Nabeel Azeez, co-owner of the Dubai-based email marketing agency Dropkick Copy, is a proponent of an unconventional and highly aggressive approach to email marketing, particularly for e-commerce clients. In a recent interview, Azeez detailed his methods, which often challenge industry norms, emphasizing engagement-based segmentation and a significantly higher sending frequency than typically practiced. His philosophy centers on driving tangible revenue, often dismissing metrics like open rates as mere vanity. Azeez’s agency serves a diverse clientele, including e-commerce, SaaS, and private equity firms, with a predominant focus on clients within the United States market.
Rethinking Engagement: Beyond the Open Rate
Azeez’s core tenet is that the ultimate measure of email marketing success is revenue, not superficial engagement metrics like open rates. This perspective flies in the face of much of the established email marketing discourse, which often prioritizes list hygiene and engagement scores. "Klaviyo sent us a warning the other day stating we’re emailing too many unengaged subscribers," Azeez admitted during the interview. "But Klaviyo ought to know that open rate is a vanity metric. The only thing that matters is revenue." This statement highlights a fundamental divergence in strategy, prioritizing the potential for conversion over the appearance of broad engagement.
The agency’s approach to subscriber management also deviates from the norm. Instead of rigidly adhering to strict unsubscribe policies for dormant recipients, Azeez advocates for a more patient and persistent reactivation strategy. "I try not to unsubscribe them," he stated. "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." This strategy, while potentially increasing the volume of emails sent to less active segments, is rooted in the belief that even seemingly disengaged subscribers can be re-engaged with the right messaging.
A Segmented Approach: Eight Emails a Day for One Client
The cornerstone of Azeez’s high-frequency strategy is granular segmentation. For one prominent e-commerce client, Dropkick Copy deploys an astonishing eight emails per day, each tailored to a unique, meticulously defined segment of the subscriber base. This level of personalization and volume is a stark contrast to the typical two to three emails per week that many e-commerce brands send.
The segmentation strategy is multifaceted, moving beyond simple recency of engagement. Azeez explained the creation of these segments: "The easiest way is by engagement – the last seven days, 30 days, or 60 to 90 days. Another segment consists of folks who subscribed long ago but haven’t engaged recently." Beyond engagement, Azeez identifies and targets specific customer value tiers. "Then we segment the ‘whales,’ subscribers who buy often and spend a lot. ‘Potential whales,’ another segment, buy often but don’t spend as much as the whales. Another is loyal customers, who buy frequently in smaller amounts."
Furthermore, the agency proactively identifies and targets at-risk high-value customers. "We also look for whales who are about to churn or haven’t bought in a long time. We call them ‘churned whales’ or ‘lapsed whales.’" This comprehensive segmentation allows for highly targeted messaging, aiming to maximize revenue from each individual subscriber based on their purchasing behavior and engagement patterns. The objective is to send one email per person, ensuring that the communication is relevant and therefore more likely to drive action.
Onboarding and Client Acquisition: A Strategic Kickstart
For new B2B clients, Dropkick Copy employs a unique nine-word email strategy to gauge interest and identify potential leads. "The first thing we do is send a nine-word email to all the subscribers who haven’t bought anything," Azeez revealed. "The aim is to get people to raise their hands. We ask them, ‘Are you still interested in what we’re selling?’" This concise and direct approach is designed to elicit a quick response, allowing the agency to filter engaged prospects from those who are no longer interested.
For e-commerce clients, the onboarding process involves a comprehensive audit of their existing email marketing infrastructure. "For ecommerce clients, we check which flows they’re missing and install them. Then we up the frequency." This includes ensuring essential automated sequences like post-purchase and abandoned cart flows are optimized. The subsequent increase in sending frequency is then carefully managed through the agency’s sophisticated segmentation model.
