Dubai-based email marketing expert Nabeel Azeez, co-owner of Dropkick Copy, is disrupting conventional approaches to email marketing, particularly within the e-commerce and SaaS sectors. Azeez advocates for an aggressive, engagement-based segmentation strategy that prioritizes revenue generation over traditional vanity metrics like open rates. His methods, which include sending multiple emails daily to highly specific audience segments and deliberately refraining from purging unengaged subscribers, are drawing attention and yielding significant results for his clients, primarily based in the United States.
Azeez’s philosophy centers on the belief that the true measure of email marketing success lies in its direct contribution to revenue, not in superficial engagement indicators. This conviction underpins his agency’s approach, which often involves a stark departure from industry norms. For instance, Dropkick Copy has been known to send as many as eight emails per day to a single client, with each communication meticulously tailored to a distinct subscriber segment. This high-frequency, hyper-personalized strategy stands in contrast to the more conservative, less frequent email schedules commonly adopted by many e-commerce brands.
The Core of Azeez’s Strategy: Engagement-Based Segmentation and High Frequency
At the heart of Azeez’s methodology is a sophisticated approach to segmenting email lists. He emphasizes dividing subscribers based on their level of engagement, purchase history, and potential value. This granular segmentation allows for the delivery of highly relevant content, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
"We look at engagement in different timeframes – the last seven days, 30 days, or even 60 to 90 days," Azeez explained in a recent interview. "We also identify subscribers who joined a long time ago but haven’t interacted recently. Beyond that, we categorize our ‘whales’ – those who buy frequently and spend significantly – and ‘potential whales,’ who buy often but with lower average order values. Loyal customers, who consistently make smaller purchases, also form a distinct group. Furthermore, we track ‘churned whales’ or ‘lapsed whales,’ identifying high-value customers who are showing signs of disengagement or have not purchased in a considerable period."
This multi-faceted segmentation allows Azeez’s agency to craft distinct messaging and offers for each group. For example, a "potential whale" might receive incentives designed to increase their average order value, such as a gift with a minimum purchase. Conversely, a "loyal customer" might be targeted with offers that encourage repeat purchases of smaller-ticket items.
The agency’s commitment to high frequency is another defining characteristic. While many e-commerce businesses typically send emails three times per week, Dropkick Copy often increases this to daily dispatches, and in some cases, multiple daily emails to different segments. This aggressive approach has, on occasion, triggered warnings from email service providers like Klaviyo regarding the volume of emails sent to unengaged subscribers.
"Klaviyo sent us a warning the other day stating we’re emailing too many unengaged subscribers," Azeez recounted. "But Klaviyo ought to know that open rate is a vanity metric. The only thing that matters is revenue. We believe that by consistently providing value and relevance, even to those who haven’t engaged recently, we can re-engage them and drive sales. Our focus is on the bottom line."
Onboarding and Re-engagement: A Strategic Two-Pronged Approach
Azeez outlined a clear roadmap for onboarding new clients, which typically begins with a diagnostic phase followed by the implementation of strategic email campaigns. For B2B clients, this often involves a concise, nine-word email sent to subscribers who have not yet made a purchase. The goal of this email is to elicit a direct response, asking, "Are you still interested in what we’re selling?" This method aims to identify genuinely interested prospects and segment them for future targeted outreach.
For e-commerce clients, the onboarding process involves a comprehensive review of their existing email automations. Missing flows, such as abandoned cart reminders or post-purchase follow-ups, are identified and implemented. Simultaneously, the frequency of outbound emails is significantly increased.
"We check which flows they’re missing and install them," Azeez stated. "Then we up the frequency. Most e-commerce brands send around three emails per week. We’ll increase it to daily, sometimes several per day, depending on their segments. For one e-commerce client, we send upwards of eight emails per day, each to a different segment. We’re aggressive."
A particularly unconventional aspect of Azeez’s strategy is his stance on unengaged subscribers. Instead of purging them from the list, he advocates for a systematic re-engagement process. This typically involves a "sunset automation" set to trigger after 90 days of inactivity (no opens, clicks, or purchases). Subscribers entering this automation receive a dedicated re-engagement email. If they remain unresponsive, they are not immediately unsubscribed but are instead placed on a longer-term re-engagement schedule, receiving a reactivation email every month or quarter.
