Sending more emails campaigns is costing you revenue

Most CPG brands I see on my feed are obsessed with email campaigns.

“What campaign angle had the highest click rate last week?”

“What are we going to send next week?”

“Is our email campaign design good enough?”

While they’re busy planning how many pretty campaigns to send this month to “generate” revenue... they forget to focus on the one thing that actually moves the needle: strategic placement of emails within the customer journey.

The Illusion of Campaign Revenue

Sending 2-4 general campaigns a week? Sure, that keeps you top of mind.

But true optimization happens when you stop throwing content at a wall and start building automated systems around:

• Product onboarding: Driving adoption in the first 14 days so they actually use what they bought.
• Habit-forming content: Helping customers integrate the product into their daily routine.
• Churn reduction systems: Identifying when a customer is about to leave and intervening automatically.
• Loyalty-building sequences: Turning one-time buyers into repeat customers through exclusive value.
• Objection-handling: Addressing fears and doubts specifically after the first purchase.

Why Flows Outperform Campaigns for Subscription Brands

Lots of flow emails might look boring and don’t even have to be heavily designed at all. But that’s where the money is.

Retention doesn’t just happen because you send emails. It happens because those emails are placed strategically and sent on auto-pilot with intent, timing and context.

There is very little leverage you can create with manual campaigns compared to automated flows.

Every campaign is different, which makes it nearly impossible to conduct statistically relevant A/B testing.

Flow emails, however, are permanent fixtures in the customer journey. Every person receives the same touchpoint, allowing you to test angles, timing, and offers until the data gives you a clear winner.

Fixing the Leaky Bucket

I want to see more CPG subscription brands focused on their flows to nurture existing product subscribers. These customers are by far your most valuable cohort.

Your biggest problem is likely subscribers not using your product at all. If they fail to develop a habit, they look at their shelf, see too much leftover product, and cancel their next subscription renewal. You have a leaky bucket.

That type of problem cannot be solved with manual weekly campaigns. It can only be solved with automations where each email / text represents a strictly defined touchpoint with a specific purpose.

The Real Retention Game

Don't get me wrong - manual weekly campaigns are still very important for staying top of mind, especially for non-CPG and non-subscription brands, and we do them for all of our clients. But they won't move the needle on LTV or subscription churn like a strategic flow will.

In the context of subscription-based CPG brands, manual campaigns should mostly be targeted at your non-subscribing customers to ensure your brand remains their first choice when they are ready to buy again.

Retention happens in the first 30 days after a purchase. If you don't optimize that window, you are just hoping your product subscribers will remain subscribed for the next rebill.

CPG subscription brands - stop chasing Klaviyo attributed revenue screenshots and pretty email designs and start building actual automated retention systems that focus on LTV, not just the next click.