8 weeks.
- Two scoops a day empties it in about 15 days.
Send the first reorder email about a week before the tub runs out for each type of customer. Here's how I'd set it up:
- Ask one question. In the welcome series or the first post-purchase email, ask "How many days a week do you train?" or "How many scoops a day?" Save the answer to their profile in Klaviyo and split the reorder flow on it.
- Use quantity. Two tubs in one order means double the time. Your flow has to see that.
- Keep protein and pre-workout separate. They run out at different speeds, so they need different timing.
- Move to real data fast. Once you have a few months of orders, pull the median days between first and second order for each product and size, and move the first email about a week ahead of it.
The reorder reminder isn't one of the 8 core flows I install for every brand, but for a tub that runs out, I'd add it on top of them early. Inside the cart and checkout automations I install, I also show the subscription option, so customers save by committing to a monthly order and you get more predictable monthly revenue. The build is in my Klaviyo replenishment flow guide, and the timing math is in replenishment email timing.
How should you handle flavor drops?
Flavor is the closest thing sports nutrition has to fashion. People get bored of the same flavor, get excited about a new one and go looking when a limited one disappears. That makes flavor your best source of real news, and news beats brand voice in my pooled data from 7 brands.
Here's how I'd run flavor drops:
- Tag flavor on every order. Know who buys chocolate, who buys fruity and who rotates.
- Tell the closest fans first. A new dessert flavor goes to your chocolate and vanilla buyers before the full list.
- Use a waitlist for limited flavors. Collect signups before the drop and send them the launch first. A back in stock flow, which you'd add on top of the core 8, does the same job when a popular flavor sells out.
- Treat the restock like an event. When something sells out, the restock email is usually your biggest send of the month. Plan it like one.
- Fight flavor fatigue. A "try a new flavor" email in the post-purchase flow, with a sample pack, keeps bored customers from trying someone else's brand.
For the launch playbook, see my product launch email guide, and for restocks, my guide to Klaviyo back in stock emails.
What can you say in a sports nutrition email?
I'm not a lawyer, and you should have one who knows this category review your claims. But a few things from the FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance are worth knowing before you write a word.
- Claims need evidence. The FTC says health benefit claims require "competent and reliable scientific evidence," and it covers foods and dietary supplements as well as other health products.
- The whole email counts. Claims are judged by the "net impression," which includes "the text, product name, and any charts, graphs, and other images." A before-and-after photo is a claim even if the copy is careful.
- Testimonials are claims too. The guidance says testimonials with results "more dramatic than users can generally expect are likely to be deceptive," and a "results not typical" line doesn't fix that.
- "Clinically tested" means more than tested. One example in the guidance is a sports drink touting a "clinically tested ingredient" for endurance. The FTC says that phrase implies the results prove a benefit, and that a product with other ingredients may need its own testing.
- Disclose serious risks. In an energy drink example, the guidance says the marketer should disclose an ingredient's potentially serious risk even without making a safety claim. If your pre-workout is high in stimulants, talk to counsel about what your emails need to say.
The good news: "you're almost out," "the new flavor is here" and "your favorite is back" sell on convenience and taste, no big claims needed.
Which flows should a sports nutrition brand build first?
My Flow System has 8 core flows: welcome series, abandoned checkout, abandoned cart, browse abandonment, collection abandonment, site abandonment, post purchase thank you and customer winback, each with separate paths for customers and people who haven't bought yet. Every one carries an offer: people who haven't bought get the same offer as your welcome series, and customers get a slightly better one, a buy-more offer or a subscription. For sports nutrition, here's where I'd focus:
- Reorder reminder, on top of the core 8, split by servings used.
- Welcome series, 6 emails over 7 days with the training question in it. In my pooled data, welcome email #1 earned about $4.50 per person and emails #2 to #5 about $0.10 each. Email #1 carries most of the money, which is why the offer goes in it, and the rest of the week builds trust before it expires on day 7.
- Browse abandonment, which in my system sends about an hour after they leave, then on day 2 and day 4. Answer the usual question: which flavor, which size, protein or pre-workout. Anyone who ordered in the last 30 days is routed out of it.
- Post purchase thank you, split by order count (6 emails for a first order, fewer as loyalty grows, all within 30 days), with how to use it and a new-flavor nudge.
- Back in stock, on top of the core 8, for limited and popular flavors.
- Customer winback: 5 emails from day 45 to day 60, the offer at email 4, and only engaged openers enter. In my pooled data, winback email #3 earned about 2x email #1.
What should a sports nutrition brand measure?
Judge emails by clicks and revenue. Opens are inflated by Apple Mail.
- Days between first and second order, by product, size and training frequency.
- Revenue per recipient on the reorder flow vs your campaigns.
- Flavor switches vs churn after the post-purchase flavor email.
- Waitlist signups per flavor, and how many buy at the drop.
For the bigger picture, see my repeat purchase email strategy.
Where these numbers come from
The per-person numbers come from a pooled look at 4 consumable brands, 2,897 campaigns and $17.7M in email revenue. The subject line finding comes from 7 brands and 2,821 campaigns. None of them is a sports nutrition brand, and it's a small sample, so treat it as directional.
FAQ
When should a protein brand send the first reorder email?
About a week before the tub runs out for that customer. Without usage data, start from one serving a day and tighten it with your own reorder data and a training-frequency question.
Can I use athlete or customer transformation photos in emails?
Carefully. Under the FTC guidance, images and testimonials count as claims, and results more dramatic than typical are likely deceptive even with a disclaimer. Check with counsel first.
Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.