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A Step By Step Guide To Email & SMS Marketing In 2026
Follow this step by step guide to scale your purpose driven brand and ensure up to 40-50% of your brands total revenue is coming from email.

by Citrus Sun Creative

Why Email Marketing Isn't Optional Anymore:
If email and SMS aren't driving at least 30-50% of your total revenue, you're leaving serious money on the table every month.
Paid ads are getting more expensive every single quarter. Customer acquisition costs are at an all-time high. And yet, most E-commerce brands are still treating email like an afterthought, sending the occasional promotional blast and wondering why it doesn't move the needle.
Meanwhile, the top-performing E-commerce brands are generating 30-50% of their total revenue from email and SMS.
What Your Revenue Breakdown Should Look Like:
A brand doing $300K in monthly revenue should be generating $90k-150K from email alone.
You've already paid to acquire these customers. Email costs you virtually nothing to send. Every dollar you generate from email goes almost straight to your bottom line. It's the highest-margin channel you have access to, and it's entirely under your control.
No algorithm changes, no rising CPMs, no platform risk.
This guide will show you exactly how to build that system :)
What's Inside:
1
How to build your email list
2
How to segment your list
3
How to land in the main inbox
4
Core automations to set up (and how to)
5
Campaign strategy
6
SMS
7
A/B testing
Who Am I?
Hi! I'm Dylan Wood, Co-Founder of Citrus Sun Creative. A full service Email Marketing Agency for purpose-driven E-commerce brands. In the last 12 months we've added millions of dollars in revenue through email for our clients.
Want me to do a 100% free performance audit of your email account?
1. GETTING SUBSCRIBERS ON YOUR LIST
More subscribers = more people getting your welcome offer, entering your other flows, getting your campaigns and BUYING YOUR STUFF!!
What is it?
A pop up is the form that pops up on your website asking for customers personal information like email when they land on your page.
They're designed to capture attention without completely derailing the customer experience (in theory)
Now I'm sure 90% of you reading this already have a pop-up in place. And it probably does fine. 2-4% fine am I right?
What if in 10-15 minutes you had all the info you needed to double, or even triple that number? Double the amount of new subscribers → double the welcome revenue. CHA-CHING!
7 day difference - re-designed pop-up form and optimized welcome flow, 6X increase in revenue!
Why Pop-Ups Are CRUCIAL
I don't need to be the one to say it but the rising cost of meta ads days is getting out of control. You're spending 10's of thousands OF $$$ every single month to bring traffic to your site.
Without a Pop up:
The average e-commerce conversion rate is 1.3%-2.6%.
If you're paying to send 10,000 people to your site, only about 150 end up purchasing right off the bat.
That's 98.5% of paid traffic you most likely won't see again.
With a pop-up:
What if there was a simple, low-cost way to turn way more of your paid traffic into customers?

That’s the power of a high-converting pop-up and welcome flow.
If someone clicked your ad, they’re already interested—they just need a nudge. By offering a compelling incentive in exchange for their email or phone number, you’re giving them a reason to take that next step.

