Stefan Stefanov

Making magic happen through Email 🦅👁️

You know retention should be a growth engine.
But instead, it’s mostly a source of stress.

👉 If you’re an agency, you’re juggling more accounts - but the systems behind them are patched together and breaking.
👉 If you’re a brand, in-house retention sounds smart… until you’re buried in clunky ESPs, missing data, and slow handoffs.
👉 Or maybe you're running retention - but something feels off. Results are flat. Ops are messy. Team’s flying blind.

You’re not alone. And the pain is real.

Fragmented flows.
Campaigns delayed.
No clear ownership.
And every “quick fix” breaks something else.

You know it could run smoother. Perform better. Without the constant drag.

Now imagine this:

✅ Your lifecycle automations just work - logic is tight, handoffs are seamless
✅ Campaigns go out on time, on brand, without bugs or bottlenecks
✅ Your team knows what to do, and when - without Slack chaos or last-minute scrambles
✅ Strategy, tech, and execution are finally aligned

That’s what I help agencies and brands build:

→ Retention systems that grow without fires
→ Flawless backend ops across email, SMS, and CRM
→ Consulting that turns scattered teams into calm executors

Whether you need a deep audit, help structuring your in-house retention ops, or a partner who knows what “done right” really looks like:

Send me a DM.
Let’s make retention flow again.

Email Production Manager

Looking for a rockstar email designer.

Would love and highly appreciate your recs or if you are one, just drop me a comment below with your portfolio.

I'm pretty sure you'll love the environment and culture in the place that's recruiting.

Retention systems that run without you | Precision-built ops for growing teams | C.E.G. (Certified Email Geek)

Most people join an agency and wait to be told what to do.

Smart people do the opposite:
They build 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 inside the agency.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁.

Here’s how that actually looks:

𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼-𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Don’t wait for a brief to be perfect. Ask the right questions. Chase down the missing context. Own the clarity.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲.
See a gap in process? Fix it. Notice a pattern in client feedback? Flag it. If no one’s going to hand you permission to lead - take it.

𝟯. 𝗡𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁.
Clients can be vague. Timelines shift. But your job? Deliver great work anyway. Find a way. Be the steady one on the team.

This isn’t about being a hero.
It’s about being a professional.

Especially in Q4 - when speed is high, stakes are higher, and no one has time to babysit.

Want to stand out this season?
Act like the owner before you are one.

Most BFCM inboxes look like a shouting contest.

Everyone pushes louder discounts.
Bigger numbers.
Harder urgency.

But clarity still wins.

What does clarity look like?
- One offer, explained simply
- Clean hierarchy in emails
- Product feed that actually matches the sale
- Disclaimers aligned everywhere
- Codes that work
- Consistent messaging between banner, email, LP, popup

Clarity cuts through noise.
Confusion kills conversions.

If your customer has to think for 3 seconds to understand the offer…
you’ve already lost them.

During BFCM, clarity is a competitive advantage.

#BFCM #ecommerce #marketing #retention

Now is not the time to test.

BFCM is game time. You don’t run experiments during the playoffs.

So stop trying to “learn” right now.
Start applying what you already know works.

✅ Review your test archive.
✅ Double down on top performers.
✅ Tighten execution and QA.

Your edge this week isn’t from discovery.
It’s from discipline.

Play the hits.
Monitor tight.
Stay calm.

Then test again after Q4.

What would you not test this week - even if you wanted to?

The moment BFCM ends, your retention begins.

Customers who bought during BFCM are different from regular buyers:
- They’re offer-driven
- They’re time-sensitive
- They’re browsing multiple brands
- And they often bought without deep product familiarity

If you wait weeks to re-engage them… you lose them to whatever brand nurtures them first.

Your retention strategy must start immediately:
- Post-purchase flows updated with non-discount messaging
- Education content to reduce returns
- How-to-use guidance
- Cross-sell logic
- Delivery updates
- Satisfaction checkpoints

You don’t retain BFCM customers by sending them another offer.
You retain them by onboarding them better than your competitors.

Retention isn’t a department.
It’s a continuation of BFCM.

The 3 Vital Signs of BFCM Health

🫀 Heartbeat: Approval speed
🫁 Breathing: Stable segmentation
🧠 Nervous system: Deliverability

If any one of these goes unstable, the whole body breaks.

Which vital sign does your team struggle with?

There are three myths that break more BFCM plans than anything else:

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟭: “𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 - 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗕𝗙𝗖𝗠.”
No.
Send strategically.
Use segmentation and exclusions.
Use resends, not spam.

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟮: “𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿.”
Later is where deliverability dies.
Every last-minute change creates a ripple effect through segmentation, flows, codes, disclaimers, popups.

𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟯: “𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 - 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝗤𝗔.”
One email destroys trust faster than 30 great ones.
QA is non-negotiable during BFCM.

The biggest performance boost you’ll get this year?
Killing these myths.

What’s the worst BFCM myth you've seen brands fall for?

BIG Disclaimer: 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵.

Every BFCM, there’s always one moment where someone tries to save the day with a last-minute idea.

A heroic resend.
A “small copy tweak.”
A discount change because “our competitor just launched 30%.”
A popup update 10 minutes before launch.

Heroics feel productive.
But they break systems.

The best BFCM teams don’t rely on last-minute brilliance.
They rely on preparation, ownership, QA, and calm execution.