Driving Growth from $10,000 to $20,000 in Monthly Email Revenue
Azeez offered practical advice for smaller e-commerce brands looking to double their monthly email revenue, moving from $10,000 to $20,000. He stressed that the product type – whether consumable or a one-off purchase – is a critical factor. The rate of new subscriber acquisition also plays a significant role, as a growing list allows for more aggressive email strategies.
"I would at least go from three times per week to daily emails, as long as the list is growing," Azeez advised. He also emphasized the importance of reviewing existing automations for missed revenue opportunities. Beyond direct email metrics, Azeez highlighted the interconnectedness of marketing channels. "It’s important, too, to know how your email affects performance on other channels. 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." This suggests a holistic view of marketing attribution, recognizing email’s influence across the customer journey.
Common E-commerce Email Marketing Pitfalls
Azeez identified several common mistakes that e-commerce companies make in their email marketing efforts. One significant oversight is the insufficient testing of opt-in offers. "Merchants don’t test their opt-in pop-up offers enough," he noted. This includes experimenting with different discount percentages, free products, or free shipping options, and even considering removing pop-ups entirely to assess their impact on conversion rates and overall profitability. Offering a perpetual 10% discount, for instance, can train customers to expect such incentives, potentially devaluing future promotions.
The Nuances of SMS Marketing
In addition to email, Dropkick Copy also leverages SMS marketing, often mirroring the email sending volume, though generally not on a daily basis. Azeez indicated that SMS campaigns can be exceptionally lucrative, often outperforming email in terms of revenue generation. "SMS usually makes a lot more money than email. So we’ll bump up SMSs if we need more revenue." He advised that promotional SMS messages should be concise due to the higher cost associated with sending them compared to emails.
The Unconventional Approach to Unengaged Subscribers
Azeez’s strategy for handling unengaged subscribers involves a phased approach rather than immediate removal. He advocates for a "sunset unengaged automation" typically set at 90 days. If a subscriber hasn’t shown any interaction within this period, they receive a specific automated message. If there’s still no engagement, Azeez prefers to pause rather than unsubscribe them.
"I try not to unsubscribe them," he reiterated. "I’ll keep them and send a reactivation email every month or quarter." This prolonged nurturing strategy is based on his observation that approximately 10% of these "unengaged" individuals can eventually be reactivated. The reactivation emails themselves are often crafted to resemble regular communications, with occasional use of plain-text formats to encourage a response and improve inbox placement, especially when compared to promotional content. He also pointed out that sending long, educational, text-only messages can be more effective for inbox placement than typical marketing promotions.
Broader Industry Implications and Future Outlook
Nabeel Azeez’s aggressive, data-driven, and revenue-focused approach to email marketing represents a significant departure from traditional best practices. His emphasis on hyper-segmentation and high-frequency sending, coupled with a nuanced view of engagement metrics, challenges the status quo. As e-commerce continues its rapid evolution, strategies like Azeez’s, which prioritize direct revenue generation and customer value maximization, are likely to gain more traction.
The agency’s work with Klaviyo, a leading email marketing platform, and the resulting "warnings" about unengaged subscribers, highlight a potential tension between platform-defined best practices and innovative, revenue-driven strategies. This dynamic suggests that as the digital marketing landscape matures, practitioners will continue to push the boundaries of established methodologies to achieve superior results. The success of Dropkick Copy’s approach could inspire other e-commerce businesses to re-evaluate their own email marketing strategies, potentially leading to a broader shift towards more dynamic and personalized communication models.
Azeez’s public presence, with his agency website DropkickCopy.com and personal site Nabeelazeez.com, along with his active presence on X (@NabeelAzeez), positions him as a thought leader in this emerging niche of aggressive email marketing. His willingness to share his unconventional methods and challenge industry norms offers valuable insights for businesses seeking to optimize their email marketing efforts and drive sustainable revenue growth in an increasingly competitive online marketplace. The long-term implications of his strategies will likely be observed as more brands adopt similar high-frequency, deeply segmented communication plans, and as platforms adapt to accommodate these evolving approaches.
