July Retention Newsie 2

Author

Melanie Balke
July 18, 2025

Welcome to The Retention Newsie by The Email Marketers, the retention-building experts for 7-9 figure ecom brands.

Every month, we bring you the best case studies, trending news, and tips for retaining more customers while turning them into raving fans and increasing revenue.

This Week’s Inbox Rundown

  • SMS marketing is about to change

  • Exclusive invite for DTC brands

  • Gmail's new unsubscribe feature is scary

  • The navigation bar myth we finally busted

SMS Marketing Is About To Change

Just last week we did a Klaviyo account audit and once again proved that SMS is the way to go. (42% click rate on their messages)

And now we’re about to see something even better…

RCS (Rich Communication Services) just went from "maybe someday" to "happening right now." Apple adopted it in iOS 18, Android has been ready, and carriers are finally getting on board.

Why this matters: While SMS has a 160-character limit, RCS offers branded messaging with your logo automatically displayed, product carousels, interactive buttons, and checkout capabilities. All without the customer leaving their messaging app.

The BFCM opportunity is massive: RCS campaigns see 90% of messages opened within 15 minutes and customers engage for up to 45 seconds. Compare that to the 2-second SMS glance.

French retailer Citadium sent RCS messages featuring 40% off deals with interactive category buttons, making it ridiculously easy for customers to jump to exactly what they wanted.

Two Strategies Worth Stealing

  1. Black Friday Preview Access: Send RCS messages with product carousels showing your best BFCM deals 48 hours early. Include interactive "Shop Now" buttons for each category.

  2. Abandoned Cart Recovery: Instead of a basic "You forgot something" SMS, send an RCS message showing the actual products they left behind with one-tap checkout.

We're betting big on RCS at The Email Marketers. If you want to get ahead of this wave, we love Attentive for RCS implementation.

Networking Event For DTC Brands

We're throwing an exclusive happy hour with Klaviyo and Orita at the Malibu Soho House. Think sunset views, good drinks, and conversations with leading DTC brands. No sales pitching. 

When: July 31st, 2025 from 6:30PM - 8:30PM EST

Where: Soho House Malibu (22716 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA)

Cost: Free (However, we only have 5 seats left)

We Busted The Navigation Bar Myth

The conventional wisdom: Navigation bars in emails help customers find what they want.

The reality: They're conversion killers.

We ran split tests 9 different times, comparing emails with top navigation bars versus clean layouts without them.

The results were clear…

✅ Clean layouts (no nav bar) won 7 out of 9 tests.

❌ Navigation bars only won 2 out of 9 tests.

Why navigation bars hurt performance:

  • Attention Split: Multiple clickable options dilute focus from your primary CTA.

  • Decision Paralysis: Too many choices = no choice made.

  • Mobile Friction: Nav bars eat precious screen real estate on mobile.

The lesson: Your email should have one job. Make it obvious what you want people to do next.

Gmail's "Manage Subscriptions" Feature Goes Live

Google's new subscription hub ranks brands by send frequency, making high-volume senders prime unsubscribe targets. Not segmenting by engagement? This will hurt you in the long run.

DTC Brands Shift to Omnichannel Strategies

Rising acquisition costs and profitability pressures are forcing DTC brands away from pure e-commerce models. The 2025 report shows online sales hitting a 30% ceiling, with brands now investing in physical retail and wholesale channels to sustain growth.

State of Email 2025 Report Released

Validity's research shows 29% of marketers believe AI-driven content generation will drive the biggest email changes this year, while 70% expect AI to automate half their email operations by 2026.

Meta Introduces New AI Advertising Tools

Cannes Lions 2025 introduced 11 new AI features, including dynamic image-to-video tools and brand-consistent automation across thousands of ad variants, which would aid many businesses in developing these creatives more efficiently.