George Kapernaros is the driving force behind the marketing agency YOCTO and an absolute powerhouse in the industries of growth, eCommerce, marketing, and entrepreneurship. In the past he’s been behind projects that have delivered $1M per week on last-click attribution, and to this day he’s still finding the hidden hacks of the trade. Let’s discover them now: 

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Overcoming the eCommerce Retention Challenge

Matteo: I wanted to talk about retention in eCommerce, especially since the landscape for email marketing has changed considerably. In your opinion, what are the most significant trends and developments currently shaping email retention?

George: I believe it's becoming more difficult. Simply scheduling campaigns isn't cutting it anymore. One thing I notice is that many merchants focus on transactional emails, not just marketing emails. It sounds odd, but many brands haven't really paid attention to what happens after someone makes a purchase. There are default email templates sent out that are often left as they are. Those can be more branded. And there's new technology that even allows you to brand the shipping pages. So after they purchase you can bring them back to the website. This gets all of the traffic, and people do buy again when they come back to the website. 

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Bracing for an Uncertain Future: Tracking, Cookies, and More

Matteo: We've seen when running brands together, that we've had to adapt to changes related to tracking, cookies, and similar factors. So, how do you think we need to adjust our strategies to keep up with these changes? 

George: It's really hard to predict what's going to happen, honestly. One way to think about it is that you want to confirm that people are interested in receiving your email. It's not just about baiting them with an account and then leaving it there. You want to collect as much information from them as possible, whether it is through the sign up process or after they sign up. Make sure they actually want to keep receiving your emails.
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Harnessing the Power of Sunset Flows in Email Marketing

In email marketing, it's essential to have your audience actively interacting with your emails. This is where the Sunset Flow Strategy is key, designed to filter out subscribers who no longer engage with your content.

For instance, if a new subscriber stops opening your emails 30 days after signing up (despite several reminders), it's time to implement your sunset flow. But before you do that, a Win Back flow, filled with exciting promotions and quality content, can be tried to regain their interest.

If the Win Back Strategy doesn't work, the Sunset Flow provides these unengaged subscribers a last chance to stay in your list. Depending on your email sending frequency, you can set your criteria for "inactivity", which can be three months for daily senders or six months for monthly senders. This strategy helps maintain a clean and engaged list, boosting your reputation with email providers, and reducing the risk of your emails ending up in spam.

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Crafting Retention Strategies: A Data-Driven Approach

Matteo: Could you explain how you use this data to create successful retention strategies?

George: This largely depends on the product. It has a lot to do with the type of products you have. For some companies, it makes sense to monetize users soon after they purchase. For others, it makes more sense to try and retain them in the long term.

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Walking the Tightrope: Balancing Sales and Value in Content

Matteo: That's insightful. And when it comes to content, how would you describe the balance between more direct sales content aimed at conversion, and content that is geared towards education, inspiration, and nurturing customers?

George: I agree with you. I believe these two things, selling and giving value, are not mutually exclusive. You can sell while providing value. I also think being super aggressive is probably not the way to go for most brands.

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Solving the Email Frequency Dilemma

Matteo: In the context of email frequency, do you think it's a cause for concern? I often get asked how often one should send emails. Some suggest maybe three times a week while others advise sending daily emails. Do you believe there's a general rule, or does it depend on the specific customer and brand?

George: The real problem most brands have is not that they send too much or too little, but rather they send overlapping emails. So, users are receiving automations, manual campaigns etc.  which is very tiring for the receiver. This happens because they don't use exclusion segments, so those receiving one type of message are also receiving another.

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