Email & SMS Marketing Resources
Everything we know about retention marketing for DTC brands. Strategies, playbooks, and tactical guides.
Foundations1
Start here: how email and SMS fit together
Strategy & Benchmarks7
KPIs, forecasting, and what good looks like
How Much of Your Revenue Should Email Drive?
Most DTC brands sit at 10-15% of revenue from email. Healthy programs hit 25-35%. Learn the benchmark, the math on your store, and what the gap is costing you.
Strategy & BenchmarksThe Email & SMS KPIs That Actually Matter
Open rates are a vanity trap. Learn the retention metrics that predict revenue, the benchmarks to hold yourself to, and which numbers to ignore.
Strategy & BenchmarksHow to Audit Your Email & SMS Program
A framework for auditing your retention marketing. Identify gaps, benchmark performance, and prioritize improvements for maximum ROI.
Strategy & BenchmarksHow to Forecast Your Email & SMS Revenue
Stop guessing what retention can add. Learn a simple model to estimate the revenue a strong email and SMS program can drive for your store.
Strategy & BenchmarksEmail Lessons From Brands Doing It Right
What Olipop, high-AOV brands, and the best operators actually do in email, broken down into principles you can copy. Real strategy, not theory.
Strategy & BenchmarksAlex Hormozi's Email Marketing Strategy, Applied to DTC Brands
Alex Hormozi turned a dead email list into $2.4 million in 5 days. Here is his give-give-give-ask approach, send cadence, and campaign structure, mapped to a DTC brand running Klaviyo.
Strategy & BenchmarksAttribution and Reporting Without Fooling Yourself
Email attribution is generous by default. Learn how to read your numbers honestly, what to report weekly vs monthly, and which metrics actually guide decisions.
Klaviyo & Setup4
Settings, integrations, and the data layer
10 Klaviyo Settings You Need to Get Right
The account settings most brands never touch, and the ones quietly hurting your deliverability and revenue. A ZHS checklist for a clean Klaviyo setup.
Klaviyo & SetupFrom Zero to 33% of Revenue: The Klaviyo Roadmap
The exact path ZHS runs to take a brand from no email program to a third of revenue from email and SMS. The phases, the order, and the timeline.
Klaviyo & SetupThe Data Layer: Integrations That Make Klaviyo Smart
Klaviyo is only as good as the data flowing into it. Connect the right tools and every flow, segment, and send gets more personal and more profitable.
Klaviyo & SetupHow to Use Klaviyo's New AI (Composer) to Build Flows
Klaviyo Composer builds a full flow from one plain-English sentence. Here is what it does well, what to fix by hand, and how to use it without making a mess.
Deliverability5
Land in the inbox, not spam
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI Made Simple
Email authentication sounds scary and is actually a one-time setup. Get these four records right and inbox providers start trusting your mail.
DeliverabilityEmail Deliverability & Domain Warmup: The Complete Guide
How to warm up a new sending domain, maintain sender reputation, and ensure your emails land in the inbox. Includes SPF, DKIM, DMARC setup.
DeliverabilityWhy Your Emails Land in Spam (and How to Fix It)
Great emails are worthless in the spam folder. Learn the real reasons DTC emails get filtered and the fixes that get you back to the inbox.
DeliverabilityHow to Monitor Your Deliverability Before It Tanks
Deliverability problems are quiet until revenue drops. Learn the free tools and simple habits that catch inbox placement issues early, while they are still easy to fix.
DeliverabilityWhy a Big List Can Wreck Your Deliverability
The deliverability problem nobody talks about: emailing people who stopped caring. Learn how Google scores engagement and how to fix placement by sending to fewer people.
Popups & List Growth3
Turn anonymous traffic into subscribers you own
Popups That Grow Your List Without Killing Conversion
Your popup is the front door to every email you will ever send. Learn the multi-step, zero-party-data popup strategy that grows lists 6-12% without hurting sales.