"I try not to unsubscribe them," Azeez emphasized. "I’ll keep them and send a reactivation email every month or quarter. In my experience, around 10% of unengaged folks will come back eventually. Our reactivation emails look like other emails, though we’ll occasionally send a plain-text version to spur a response. Sometimes we send long, educational, text-only messages that are much more likely to land in the main inbox than a promotion."
This approach acknowledges that subscriber engagement can fluctuate and that a significant portion of seemingly inactive subscribers may still hold potential value. By employing targeted re-engagement tactics, Azeez aims to recapture this latent revenue.
Addressing Common E-commerce Email Marketing Pitfalls
Azeez also highlighted several common mistakes that e-commerce companies make in their email marketing efforts. One of the most significant is insufficient testing of opt-in offers.
"Merchants don’t test their opt-in pop-up offers enough," he observed. "That includes removing the pop-up completely and tracking margins. Offering a 10% discount trains shoppers to expect it in other promotions. Experiment with the best offer to entice new subscribers. Is it a discount, a free product, or free shipping? Perhaps it’s a bundle of related items."
The implication of this advice is that a one-size-fits-all discount can devalue a brand and condition customers to wait for promotions. Strategic testing of various opt-in incentives—whether it’s a discount, free shipping, a complementary product, or a curated bundle—can lead to higher-quality subscribers who are more likely to convert and engage long-term, rather than just bargain hunters.
Another critical area Azeez addresses is the attribution of email marketing’s impact on other channels. He suggests that businesses often underestimate how email can influence performance on platforms like Meta Ads.
"It’s important, too, to know how your email affects performance on other channels," Azeez advised. "A solid email program can drive ROAS and MER on Meta Ads, for example. Switch email attribution from last-click to first-click for the metrics."
By shifting attribution models to a first-click or multi-touch approach, businesses can gain a more accurate understanding of email’s role in the customer journey, recognizing its influence beyond direct, last-click conversions. This can lead to more informed budget allocation and a holistic view of marketing channel synergy.
The Role of SMS in a Multi-Channel Strategy
Beyond email, Azeez also discussed the integration of SMS marketing into their client strategies. He noted that SMS campaigns often yield higher revenue than email, leading his agency to increase SMS frequency when revenue targets need to be met.
"We try to send the same volume of SMS messages as email unless it’s daily," Azeez explained. "We won’t send daily SMSs, but we’ll try two or three times a week. Again, it depends on the brand. SMS usually makes a lot more money than email. So we’ll bump up SMSs if we need more revenue."
The nature of SMS messaging also differs, with promotional texts needing to be concise due to their cost and immediacy. This pragmatic approach leverages the power of SMS for high-impact promotions while maintaining email for more detailed content and sustained engagement.
Implications for the E-commerce Landscape
Azeez’s strategic departures from conventional wisdom offer valuable insights for the broader e-commerce and digital marketing landscape. His emphasis on revenue as the ultimate metric challenges the long-standing reliance on open rates and click-through rates as primary performance indicators. This shift encourages a more business-centric view of marketing activities, where every communication is evaluated by its contribution to the bottom line.
The aggressive segmentation and high-frequency sending strategy, while potentially controversial, highlight the power of hyper-personalization in capturing consumer attention in an increasingly crowded digital space. By tailoring messages to very specific audience needs and behaviors, brands can foster stronger relationships and drive higher conversion rates.
Furthermore, Azeez’s perspective on unengaged subscribers suggests a more nuanced understanding of customer lifecycle management. Instead of viewing inactivity as a terminal state, his approach positions it as an opportunity for re-engagement, acknowledging that customer journeys are rarely linear. This can lead to increased customer lifetime value and a more robust subscriber base.
The advice on testing opt-in offers and re-evaluating attribution models also points to a need for greater strategic agility and data-driven decision-making within e-commerce marketing teams. As consumer behavior continues to evolve, so too must the strategies employed to reach and engage them.
Nabeel Azeez’s work with Dropkick Copy demonstrates that by challenging established norms and focusing relentlessly on revenue generation through sophisticated segmentation and strategic re-engagement, businesses can unlock significant growth potential in their email marketing efforts. His agency’s success serves as a compelling case study for other brands looking to optimize their digital communication strategies in a competitive marketplace.
For those interested in learning more about Azeez’s methods or engaging his services, his agency’s website is DropkickCopy.com. He also maintains a personal website at Nabeelazeez.com and can be found on X (formerly Twitter) as @NabeelAzeez.