Even if they don’t buy right away, you’ve captured their info—so you can follow up, build trust, and convert them later.
Anatomy of a High Converting Pop-Up
Delay trigger: Show 5–7 seconds after a visitor enters your site. We've tested this and anything sooner irritates and overwelms the customer and any longer and we miss them.
Clear, benefit-driven, and attention-grabbing headline: “Unlock 10% OFF your first order”, "Do you want a free gift?"
Eliminate fluff: unnecessary paragraphs about who you are and what you'll be sending them KILL conversions.
Form Fields: If you have multiple inputs on one page you overwhelm the customer, break it up into multiple steps.
Mobile vs Desktop: We want to create a seperate pop-up for mobile vs desktop. Mobile pop-ups should not have an image as it takes up to much space.
Delivery: Immediately deliver the promised offer via email or SMS Trigger a welcome flow that builds trust and encourages the first purchase.
TEST TEST TEST: Try testing every element of your pop up form, micro commit vs non, 10% vs 12%, red vs blue etc etc
Here's How To Set It Up
Here's exactly how to set up a high converting pop up form in Klaviyo
A/B Test: Pop Up Form
2. Segmenting Your List
Don't panic, It's simpler than you think.
The Segmentation Myth
Most people think segmentation means:
  • Complex behavioral triggers
  • Dozens of micro-segments
  • Advanced tagging systems
  • Hours of setup work
Thankfully it's not that deep. And over segmentation will actually do more harm than good.
The #1 segmentation strategy that actually moves the needle is dead simple: engaged vs. unengaged.
Why Engagement-Based Segmentation Wins Here's what matters most to your email performance:
  1. Deliverability: Sending to unengaged subscribers = spam folder = your engaged subscribers stop seeing emails too
  1. ROI: Chasing dead leads wastes time and money. Focus on people who actually want to hear from you.
  1. Revenue: Engaged subscribers convert. Unengaged subscribers don't. It's that simple.
How to set it up:
Your Core Segment:
The 120-Day Engaged List Definition: Anyone who has opened OR clicked an email in the past 120 days.
This may need to be dropped down to 90, 60, or even 30 day engaged lists if your deliverability needs work (next section).
Segmentation - Sending Strategy
Regular Campaigns
→ Send to: engaged segment only
Why?
  • Protects your sender reputation
  • Keeps engagement rates high (40% +open rates)
  • Maximizes deliverability for future sends
  • Ensures emails land in primary inbox
When to Email Everyone
Only send to your full list for:
  • Major sales (Black Friday etc)
  • Product launches
  • Once-a-year events
  • Massive announcements
Your deliverability MUST be good first or else you'll end up in spam when you do so.
Stop Chasing Dead Leads
Someone who hasn't opened an email in 6+ months isn't coming back 99% of the time.
Instead:
  • Focus energy on getting NEW engaged subscribers
  • Run one final win-back campaign, then let them go
The Unengaged Bucket
What to do with subscribers outside your 120-day segment:
Step 1: Win-back campaigns
→ One last attempt with compelling offer
Step 2:: Remove them entirely
→ Clean list = better deliverability = more revenue
A smaller, engaged list will ALWAYS outperform a bloated, dead list.
How To Clean Your List
Get rid of any dead weight and save money on your email marketing bill every month :)
3. Deliverability
How to land in the primary Inbox
What Is Deliverability?
Deliverability = Where your emails actually land
Not whether they "sent successfully."
Not whether they "delivered."
Where they END UP:
📬 Primary Inbox – best case, visible, gets opened, makes money
📁 Promotions Tab – Still decent, people check it
🗑️ Spam Folder – Invisible, zero revenue, kills your sender reputation
You could have:
  • Perfect email copy
  • Beautiful design
  • Irresistible offers
  • The best flows in the world
But if your emails land in spam, none of it matters.
You're essentially invisible.

And worse? Poor deliverability snowballs, the more emails that go to spam, the harder it is to get back to the inbox.
How to test:
How to Check Where Your Emails Are Landing
There's apps that will test where your emails are landing
Tool: GlockApps (unaffiliated recommendation)
What it does:
  • Shows you exactly where your emails land across Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.
  • Tests inbox vs. promotions vs. spam placement
  • Gives you a deliverability score
How to use it:
  1. Send a test campaign through GlockApps
  1. Get a report showing placement percentages
  1. Identify which providers are sending you to spam
  1. Fix the issues (I'll show you how)
Other tools: Mail-Tester, Sender Score, Google Postmaster Tools
Klaviyo Deliverability tool: Use it as a general benchmark, not much more than that. Aim for an 80+ plus score.
How To Fix It
How Deliverability Ties to Segmentation
Poor deliverability = sending to unengaged subscribers
When you email people who never open:
  • Gmail sees low engagement
  • Flags you as "unimportant" or spam
  • Starts filtering ALL your emails (even to engaged subscribers)