Popups & List GrowthList Growth: The Offers That Actually Get Signups
Your popup only converts if the offer is worth an email address. Here are the lead magnets and offers that grow a list fast, beyond a plain 10% off.
Popups & List GrowthQuiz Funnels: Capture Data Your Competitors Never Ask For
A good quiz turns a cold visitor into a subscriber who told you exactly what they want. Then every email you send can speak to that.
Email Flows12
Automated revenue that runs 24/7
The Complete Welcome Flow Guide for DTC Brands
Learn how to build a high-converting welcome email series that turns new subscribers into customers. Includes timing, templates, and benchmarks.
Email FlowsAbandoned Cart & Checkout Recovery: The Definitive Guide
Recover 5-15% of lost sales with strategic cart abandonment emails. Learn the exact timing, content, and segmentation strategy used by top DTC brands.
Email FlowsThe Browse Abandonment Flow: Recover Silent Shoppers
Browse abandonment emails catch shoppers who viewed products but never added to cart. Learn the triggers, timing, and messaging that turn browsers into buyers.
Email FlowsThe Site Abandonment Flow: Recover Visitors Before They Bounce
Site abandonment emails catch visitors who landed on your store but never viewed a product. Learn the Active on Site trigger, the suppression filters, and the 3-email arc that wins back your lowest-intent traffic.
Email FlowsThe Post-Purchase Flow: Turn One Order Into Two
The post-purchase flow is where one-time buyers become repeat customers. Learn the sequence from order confirmation to replenishment that lifts retention.
Email FlowsThe Winback Flow: Re-Engage Customers Before They Churn
Lapsed customers are cheaper to win back than new ones to acquire. Learn how to build a winback flow that re-engages buyers and protects your deliverability.
Email FlowsThe Sunset Flow: Protect Your Deliverability on Purpose
Emailing people who stopped caring is what drags your whole list to spam. The sunset flow gives dead subscribers one last shot, then stops mailing them.
Email FlowsThe Replenishment Flow: Win the Reorder Before They Run Out
If you sell anything people finish, coffee, supplements, skincare, you are leaving reorders on the table without a replenishment flow. Here is how to build one.
Email FlowsThe Back-in-Stock Flow: Turn Sold-Out Into Sold
A sold-out product is a list of buyers waiting to spend. The back-in-stock flow captures that demand and converts it the moment you restock.
Email FlowsThe Review Request Flow: Turn Buyers Into Social Proof
Reviews and UGC are the fuel for every other email you send. The review request flow collects them on autopilot, timed to when customers are happiest.
Email FlowsThe VIP & Loyalty Flow: Reward Your Best Customers
A small group of customers drives most of your revenue. The VIP flow finds them, treats them like insiders, and keeps them buying.
Email FlowsThe Flow Audit: Where Your Automations Leak Revenue
Your flows are live, but are they actually built out? Learn the audit ZHS runs to find the gaps, missing branches, and dead sends quietly costing you revenue.
SMS4
Text marketing that respects the channel
SMS Marketing: The Complete Guide for DTC Brands
SMS is the highest-intent channel you own. Learn how to build a compliant, revenue-driving SMS program that complements email instead of annoying your list.
SMSSMS Compliance Without the Headache
SMS has rules email does not. Get consent, opt-outs, and timing right so you can text your list confidently instead of nervously.
SMSThe SMS Flows Every DTC Brand Should Run
SMS is not just for campaigns. The right automated SMS flows recover carts, welcome buyers, and drive reorders, all in a channel people actually read.
SMSSMS Campaigns: What to Send Without Getting Muted
SMS is a permission you can lose fast. Learn what to actually text your list, how often, and how to make each send worth the interruption.
Copywriting4
Writing emails people actually read and act on
How to Write Emails People Actually Read
Most brand emails get skimmed and deleted. Learn the ZHS approach to email copy: one idea per send, a hook that earns the open, and a CTA that gets the click.
CopywritingSubject Lines That Get Opened (Without Clickbait)
Your subject line decides whether the rest of your email gets read. Learn the formulas, length, and preview-text tactics that lift open rates for DTC brands.
