A brand I audited last year had 18,000 subscribers and was generating 6% of revenue from email. That is not a list-size problem. A list of 18,000 should produce 25 to 35% of revenue with the right structure in place. The issue was simple: they were sending the same campaign to everyone, every week, with no regard for whether those people had bought once, bought five times, or never opened a single email.
The result was predictable. Open rates sat around 12%. Deliverability was degrading. The founder assumed email was a dying channel and was about to shift the entire budget to paid social.
We rebuilt the segment structure in Klaviyo, adjusted send frequency by engagement tier, and within 60 days email was at 29% of revenue. Same list. No new subscribers. Different targeting.
Why blasting the full list destroys deliverability
Email deliverability is built on engagement signals. When you send to a large unengaged segment, inbox providers see low open rates, high delete-without-open rates, and occasional spam complaints. Over time, they start routing your emails to spam, not just for the unengaged contacts, but for everyone on your list.
This is how brands end up with open rates of 9 to 12% on a list that was converting at 25% two years ago. They didn't lose subscribers. They trained the algorithm to deprioritise them.
The fix is not a re-engagement campaign blasted to the whole list. It's a structural change to who receives what, at what frequency, and with what goal.
The four core segments every DTC brand needs
These are not the only segments you'll ever build. But they are the foundation. Without these four in place, any other segmentation work is premature.
Engaged subscribers (no purchase)
This is anyone who has opened or clicked an email in the last 30 to 60 days and has not yet made a purchase. They are warm. They are reading. They haven't bought yet because they haven't been given the right reason or the right moment.
The goal with this segment is conversion, not retention. Your messaging should focus on social proof, answering objections, and making the first purchase feel low-risk. A time-limited offer works here because it creates urgency without cheapening the brand.
Send frequency for this segment: 3 to 4 times per week. They're engaged, which means your emails are landing and being read. Do not throttle frequency out of caution. Capture the intent while it's active.
One-time buyers
This is the most important segment for DTC brands and the most neglected. On average, 74% of new customers never buy again without an intentional retention sequence. That number drops significantly for brands with a proper second-purchase flow in place.
One-time buyers have already demonstrated willingness to spend. The barrier to a second purchase is far lower than the barrier to a first. Your messaging here should focus on the product they bought, adjacent products in the range, and the value of repeat use or replenishment.
Do not send one-time buyers the same general newsletter you send to engaged subscribers. They've moved past the awareness stage. They need progression, not repetition. If someone bought your protein powder, they need a reminder that it's running low, a bundle that makes sense alongside it, and proof that other customers became regulars.
Repeat buyers and VIPs
Define repeat buyers as anyone who has placed two or more orders. Define VIPs as the top 10 to 20% of your list by total spend, typically anyone who has spent more than 3x your average order value.
These people are already converted. The goal is not to push them to buy; it's to deepen the relationship, increase basket size, and give them reasons to stay. Exclusive early access, loyalty pricing, referral incentives, and behind-the-scenes content all perform well in this segment.
VIP customers convert at 60 to 70% on new product launches versus 5 to 20% for cold or engaged-only subscribers. If you're launching something new and you blast the full list without seeding it to VIPs first, you're leaving money on the table and missing your best social proof engine.
Lapsed customers and at-risk subscribers
Lapsed customers are people who have purchased but haven't bought again in 90 to 180 days. At-risk subscribers are contacts who haven't opened an email in 60 to 90 days. Both groups need active intervention before they become permanently inactive.
For lapsed customers, a three-email win-back sequence works: email one reminds them what they bought and what they're missing, email two offers a modest incentive, email three makes a clear final ask and lets them know they won't be contacted as frequently if they don't respond.
If someone hasn't opened in 180 days and doesn't respond to a win-back, suppress them. Keeping them on your send list is actively harming your deliverability. A clean list of 8,000 engaged subscribers outperforms a bloated list of 25,000 with 60% inactivity every single time.
How to build these segments in Klaviyo
Klaviyo's segment builder uses conditions. Here's the logic for each of the four core segments:
Engaged subscribers (no purchase)
Has opened email in the last 60 days AND has not placed an order (ever)
One-time buyers
Has placed exactly 1 order AND last order was more than 14 days ago AND less than 180 days ago
Repeat buyers
Has placed 2 or more orders
VIPs
Has placed 3 or more orders OR total spend is greater than [3x your AOV]
Lapsed customers
Has placed at least 1 order AND last order was more than 90 days ago AND has not opened email in last 60 days
Suppress (inactive)
Has not opened email in last 180 days AND joined list more than 180 days ago
Build these six segments before you send your next campaign. Then send that campaign only to your engaged and one-time buyer segments. Watch what happens to open rates and revenue per send.
What segmentation actually changes in your numbers
The brand I mentioned earlier, the one with 18,000 subscribers generating 6% of revenue, had a deliverability score that was borderline by the time we audited it. Open rates at 12% mean that inbox providers are already starting to question your domain reputation.
Within 30 days of building proper segments and cutting campaign sends to engaged-only contacts, open rates moved to 31%. Not because the emails got better, although we did improve the subject lines, but because we stopped dragging the average down with contacts who weren't going to open regardless.
Revenue from email moved from 6% to 22% in 60 days and to 29% by day 90. The remaining gap to the 35-40% benchmark came from adding the missing automated flows on top of the improved campaign structure.
