How to Build an Email System for DTC Brands

In 2023 I helped a brand increase their email revenue by 342%... All without relying on discounts. Here's how. I focused on 4 major areas: 1. Overhauling the welcome sequence 2. Introducing new campaigns 3. Grouping their audience 4. Transforming post-purchase flows Here’s a breakdown of each area. 1. Welcome Sequence Overhaul The initial welcome sequence had 2 emails. I started by re-writing these 2. The first thanked the reader for signing up and gave the signup discount. The second introduced the brand and how they could benefit the reader. After rewriting these I created 4 new emails. 1) Highlighted a customer story and several reviews 2) Was a discount reminder 3) Introduced the brands USP 4) Was a final discount reminder This increased the welcome sequence to 6 emails. And within a month, welcome sequence revenue was up by 87.84% 2. Introducing New Campaigns While the brand was sending campaigns, they had 2 problems: 1) Campaigns weren’t regular enough 2) People weren’t interested in the content I immediately introduced 2 new weekly campaigns. The first was a recipe that included brand products. The second was an ingredient breakdown & their benefits. And every other week, I'd break down a customer story. These changes increased total email revenue from 6% of the brand's revenue to 20%. And open rates increased to over 60%. 3. Grouping The Audience A major mistake I see brands make is sending every email to their entire list. To solve this I created 3 groups: 1) Top Buyers This was a list of the top 10% buyers over the last 60 days. I sent them exclusive deals and offers. 2) Unengaged Buyers This was a list of people who bought in the past but not for 120 days. I sent them incentives to buy and asked how we could improve. 3) Engaged Non-Buyers This list had viewed recent emails but not purchased. I sent them product breakdowns followed by incentives to buy. Sales throughout each group grew dramatically, and I also discovered new objections from unengaged buyers. These objections were addressed in future emails. 4. Post Purchase Flows The post-purchase flow initially had 1 email. After completely re-writing this email, I added 4 more. 1) Told the customer how to get the most out of their order 2) Broke down the ingredient benefits 3) Broke down concerns (preventing buyer remorse) 4) Cross-sold similar products. By the end of the year, my client hit their email targets 3 months early, and emails accounted for 31% of the brand's revenue.

Most Welcome Flows fail. Here’s why… It all starts with one bad assumption. I’ve built 100+ Welcome Flows for DTC brands. Most of them flopped when we followed the “best practices.” You know the ones: “Use WELCOME10.” “Here’s our founder story.” “Check out our top sellers.” They sound smart in a strategy deck. But in the inbox… they miss the moment. The modern inbox is chaos. And any message that’s even slightly generic gets buried. Here’s what we learned: People don’t want to be welcomed. They want to be guided. So we stopped welcoming. And we started listening. We call it: Branch Logic Welcome It starts with a single question at opt-in: “Why are you here?” → Shopping for your kid? → Buying a gift? → Into hunting-themed gear? → Toddler or pre-teen sizing? Each answer triggers a unique path: Parents → flows tied to age-specific growth Gifters → holiday bundles + date-based reminders Hobbyists → sneak peeks + passion-led content First-timers → social proof to earn trust Every click is a signal. Every scroll, a vote. You’re not just sending emails. You’re designing a path. And with tools like Klaviyo or Attentive, it’s automatic. You can see: • What size they selected • Which product they clicked • What offer they ignored • What quiz result they scored This isn’t about flooding inboxes. It’s about sending the right message next. So if your Welcome Flow still says “WELCOME10”... It’s time to upgrade. Start with one fork. One question. One smart decision tree. Relevance wins. Guidance sells. How are you personalizing your welcome flow right now?

Brands are lighting money on fire - and calling it email marketing. Here’s how the top 1% of brands use identity resolution to 3x repeat sales: 🧵 The problem isn't your subject lines or send times. It's that you don't know who you're talking to. With iOS updates and cookie deprecation, traditional tracking is broken. Yet most DTC brands still send generic emails to everyone. Smart brands use identity-aware flows that adapt in real time. They know Sarah bought 3 times vs. Mike who's browsing for the first time. Dynamic personalization examples: • Returning customer sees UGC from previous purchase • New visitor gets shipping reassurance + incentive • High-value buyer gets personalized offers • VIP customers skip generic flows entirely Many brands don't know if their cart abandoner is a first-timer or repeat buyer. This means they're leaving money on the table every day. Smart brands resolve unknown visitors into complete customer profiles. They connect session behavior to purchase history instantly. Here are zero-party data strategies that actually work: • Interactive quizzes that sync to email profiles • Post-purchase surveys that reveal acquisition source • Smart popups that personalize based on user resolution • Progressive profiling that builds customer understanding over time For retention, stop treating customers like strangers. Route power users to bundle promos instead of 10% discounts. Show loyal customers exclusive products, not generic sales. At Opensend, we turn unknown visitors into CRM-ready identities. They enrich profiles automatically and sync behavior across platforms. If your email strategy relies on guesswork, performance will be limited. When you build owned channels on identity intelligence, everything changes. Higher open rates, better conversion, stronger retention. All because you finally know who you're talking to. The brands winning in 2025 treat personalization as infrastructure, not tactics.unk