If I were starting email marketing for an ecom brand today, these are the top 5 mistakes I’d avoid at all costs: 1) Dropping coupon codes in the first welcome email only This is a rookie mistake. A discount code right in Email 1 adds friction and gives you a false sense of performance. So I’d show the code on the success page right after sign-up (when intent is highest), and then remind them in Welcome Email 1. Cleaner attribution, better UX, and you separate the freebie hunters from actual buyers. 2) Ignoring deliverability My brilliant copy means nothing if it lands in spam. So I’d treat deliverability like the holy grail because it IS. - no sketchy sending behavior - warm up domains properly - clean the list ruthlessly Cannot afford Google and Apple to not trust my brand. 3) Skipping DNS setup If SPF, DKIM, and DMARC aren’t correctly configured, my emails might never even hit the inbox (or worse, get blocked entirely). Most brands leave this to chance or half-bake it. I wouldn’t. 4) Building just an email list Email is king, sure. But relying on it alone can limit my brand’s reach. So I’d collect phone numbers from day one, using: - Dual opt-in popups - Exit-intent popups for returning users - SMS-only perks Then set up a basic SMS welcome flow alongside email 5) Blasting nothing but sales emails Everyone’s doing it and that’s exactly why it doesn’t work. Sure, people want deals… but not at the cost of being spammed every week. So I’d focus on value-driven content and engagement-first emails: - Tips and use cases - Product stories - Creator/influencer content - UGC - Light-hearted quizzes - Seasonal ideas and hacks Sales emails are the reward for building trust. Not the default.

Everything here is built from what we’ve learned at VEX Media over the past 6+ years working with 200+ ecommerce brands across 35+ industries and 20+ languages. 👇Read Here’s how I recommend getting started: 1. Go to the Classroom and start with Module 1 The course is structured to take you from the fundamentals through the full email marketing system: → Technical setup & deliverability → Email design, copy & fundamentals → Automated flows → Segmentation & campaigns 2. Use the resources, don’t just watch the videos Throughout the course, you’ll find templates, swipe files, SOPs, toolkits and real examples you can use for your own brand. 3. Ask questions If you’re stuck on something, post it in the community. Whether it’s a question about your flows, campaigns, deliverability, segmentation, design, copy or strategy - ask. We’ll also be adding live Q&A sessions soon where we can go deeper into specific questions and accounts. The course you see today is only the foundation. We’ll continuously add: 📩 New email & flow swipe files 📚 More course material and advanced lessons 🛠️ Templates, SOPs and practical resources ⚡ Quick tips, tests and ideas directly in the community feed 🎥 Live Q&A sessions My team and I are inside ecommerce email accounts every day, so as we find something interesting, run a successful test, or see a mistake worth avoiding, we’ll share it here. One last thing: introduce yourself below. Tell us: 1. Who are you? 2. What brand, business or clients do you work with? 3. What’s the #1 thing you want to improve about your email marketing? Welcome to the community. Start with Module 1, and I’ll see you inside.

Email I wish more brands sent… "You've been a customer for exactly one year." We’ve tested this with a dozen of ecom brands now and click rates are 3x higher than normal campaigns. Why it works: First, nobody else is doing it. Your customer isn't getting this from Amazon or Target. Second, it's weirdly nostalgic. People forget how long they've been buying from you. Reminding them = "holy shit, has it really been a year?" Third, it gives you permission to upsell without being pushy. You're not asking them to buy. You're celebrating them. The upsell is a gift, not a pitch. What to include: - The exact date they first purchased - Maybe a screenshot of their first order - A quick note about how much has changed since then - A special offer (20% off, free shipping, whatever) Low-hanging fruit.

There's ONE strategy that I credit with 2X-ing our client's repeat purchase rate in just 2 months. VIP segmentation. AKA strategically identifying and nurturing your most valuable customers to drive more repeat purchases without having to load the spam cannons and do a bunch of outreach or burn your marketing budget on paid media. You've probably heard the term before. You've probably seen some of your ecommerce friends talking about it. You've probably been annoyed by your competitors gaining traction with their loyal customers. But, you might not know how to start. You don't have a repeatable system to produce winning VIP segments that: 1. Grow a relevant audience of potential repeat buyers 2. Gets you qualified, inbound purchases I'm going to give you the entire blueprint. Here's exactly what we did for our client in the women's sportswear niche: We created a plan with 3 key elements: 1) Introduced a replenishment flow. This was a two-email sequence with incentives sent 30 days after purchase, prompting customers to buy again. 2) Created a VIP flow. Customers who made two or more purchases entered this segment and received a special flow with exclusive incentives. The copy was personalized and flattering. Worthy of VIPs. 3) Implemented SMS marketing, but… with a twist. Only email subscribers (many of whom were buyers) saw the phone number collection pop-up, which included a small incentive. This strategy helped convert email subscribers to SMS subscribers, essentially creating another VIP list. We also increased our campaign sending cadence. After analyzing the data and seeing good deliverability, we ramped up to 15 campaigns in the last 30 days - the most we've ever sent for this client. Surprisingly, deliverability hit an all-time high. The results? In just 2 months, we took one of our clients' repeat purchase rate from 20% to 34%. That's a 70% increase. Repeat purchase revenue is now sitting at $35k for the past 30 days, matching November's peak season numbers... in February and March.

Yesterday we hosted our very first ecommerce networking event in Barcelona, and the turnout exceeded all expectations. We had 100+ founders, operators, agency owners, and ecommerce professionals in the room, representing businesses ranging from approximately $500k/year all the way to $400M+/year in revenue. A huge thank you to everyone who came, shared ideas, made introductions, and contributed to an incredible atmosphere. It was great seeing so many people openly discussing growth, acquisition, retention, operations, and everything in between. This was only the beginning. We’re already planning future meetups and events, so keep an eye on the community for announcements. We’d love to see even more of you at the next one. See you at the next event 🚀