Low engagement → Worse deliverability → Lower open rates → Even worse deliverability
Use Your Metrics to Adjust Your Segments
Check your deliverability & engagement, then:
If Open Rates Are 45%+ (Good deliverability):
✓ Keep sending to 120-day engaged segment
✓ Safe to email full list for big sales
If Open Rates Are 30-45% (Okay deliverability):
⚠️ Tighten to 90-day or 60-day engaged segment
⚠️ Focus on improving click rates
⚠️ Avoid emailing full list until you improve
If Open Rates Are Below 30% (Poor deliverability):
🚨 Immediately tighten to 30-day engaged, or even 14-day if it's terrible
🚨 Suppress unengaged subscribers entirely
🚨 Ensure high open rate flows are in place (welcome, AB cart)
🚨 Do NOT email full list—you'll make it worse
Summary: Deliverability
4. Core Flow Automations
Make money on autopilot :)
Flows: Automated sequences triggered by customer behavior.
Your Flows:
Should be generating: 50-60% of your email revenue
Get these ESSENTIAL flows up first:
Welcome Flow - Turn new subscribers into first-time buyers
Abandoned Cart - Recover an extra 15%-20% of lost sales
Abandoned Checkout - Recover an extra 15%-20% of lost sales
Browse abandon - Capture interest before it fades
1. WELCOME FLOW
8 email flow spread out over 10-14 days.
Why It's So Important
The welcome flow is one of the most important touch-points in email marketing. It’s the first real opportunity to introduce who you are, what you stand for, and why your brand exists beyond the product.
Done well, It helps new subscribers feel connected, understood, and aligned with your mission, edging them to make a purchase now, or down the line.
With acquisition costs rising and consumers taking more time to make thoughtful, values-based decisions, brands can no longer rely on paid ads alone to
The Problem With Most
The issue with many Welcome Flows is that they are too short in length and pack wayyy to much info into each email.
Some brands will try to throw all their brand information in 2-3 emails and call it a day.
Customers today has a fried attention span (9 seconds on average) and isn't going to read paragraphs of boring info.
They need short, easily digestible bits of information over a spread out time frame.
Email #1
Deliver discount
People will come looking for this email as it's the one that delivers their discount. Make it as frictionless as possible too give them their discount and get them back to your site.
Make sure they don't have to scroll to find the discount and provide a button they can't miss that will take them to your product page.
That's it. This is the easiest email to set up and it will make you the most $$
Objective:
  • Welcome and Introduce: Warmly welcome new subscribers and introduce them to your brand.
  • Incentivize Purchase: Offer discount on a silver platter to encourage immediate engagement and first purchase.
  • Highlight Key Products: Showcase signature or popular products that define your brand.
Subject Line Inspo:
Welcome to _!
Welcome, Your discount code is waiting!
Welcome to the _ Family!
Welcome to _. Here's X% off!
Your gift is waiting!🎁
Email #2
Note from founder
Use this email to connect on a personal level and build your brand.
This email performs better if it's a text based email (default text). This helps humanize your brand and creates a personal connection, while introducing the brand, why it was started and how it can help them.
Objective:
  • Personal Connection: Establish a personal connection between the founder and the new subscriber.
  • Company Values: Communicate the company's values and mission.
  • Build Trust: Enhance trust by sharing the founder's commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.
  • Engage: Encourage subscriber engagement with the brand’s story and future initiatives.
  • Increase Loyalty: Foster loyalty by making subscribers feel part of the company's community.
Subject Line Inspo:
A note from the _ founders
Why we started
Let me introduce myself👋
How things all got started
What's the _ difference? Let our founder X fill you in!
Email #3
Bestseller
