Email Marketing Channels

There is no degree for email marketing. The career path tends to look like "Oh, yeah, I just kind of fell into it." Which is amazing. The barrier to entry is incredibly low and that's created a ton of opportunity. But it's also created a lot of hacks, who are really good at saying one thing and then doing something else. Namely running your email program into to ground. And likely setting you up for a whole lot of liability by violating anti-spam laws. So how do you tell the good from the bad? ✨ They treat your list like gold. Good marketers will push back when you want to increase frequency or volume without reason. They understand your subscribers are real people, not just numbers. 🚫 They talk about deliverability like it's their religion. If they can't explain SPF, DKIM, and domain reputation, they don't know what they're doing. 🧩 They're obsessed with segmentation. "Blast" isn't in their vocabulary. They'll ask about your customer journeys and different audience needs. Or, better yet, they’ll tell YOU about them. ⚖️ They can explain compliance in plain English. No buzzwords. They'll tell you exactly how they'll keep you out of legal trouble with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL, TCPA, CCPA, and other various acronyms. 🤔 They ask the hard questions. Like "Why are you sending this?" and "What value does the subscriber get?" Bad marketers just do what they're told. 📊 They show you their work. Real pros have processes, can explain decisions, and back up strategies with data. ⏳ They're realistic about results. Anyone guaranteeing specific open rates or overnight success is selling snake oil. Good marketers talk about testing, optimization, and gradual improvement. I've seen alllll of this firsthand — from careless former coworkers to clients who’ve been through it. The difference between a good email marketer and a great one isn't just in the metrics—it's in how they respect both your business goals and your subscribers' inboxes. Choose wisely; your brand reputation depends on it.

If you don't know your revenue per subscriber, you're flying blind. Agencies usually track total revenue. Maybe AOV. Possibly conversion rate. But the metric that actually tells you if you're maximizing client performance? Revenue per subscriber. It's the one number that shows whether you're extracting value from the audience you already have... or just spinning your wheels with more campaigns and hoping something sticks. Omnisend just analyzed 717 agencies managing nearly 3,000 brands and ranked them by this exact metric. The top 10% generate $16.70 per subscriber annually. That's $170K per client with a 10K list. Most agencies aren't even close. So what are the top performers doing differently? - They build revenue systems, not campaign calendars. 45% of email revenue comes from automations that run 24/7. These automated messages generate $5.96 per send vs $0.67 for campaigns and 9x more revenue per message. The top agencies run 5.3 automations per client and launch the first one within 8 days. They don't "build toward" automation. They start there. - They stack channels that multiply results. SMS doesn't add 20%. It adds 202% more revenue on average. Don't get them wrong, it doesn't replace email; it amplifies it by catching non-openers and creating urgency email can't match. - They optimize relentlessly. Regular A/B testing is linked to 192% higher revenue. Not from one big win, but from continuous improvement where every flow and campaign gets incrementally better. - They move fast and stay consistent. 5.4 campaigns per month. First automation live within 8 days. Speed + consistency compounds into dramatically better results. This metric forces you to focus on what actually matters. Not vanity metrics. Not total sends. Not even total revenue if it's masking an undermonetized list. Revenue per subscriber tells you if you're maximizing the value of every person on that list (or leaving six figures uncaptured). The gap between $5 per subscriber and $16.70 per subscriber on a 10K list? That's $117,000 in annual revenue difference per client. That's the cost of not executing like the top 10%. If you're an agency and you don't know your revenue per subscriber for each client, start there. It'll tell you exactly where the gaps are. Read the full agency benchmarks → https://lnkd.in/g5JTCw3B And if you want in on their partner program, start here → https://lnkd.in/gpYgWe8k

The best agency is not the one that says yes fastest. It is the one that stops you before you waste money. A lot of agencies are very good at agreeing. “Great idea.” “We can do that.” “Let’s get it into production.” “Whatever you want.” Sounds nice. It is also dangerous. Because sometimes the client’s idea is not ready. Sometimes the hook is weak. Sometimes the audience is wrong. Sometimes the landing page is a maze. Sometimes the media plan is just a very expensive way to prove a bad assumption. And the easy thing for an agency is to smile, nod, take the retainer, and execute. No conflict. No uncomfortable conversation. No risk of upsetting anyone. Just a clean path to a campaign that fails politely. That is not partnership. That is order-taking with nicer slides. A real agency should protect your budget like it is their own. If the strategy is wrong, they should say it. If the creative will not convert, they should say it. If you are about to spend $100K proving something obvious, they should stop you. You are not paying an agency to agree with you. You are paying them to see what you cannot see yet. Sometimes the most valuable word an agency can say is “no.” Not to be difficult. To protect the outcome. The agencies that say yes fastest usually cost you the most. The ones that challenge you early are the ones that save you later. Are you hiring people to execute your ideas, or people with the guts to make them better? #MarketingStrategy #AgencyLife #GrowthMarketing #Leadership #Moburst #NoBS