"A clean list of 8,000 engaged subscribers outperforms a bloated list of 25,000 with 60% inactivity. Every time."
Caner Veli, Purposeful Profits
The improvement is not marginal. Segmented campaigns generate 101% more clicks than non-segmented sends, according to data across DTC email programs. That is not a rounding error. That is twice the return from the same list.
Beyond the basics: product affinity and purchase behaviour
Once you have the four core segments working, the next layer is product-based segmentation. This is where drinks, beauty, and wellness brands in particular have a significant advantage, because product affinity is often a clear signal of what to offer next.
A customer who bought your energy supplement is a natural candidate for your recovery product. A customer who bought your hero SKU and nothing else is a natural candidate for a bundle that increases AOV. A customer who bought twice and then stopped is a natural candidate for a replenishment reminder.
In Klaviyo, you can build these using the "What someone has done" condition filtered by specific product names or collections. The email content can then reflect exactly what they've purchased, which dramatically increases relevance and conversion.
This level of targeting is not complex to set up, but it requires a clean product data structure in Shopify and consistent naming conventions. Most brands that haven't done this find that the setup work takes a few hours and immediately unlocks campaigns that feel genuinely personalised rather than generic.
The send frequency question
Send frequency is not a brand decision. It's an engagement decision. The same email sent at the same frequency to three different segments will produce three completely different results.
Most brands are under-sending to their hottest segments and over-sending to their coldest ones. Fixing that imbalance is often worth 10 to 15 percentage points of email revenue contribution on its own.
What this looks like in practice
Bottled Baking Co came to us at £5K per month. Email was generating under 5% of revenue despite a list of several thousand subscribers. We built the core segments, restructured the flows, and adjusted campaign frequency by engagement tier. Within 14 days, email ROAS was 27x. Within 90 days, the brand was at £50K per month.
Thomson & Scott had a similar profile: good brand, reasonable list, almost no email revenue because every campaign went to the full list with no targeting logic. We rebuilt from scratch. Part of that rebuild was segmentation. Email went from a negligible percentage to a meaningful revenue channel within 60 days, alongside a 682% increase in overall order volume.
In both cases, the list itself was not the problem. The structure around the list was.
Where to start this week
If you're sending campaigns to your full list right now, here's a three-step starting point that takes less than a day to implement:
- 1
Build your engaged segment
In Klaviyo, create a segment for contacts who have opened an email in the last 60 days. This is your primary campaign audience from today forward.
- 2
Build your one-time buyer segment
Filter for contacts who have placed exactly one order. Schedule a dedicated three-email sequence for this group focused on the second purchase. Do not include them in the general campaign send until they buy again.
- 3
Suppress your inactive contacts
Create a suppression segment for anyone who hasn't opened in 180 days. Move them to a separate win-back flow. If they don't re-engage in 30 days, suppress them from all sends. Watch your deliverability score improve within two to three weeks.
Three segments, three days of setup, measurable improvement in deliverability and revenue within four weeks. This is not a complex technical project. It's a targeting decision that most brands haven't made yet.
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Get the Brand Growth AuditFrequently asked questions
How should a DTC brand segment its email list?
Start with four core segments: engaged subscribers (opened in last 30–60 days), one-time buyers, repeat buyers, and lapsed customers (no purchase or open in 90+ days). Each group needs different messaging, send frequency, and goals. One-time buyers need a second-purchase nudge. Repeat buyers need VIP treatment and subscription offers. Lapsed customers need a win-back sequence, then suppression if they don't re-engage.
What is the difference between email segments and flows in Klaviyo?
Flows are automated sequences triggered by specific actions, such as a purchase, cart abandonment, or signup. Segments are groups of contacts defined by shared characteristics, such as purchase history, engagement level, or product affinity. Segments control who receives your campaign sends. Flows automate individual journeys. You need both.
How often should a DTC brand email its list?
Send frequency should be tied to engagement, not to a fixed calendar. Highly engaged subscribers can receive 2–4 campaign emails per week without significant churn. Lapsed subscribers should receive no more than one per week, with a win-back sequence rather than regular campaigns. Sending the same frequency to all segments is one of the fastest ways to damage list health.
What percentage of revenue should come from email for a DTC brand?
A properly built email and SMS system should contribute between 25% and 40% of total revenue. Brands generating less than 15% from email are typically missing either the core automated flows (welcome, abandoned cart, post-purchase) or meaningful segmentation in their campaign sends. Both problems are fixable within 60 days without adding any new subscribers.
Why do email open rates drop for DTC brands?
Open rates drop when a brand sends the same content to its entire list regardless of engagement level. Unengaged subscribers drag down open rates, and continued sending to them increases the likelihood of spam complaints and deliverability damage. The fix is engagement-based segmentation: send more often to engaged contacts, reduce frequency for lapsed ones, and suppress anyone who hasn't opened in 180+ days.
What is a VIP segment and how do I build one in Klaviyo?
A VIP segment is typically defined as customers in the top 10–20% of lifetime value. In Klaviyo, build this using: placed order at least 3 times AND total spend greater than 3x your average order value AND active in the last 180 days. VIP customers convert at 60–70% on new offers versus 5–20% for new prospects, making this the highest-leverage segment for product launches.
About the author
Caner Veli built Liquiproof from zero to 3,000+ global retailers in under 6 years, then exited profitably. He now helps DTC and CPG brands fix broken growth engines and scale 2x–15x in 90 days. Read more about Caner →