Use this email to highlight popular products, works well for those who are unsure on what they want.
Demonstrating what other customers are buying and enjoying can help new subscribers navigate your products and make purchasing decisions easier.
Objective:
  • Showcase Popular Products: Display top-selling items to attract interest.
  • Build Trust: Leverage social proof to enhance credibility.
  • Drive Sales: Encourage first purchases by highlighting proven products.
  • Educate on Value: Explain why these items are favored.
Subject Line Inspo:
What's all the fuss about
Meet our bestseller🏆
Your new favourite is waiting…
Worth the hype?
This is meant for you
Email #4
Discount Reminder
This email is used to create urgency around the initial discount offer.
Remind subscribers that the introductory discount will soon expire. This email aims to nudge those who have not yet used their discount to make a purchase before the offer 'expires'.
Objective:
  • Drive Immediate Sales: Motivate subscribers to make their first purchase by reminding them of the limited-time discount available.
  • Reinforce Urgency: Highlight the expiration of the discount to create a sense of urgency and prompt action.
  • Maximize Engagement: Engage subscribers who may have missed or overlooked the initial discount offer.
  • Showcase Bestsellers
Subject Line Inspo:
Don't let it go
Your discount is expiring!
Get in before it's gone
Your X% discount is expiring!
Just for you: X% OFF
Email #5
Us vs Them
This email is a great way to differentiate your brand from competitors. Highlight what sets your brand apart, be it your unique selling propositions, innovations etc.
Objective:
  • Differentiate Your Brand: Clearly articulate what sets your brand apart from competitors, highlighting unique features, benefits, or values.
  • Build Brand Loyalty: Foster a sense of loyalty and preference for your brand by showcasing your strengths and advantages over others.
  • Educate Subscribers: Inform subscribers about the specifics that make your products or services superior or more suitable for their needs compared to competitors.
  • Strengthen Trust: Enhance trust in your brand by transparently comparing your offerings with competitors in a factual and respectful manner.
Subject Line Inspo:
How we stack up
Us vs Them
Why us?
Why us? Here's how we stack up
Here's why we're different
We'll let you decide, here's the facts…
Email #6
Testimonials
88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations!
This email is used to reassure and influence potential customers through social proof. Include testimonials that address common objections and showcase the benefits and features of your products.
Objective:
  • Build Trust: Leverage customer testimonials and reviews to establish credibility and trustworthiness with new subscribers.
  • Demonstrate Value: Show real-world examples of satisfied customers to illustrate the value and effectiveness of your products or services.
  • Enhance Brand Reputation: Use positive feedback and social proof to enhance your brand's reputation and appeal to potential customers.
  • Overcome Skepticism: Address potential doubts or hesitations that new subscribers might have by presenting testimonials from customers who were once in a similar position.
Subject Line Inspo:
  • Our customers have spoken
  • Don't take our word for it…
  • Don't Believe Us? 🌟
  • “[Testimonial]”
  • We’re kind of a big deal…
  • And the votes are in…
  • What people are saying
Email #7
Last chance reminder
This email gives one last push to encourage a purchase. Emphasize that the discount is about to expire and this is the final chance to use it. We as humans love leaving things to the last minute. The looming deadline can drive the decision-making process, pushing customers to act quickly.
Objective:
  • Drive Action: Encourage subscribers to make a purchase before the opportunity vanishes, leveraging the common human tendency to respond to deadlines.
  • Reinforce Offer Value: Highlight the value and exclusivity of the offer, reminding subscribers of what they stand to gain by acting now.
Subject Line Inspo:
  • It's leaving…
