What I Find in 9 Out of 10 Email Audits—And How to Fix It

After auditing dozens of email accounts—from fast-growing DTC startups to well-established brands—I’ve noticed a pattern. Most email marketing setups look “fine” at a glance, but under the hood, they’re making the same mistakes. And those mistakes are quietly costing conversions, deliverability, and customer trust. Here’s what I find in 9 out of 10 audits—and how to fix it.

1. Campaign Segmentation? Still Sending to the Whole List?

📌 Understanding the Key Issue:If you're still blasting your full list, you're damaging your sender reputation and wasting potential. Email engagement decays over time—fast. And continuing to send to disengaged users leads to higher bounce rates, spam complaints, and lower inbox placement.

✅ How to Fix It: Work with smart segments like Engaged 30, 60, 90, and max 120. Exclude hard bounces, soft bounces, and spam-marked contacts. These inactive profiles drag down your metrics and can land you in the dreaded promotions or spam folder. Prioritize quality over quantity in your sends.

2. Basic Email Build Mistakes Are Still Happening

📌 Understanding the Key Issue:Yes, your emails might look great—but are they optimized for deliverability, accessibility, and engagement? Many still aren’t. From heavy image loads to broken mobile formatting, these small mistakes add up fast.

✅ How to Fix It:

• Text-to-Image Ratio: Aim for a 60:40 or 70:30 ratio. Don’t rely on images alone.

• Avoid Image-Only Emails: Spam filters hate them. So do screen readers.

• Mobile Responsiveness: Assume your email will be read on a phone first.

• Email Size: Keep it under 100KB or risk getting clipped—or flagged.

• Image Optimization: Full-width images should be 600–1000px wide, under 2000px high. Always compress.

• Preview Text: This is prime real estate—don’t leave it blank.

• Clear Subject Lines: Relevant, compelling, and not misleading.

• Unsubscribe Link: Easy to find. Make it easy to leave or risk spam reports.

• Performance Monitoring: Watch bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement in Klaviyo regularly.

• Personalization: Use dynamic content in Klaviyo—customize by behavior or profile, not just first name.

  
  

3. Flow Chaos: Trigger & Timing Issues Everywhere

📌 Understanding the Key Issue: Flows are powerful—when done right. But most accounts have flows with overlapping triggers, poor segmentation, and confusing send timing. For example: customers receiving both a welcome and an abandoned cart email at once? That’s not helping anyone.

✅ How to Fix It:

• Use Profile Filters: Make sure people in one flow aren’t being simultaneously pulled into another.

• Timing: Don’t guess send times—use actual data.

• Segment Your Flows: A new customer who abandons cart shouldn’t get the same message as someone who’s purchased before. For example:

  • New subscriber? Reinforce your welcome offer.

  • Returning customer? Emphasize perks like free shipping, loyalty points, or new arrivals.

• Missing Flows: Site abandonment, browse abandonment, post-purchase upsells—where are they?

• Winback Timing: Why is your winback firing 90+ days later? Start nudging at the 45-60 day mark.

• No Sunset Flow? Inactive contacts need to be suppressed or re-engaged before they hurt your sender score.

  
  

4. No Upsell or Cross-Sell Strategy

📌 Understanding the Key Issue: Brands spend so much energy acquiring customers—and then don’t follow through post-purchase. There’s often zero follow-up with strategic upsells or personalized product recs. Even worse? Most haven’t calculated their average time between orders so that the flow of emails makes sense.

✅ How to Fix It:

• Determine ATO (Average Time Between Orders): Then build flows around it.

• Cross-Sell Smartly: Recommend complementary products based on previous purchase data.

• Upsell Gently: Feature premium products, bundles, or subscription options in post-purchase touchpoints.

• Keep the Relationship Warm: Use educational content or UGC to maintain engagement between purchases.

  
  

5. Discount Dependency

📌 Understanding the Key Issue: Too many brands reach for a discount code anytime performance dips. Over time, this conditions your audience to only act when there’s a sale—and erodes your brand equity.

✅ How to Fix It:

• Highlight your actual value: fast shipping, free returns, premium materials, amazing reviews.

• Rotate in non-discount offers: like free gifts, early access, or bundles.

• Create different messages for different segments. Your existing customers don’t need the same 15% off as a first-time visitor.

  
  

Final Thoughts

These aren’t obscure problems—they’re the default settings for most email programs that haven’t been thoroughly audited. The good news? Fixing them usually doesn’t require a total rebuild. Just smart, strategic changes that align with how people actually behave.

If you’re unsure where to start or want to see how this looks in practice, I’m happy to share a sample audit or walk you through a quick teardown of one of your flows.

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