Easy peasy lemon squeezy straight to the point blog today peoples.

After auditing over 100s of email flows across different ecom verticals, I'm tired of seeing the same rookie mistakes costing brands thousands in lost revenue every month.

Here are the top 4 most common failures I see when brands set up their email flows – and exactly how to fix them.

1. They Don't Understand Their Audience

I see this constantly. Brands sending generic "20% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER!" emails to cold audiences who have no idea who you are or why they should care.

Your customer doesn't wake up excited about your discount. They wake up with problems they need solved.

The Fix:

• Run customer surveys asking why they bought from you (their actual words are gold)

• Map your flows to their buyer journey, not your sales targets

• Segment based on entry points – someone from TikTok has different intent than organic search traffic

• Test different messaging with the same offer (features vs. benefits vs. social proof)

2. They Don't Correctly Set Up Their Pixels for Retargeting

This is just leaving money on the table. Most brands set up basic pixels but miss the advanced events that actually drive performance.

If you can't track who's opening which emails and clicking on specific products, you're flying blind.

The Fix:

• Set up server-side tracking (Meta's pixel is increasingly useless with iOS updates)

• Create custom audience segments based on email engagement, not just opens

• Build lookalike audiences from email purchasers, not site visitors

• Use UTM parameters to track which email drove which behavior

3. They Cut the Flow Length Too Short

Three emails isn't a flow – it's barely an introduction.

Most brands give up right before the money starts rolling in. They send a welcome email, an offer, maybe one follow-up, then nothing. That's like going on one date and proposing.

The Fix:

• Welcome flows should be 5-7 emails minimum

• Abandoned cart flows need 3-5 touches over 7 days

• Post-purchase flows should extend to 30+ days (this is where loyalty happens)

• Test different timing sequences (day 1, 3, 5, 8, 12 vs. day 1, 2, 4, 7, 10)

4. They Focus on Selling Instead of Educating

Every email screaming "BUY NOW!" trains your audience to ignore you. The brands crushing it via email understand it's about building relationships, not just transactions.

Your flow should make customers smarter about your product category, not just push offers.

The Fix:

• Use the 70/30 rule: 70% value, 30% selling

• Build content sequences that solve related problems to your product

• Create decision-making frameworks that naturally lead to your solution

• Show results and case studies instead of product features

When we shifted a beauty client from promotion-heavy emails to transformation-focused content, their click-through rates doubled to around 1.5% and their open rate skyrocketed to an average of 70%!

The Bottom Line

Your email flows are either a profit center or a wasted opportunity – there's no in-between.

Most brands treat email like a necessary evil instead of the highest-ROI marketing channel available (seriously, what else gives you 36-42x return?).

If you're generating less than 25% of your revenue from email + SMS, you're leaving life-changing money on the table.

Want me to take a look at your flows? Book a free audit here and I'll show you exactly what's broken and how to fix it.

No fluff, no BS – just systems that actually work.

– Founder, ETP Tech

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