  • Last chance to save X%
  • Don't let this go!
  • Your X% discount is about to expire!
Email #8
Checking in
The last email in our welcome sequence, and often the most profitable. Extend a personal touch from the founder checking in if the customer has any questions and offering an additional day to use their discount.
Objective:
  • Personal Connection: create a personal connection between the founder and the subscriber
  • Increase Engagement: Encourage subscribers to engage directly with the brand by providing a direct line of communication to the founder or customer service team for any questions or feedback they may have.
  • Extend Offer: Provide an additional incentive by extending the discount for one more day, giving subscribers a final opportunity to take advantage of the special offer.
  • Drive Final Purchases: Use this last contact as an opportunity to convert subscribers who may have hesitated or missed previous emails.
Subject Line Inspo:
  • Checking in
  • All good?
  • Need some help?
  • Still on the fence?
  • Got questions?
Setting It Up
Klaviyo filter: placed order zero times since starting this flow.
1. Abandoned Cart + Abandoned Checkout
4 email flow spread out over 7 days.
Abandoned cart & abandoned checkout can be the same content or slightly different: *TRIGGERS ARE DIFFERENT*
Reality:
75-80% of online shoppers abandon their carts.
They add products. Get distracted. Leave.
Without a recovery flow, that revenue is just... gone.
The Opportunity
A properly optimized abandoned cart flow can recover up to 10-25% of those lost carts.
These are HOT leads that you've put all this effort into getting sooo close to the finish line. Don't give up on them yet. This 4 email abandoned cart flow gives us the best possible chance to convert them into paying customers
Email #1
Showcase product they left behind. Give other bestsellers.
Most carts get abandoned simply because people get busy. Remind them what they added to cart and a way to get back to it.
Email #2
Personal text based email, go over FAQ's or your brands unique selling points. Clear CTA back to cart.
Email #3
Introduce discount, show their product, testimonial to build trust.
Email #4
Personal reach out about last chance discount reminder, offer assistance.
How to set it Up:
Browse Abandon Flow
E-commerces most underrated flow.
What Is the Browse Abandonment flow?
Someone visits your site.
Looks at products.
Doesn't add to cart, go to checkout, or purchase.
Leaves.
Most brands think: Oh well, they weren't interested.
winning brands think: They showed interest. Let's bring them back.
Why This Flow Is So Underrated
Everyone focuses on abandoned carts.
But:
For every 1 person who adds to cart,
10-20 people browse without adding anything.
That's 10-20x the opportunity.
Yet most brands completely ignore these visitors.
This is a 4 email flow that focuses on getting them back browsing the product they were looking at, but also showcasing your other products you have for sale.
Email 1
1 hour time delay
  • Dynamic klaviyo block
  • social proof
Email #2
1 day time delay
  • Dynamic klaviyo block
  • social proof
  • FAQs
Email #3
1 day time delay
  • Dynamic klaviyo block
  • discount opener
  • showcase other products
Email #4
2 day time delay
  • Personal, text based email
  • Discount reminder (last chance)
  • Offer support
How to set it up:
5. Campaign Strategy
Consistent Revenue Through Valuable Content
The Brands Winning in 2026
Are not winning with bigger discounts.
They're winning with better content.
Showing up 2-4 times per week with emails people actually want to open:
✓ Educational content
✓ Entertaining stories that engage
✓ Beautiful design that stops the scroll
✓ Personality that builds connection
They've turned their email list into a media channel, not just a sales funnel that burns through your list.
Discount-only brands:
Conditioning customers to only buy on sale. Racing to the bottom. Terrible margins :(
Content-first brands:
Building relationships. Commanding premium prices. Creating anticipation for every send :)
Volume:
Sending one email per month doesn't cut it anymore.