CopywritingOffers and CTAs That Convert
The offer is the reason people click. Learn how to structure offers beyond blanket discounts, and how to write CTAs that make the next step obvious.
CopywritingThe Plain-Text Email Playbook
Plain-style emails feel personal, take five minutes to build, and often out-convert designed sends. Learn when and how to use them in your mix.
Email Design4
Emails that look premium and convert
How to Design Emails That Look Premium (and Convert)
Good email design is not about looking pretty. Learn the ZHS approach to emails that read clean on mobile, move fast to build, and actually drive clicks.
Email DesignHow to Design an Email in Figma (Step by Step)
The ZHS Figma workflow for designing emails that look premium and build fast. From modular sections to handoff, the exact process behind our client creative.
Email DesignUsing AI to Design Emails Faster (Without the Slop)
AI can cut email creative from a week to a couple of hours, or fill your sends with generic junk. Learn the ZHS way to use AI in design while keeping the brand intact.
Email DesignHow to Optimize Your Emails for Dark Mode
One in three subscribers reads in dark mode, and it can turn your logo invisible. Learn the design fixes that keep emails looking clean in every inbox theme.
Segmentation3
The right message to the right person
Email Segmentation Strategy for DTC Brands
Stop sending the same email to everyone. Learn how to segment your list for higher engagement, better deliverability, and more revenue per send.
SegmentationEngagement Tiers: The Segmentation That Protects Deliverability
Most brands think they segment. They do not. Learn the engagement-tier system that lets you send more to buyers, less to the quiet, and keeps you out of spam.
SegmentationThe Klaviyo Segmentation Playbook
The exact segments ZHS builds behind $10M+ Shopify brands. Engagement tiers, buyer segments, and the dynamic segments that decide who gets each send.
Campaigns8
A planned, segmented sending calendar
How Often Should You Send? The Campaign Cadence Playbook
Most DTC brands send 2-3 campaigns a month and wonder why email is stuck at 15% of revenue. Here is the cadence, calendar, and content mix that fixes it.
CampaignsHow to Drive Sales Without Discounting
Discounts train your list to wait and crush your margins. Learn the campaign angles ZHS uses to sell at full price: education, story, social proof, and urgency that is real.
CampaignsHow to Use Customer Stories and UGC in Your Emails
Your customers sell better than you do. Learn how ZHS turns reviews, photos, and real stories into email campaigns that convert skeptics into buyers.
CampaignsHow to A/B Test Your Email (the Right Way)
Most brands A/B test wrong: too many variables, too small a sample, no real conclusion. Learn the disciplined way ZHS tests so wins actually compound.
CampaignsHow to Run a Product Launch or Drop by Email
The best DTC brands treat every launch like an event. Here is the email and SMS sequence that builds anticipation and sells through a drop.
CampaignsCross-Sell and Upsell Without Being Annoying
Your existing customers are the easiest revenue you have. Learn how to recommend the right next product with email and SMS, in flows and in campaigns.
CampaignsSeasonal and Gifting Campaigns That Actually Convert
Holidays and seasons are built-in reasons to email. Learn how to plan gifting, seasonal, and moment-based campaigns that feel timely instead of forced.
CampaignsThe BFCM & Holiday Email Playbook
Black Friday is won in October. Learn the ZHS pre-BFCM prep, send cadence, and deliverability moves that turn the biggest week of the year into your biggest.
Working With Us3
Process, pricing, and what to expect
Should You Learn Email Marketing Yourself?
An honest take for founders: when to DIY your email, when to hire, and the common myths that keep brands stuck. No pitch, just the tradeoffs.
Working With UsAgency vs In-House: How to Run Your Email Program
Should you hire an agency, build an in-house team, or go hybrid for email and SMS? A straight look at the costs, tradeoffs, and what fits your stage.
Working With UsWorking With ZHS Ecom: What to Expect
Everything you need to know about partnering with us. Our process, timeline, deliverables, and what we need from you.
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