Top agencies keep clients for an average of 1,020 days. That's not luck... It's predictable results. Most agency-client relationships die somewhere between months 6 and 18. The honeymoon ends, results plateau, and the client starts shopping around. Top-performing agencies? They're keeping clients for an average of nearly 3 years. Omnisend analyzed 717 agencies managing 2,990 brands and found that the agencies in the top 10% (ranked by revenue per subscriber) have cracked something most haven't: they've turned client work into a predictable revenue machine instead of a constant hustle to prove value. Here's what I learned: They show results immediately. Top agencies launch the first automation within 8 days of onboarding. Not three weeks. Not "once we finalize strategy." Eight days. Why does that matter for retention? Because the client sees revenue within the first two weeks instead of waiting a month to "see how things perform." Early wins build trust. Trust extends contracts. They set up systems that run without them. 45% of email revenue comes from automations. These aren't flows the agency has to babysit... they're running 24/7, generating $5.96 per send while the agency focuses on optimization and strategy. When a client can see that revenue is coming in consistently without constant hand-holding, they stop viewing the agency as an expense and start viewing them as infrastructure. They compound results over time. Top agencies don't rely on one big campaign win to justify the retainer. They stack small, consistent improvements that add up: - Regular A/B testing - Adding SMS early - Running 5.4 campaigns per month consistently - Building out 5.3 automations per client for complete lifecycle coverage Each quarter, the client sees better performance than the last. THAT'S how you renew contracts... not by pitching, but by showing incremental growth month over month. They generate $170K per client annually. At $16.70 per subscriber, a 10K list is producing serious revenue. When an agency is driving that kind of performance, the client isn't looking for a cheaper alternative. They're asking how to scale up. Agencies that execute fast, build systems instead of relying on manual campaigns, and consistently optimize over time don't just perform better; they keep clients longer. And longer relationships mean more predictable revenue, less time spent pitching, and the ability to actually build depth instead of constantly onboarding new accounts. If your agency is stuck in the 6-12 month churn cycle, the problem isn't your clients. It's execution, speed and system-building. Read the full agency performance report: https://lnkd.in/g47N6iWX

Email marketing is evolving fast. Amidst this, hiring the wrong agency is the easiest way to stunt your brand’s growth. Here are 4 red flags to watch for: 1. Are they doing more than the bare minimum? If all they’re offering is setting up basic campaigns and automated emails, run. Seriously. They’re just the 57894256th agency doing that. You could hire someone from a lower-cost country for half the price and get the same results. What you need is an agency that gets your business beyond just "let's make more revenue.” They should be able to optimize for the real metrics: customer lifetime value, profit margins, the impact of discounts on your bottom line, etc. Better yet, they should be able to spot blind spots you didn’t even know existed. If they don't, they’ll just burn your cash in the name of “testing.” — 2. Are they smart about AI? AI isn’t the future. It’s the now. Just take one of your Shopify CSV files, upload it on ChatGPT, and you'll see. It will give you everything you need to spot trends: purchase times, high-value customers, best-performing days, etc. All for free. Imagine what a skilled agency with a little budget and advanced tools can do. They'll *literally* be leveraging AI on steroids. Not to replace humans with bots but to make their team 10x more efficient. And if they’re still pretending AI isn’t a thing, guess who pays for that inefficiency? Yep. You. With slower work, poor targeting, and bloated invoices. Big. Red. Flag. — 3. Are they obsessed with deliverability? Until 3 years ago, no one cared about deliverability. Now? It decides whether you land in your customers' inbox or get dumped into spam. I’ve seen entire cold email agencies wipe out from one algorithm update. And email marketing isn’t exempt from this. If your agency isn’t obsessing over algorithm changes and monitoring deliverability like their life depends on it, they’re playing with fire. And you are the one getting burned. — 4. Do they know the laws? Email marketing feels like the Wild West right now. Agencies are bending rules, ignoring accessibility, and flirting with legal gray zones. But just because the sheriff hasn’t shown up yet doesn’t mean it’s safe. Whether it’s CAN-SPAM in the U.S., GDPR in Europe, or Canada’s CASL, your agency needs to know what’s legal (and what’s not). If they don't, they are setting you up for fines and lawsuits down the road. And when that happens, you’ll wish you’d vetted them better. — These are just a few of the many filters to run an agency through. Ask the tough questions. If they can’t answer confidently? Walk. Away. #agency #marketing #email