Showing up reliably 2-4x per week with value does.
Here's why:
📬 Top-of-mind awareness – You become part of their routine
📬 Trust building – Consistency = reliability = trust
📬 Algorithm favor – ESPs reward consistent senders, especially when the email get engaged with
📬 More opportunities – More touchpoints = more conversions
The brands dominating email send frequently. And their customers love it.
Customers will only love your emails if they are creative, engaging and release dopamine when they open!
Earn the right to sell:
80% Value, Education, Entertainment
  • How-to guides
  • Behind-the-scenes stories
  • Customer spotlights
  • Product education
  • Tips & tricks
20% Promotional
  • New arrivals
  • Sales & offers
  • Limited drops
When you lead with value, people actually open your sales emails.
Example Sending Calendar:
Swipe File: 450 email campaigns You can copy:
100% free: Use as inspiration for your next sends:

Figma

450+ Email Swipe File

Created with Figma

Breaking down a great campaign:
Text Based emails
Mix these in with your beautifully designed campaigns:
  • Just a regular email that shows up normally in their inbox.
  • Why?
  • Stands out amongst the mix of design based emails
  • feels personal and from a friend (can make your messaging resonate more)
  • Takes some strain off your designers every now and then.
  • Clear CTA
Campaign Summary:
Additional tools for email inspiration:

Milled

Milled: A search engine for email newsletters and ecommerce sales

Milled is a search engine for email newsletters. Find sales, deals, coupons, and discount codes from retailers and brands.

reallygoodemails.com

6. SMS
Simple strategy but big revenue (Yippee!)
SMS can be a massive revenue driver.
It can also be the fastest way to P off your entire customer base if done wrong.
SMS is the most personal way to contact our customers without calling them or knocking on their front door.
So respect that. SMS has a 98% open rate on average and use it sparingly.
SMS Campaign Strategy:
Keep it stupidly simple:
1-3 campaigns per month. That's it.
Save SMS for:
  • Major sales
  • Big product launches
  • Flash drops or restocks
  • Exclusive VIP offers
If it's not actually important, don't text them.
SMS in Your Automated Flows
Welcome Flow:
1-2 SMS messages in the sequence.
Example: After email 2, send SMS with first-purchase incentive
Abandoned Cart Flow:
1-2 SMS messages in the sequence.
Example: 1 hour after cart abandonment, send SMS reminder
That's it.
Copy for SMS:
Keep it as simple as possible. Tell your audience why you're texting them, and give them the link to get back to your site.
Avoid using images and emojis. SMS sending platforms charge by the character count and images and emojis get counted as up to 4x more than regular characters.
7. A/B testing
Stack those 1% changes into huge results
Why A/B Test?
Most brands send their emails and call it a day.
You should be testing everything.
A 1% improvement in click-through rate doesn't sound exciting.
But when you're sending emails to 100,000 a month?
That 1% = thousands in additional revenue.
And when you stack 1% improvement on top of 1% improvement, week after week?
You'rYou start noticing changes quickly.
The Compounding Effect
Month 1: Test subject lines → 2% open rate increase
Month 2: Test CTA buttons → 1.5% click rate increase
Month 3: Test email timing → 3% conversion increase
Month 4: Test preview text → 1% open rate increase
Total impact: 7.5% more revenue from the same list size.
On $500K revenue?
That's an extra $37,500 from a few simple tests.
Test's You Can Run:
I recommend having at least 2 active tests per week :)
Subject Lines:
  • Length (short vs long)
  • Emoji vs no emoji
  • Question vs statement
  • Personalization vs generic
  • Urgency vs curiosity
Preview Text:
Continuation of subject vs standalone
Benefit-driven vs curiosity-driven
Length (use all characters vs short)
Send Times:
Morning (6-9am) vs midday (12-2pm) vs evening (6-8pm)
CTA Copy & Design:
Button text ("Shop Now" vs "Get Yours" vs "Claim Offer")
Button color (high contrast vs brand color)
Button size and placement
Shop now banner vs non
Single CTA vs multiple CTAs
Email Length:
Short & punchy (100-150 words) vs longer storytelling S
ingle product focus vs multiple products
Image-heavy vs text-based
How to set up A/B tests
Your 60 Day Scaling Checklist:
Wrapping things up:
Hear From Our Clients:
Step 1: Watch this short video to see how this works:
Step 2: Book your free email account audit: