Your ecom brand's growth doesn't only run through Klaviyo flows. Creator outreach, wholesale pitches, and partnership emails all run on cold email, and deliverability decides whether any of it works. Here's what most brands miss: Cold email lands differently from your list emails. Nobody opted in, so mailbox providers watch everything: bounces, spam complaints, sudden volume spikes, and whether anyone replies. What protects you: Send from a separate domain, never your main store domain Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC before the first send Warm up the new domain gradually before scaling Verify every address to keep bounces low Keep daily volume modest and vary your copy Why it matters for ecom: if your outreach damages your main domain's reputation, your welcome flows and campaigns can start hitting spam too. Protecting your sender reputation protects your revenue. Do you run outreach for creators or wholesale from a separate domain, or from your main store domain?

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.

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