Our internal rule is simple:
No heroics.
Just systems.

If something feels urgent enough to require heroics, the process already failed upstream:
- The brief wasn’t clear
- The timeline wasn’t respected
- The escalation path wasn’t used
- The offer wasn’t finalized on time

Heroics fix symptoms.
Systems eliminate them.

And the calm operator always chooses systems.

A half-used process is a burden.

Not a system.

That little section in the task no one fills out?
That tag no one checks?
That SOP step everyone skips?

Dead weight.

If it’s not being used, it’s not helping.
It’s slowing you down.

Every part of your workflow should serve a purpose - and if it doesn’t, cut it or fix it.

Revisit. Revise. Optimize.
Processes aren’t set-and-forget.
They’re a work in progress. Always.

Do you have a system to make sure you're system is up-do-date?

“The 4 Signals of a Healthy Inbox”

1. Consistency → One offer = same messaging everywhere
2. Relevance → Segments filtered, not blasted
3. Restraint → Controlled resends, no panic sends
4. QA → Discounts, LPs, feeds, timestamps aligned

If these 4 are clean, deliverability follows.

Which signal does your team struggle with most?

Freelancing can be quite fun actually.

Check the first comment for the Freelance Navigator I created - it can help you brainstorm your way through it :)

🔄 Преминот помеѓу фриленсинг и претприемништво ретко е праволиниски. Често носи пресврти, повторни почетоци и нови предизвици – но токму тие промени создаваат простор за раст. Во разговорот со Stefan Stefanov и Milan Savov се истакна токму тоа: и двата патишта бараат храброст, дисциплина и јасна лична структура.

Стефан зборуваше за редовни самопроверки, градење системи и „value first“ пристапот, но и за улогата на фриленс навигаторот – пристап што му помага на фриленсерот да ја разбере сопствената вредност, подобро да ги уреди процесите и посмело да се позиционира на пазарот. Од друга страна, приказната на Милан покажува колку мрежата, учењето и конзистентноста се клучни кога се преминува од индивидуални проекти кон сопствен бизнис.

Патиштата се различни, но пораката е иста: вложувањето во себе, градењето бренд и храброста да се направи следниот чекор ја отвораат вратата кон нови можности. 🚀

👉 Доколку сакате да го испробате фриленс навигаторот, линкот ќе го најдете во коментар.

In-box

Founder

Flowstate

Email Marketing Specialist

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Personal Assistant

Founder @ In-box | Email Marketing, Klaviyo Certified In-box.co.nz

If you’re an e-commerce brand doing $100K+/month, we need to talk. 

I run In-box, an email + SMS agency that helps brands turn browsers into buyers and buyers into repeat customers using smart automations and campaign strategy. 

No fluff. 

No spammy hacks. 

Just clean systems that drive consistent revenue.

If you want to take your email to the next level with high-converting flows, campaigns that people actually want to open and a strategy that works across all channels, not just email, we need to talk.

Gavin Hewitson

I can smell AI copy from a mile away

And so can your readers

It's such a turn-off when I see it

I have made it so clear to my copywriters not to use AI to write copy... use it to help

I made a full checklist for all my copywriters to ensure that the copy they receive from AI never sounds AI 

Want it? Comment Checklist, and I will send it over

Founder of In-box | Email Marketing & SMS Marketing | Klaviyo Certified In-box.co.nz

Huge shout-out to Muhammad Ali Raza

Designed my new LinkedIn banner 

Didn't ask for anything

Just put it together and sent it my way

Been following this guy in the email marketing space for years now 

Highly recommend checking his stuff out and his YouTube Channel

Just because I run a business doesn't mean I love capitalism 

'Wait... why would you want more taxes, you run a business...' 

Yeah, I also don't want my neighbour to go bankrupt because they broke their arm and can't afford the medical bill

Brother... I am working in the system I am forced to be in... I would much rather vibe out, pick berries on Sundays and hunt boar with the boys on Tuesdays. 

Just because I am benefiting from that system doesn't mean I don't see the downsides of it, and it doesn't mean I am hypocritical for calling it out and at the same time, trying to survive within it...

Now... go ahead and subscribe to my YouTube channels so I can retire early.

By the end of this month

My Skool program will be live

Everything my agency does 

Distilled into one community

Watch this space

Most agency owners are freelancers in disguise.

The only way that I have managed to step out of the 'day to day'

If by building systems

If you’re still winging client delivery, you’re not running an agency.

You’re running a job.

The only way you scale is with clear SOPs, tight processes, and the ability to hand off tasks without chaos. 

By the way

Notion templates and Loom videos aren’t enough.

You need a system that literally maps out every stage of the client lifecycle

And breaks down every single recurring task

This has been the biggest unlock for my business when it comes to operations.

I have spent well over 100 hours building out Asana boards for almost every type of project we could possibly be commissioned for. 

We clone a master Asana board for every client who comes on board.

Inside that board, every SOP is its own task with detailed instructions. Over time, we refined it until project managers, designers, builders, and assistants could all execute without me.

If something went wrong, I didn’t blame the team. I updated the system.

That’s the difference between a freelancer and an agency.

The faster you stop relying on memory and start documenting execution, the faster you build an actual business.

Just a reminder for your upcoming Black Friday sale

Not everyone needs the same level of discount

I find it funny when I see businesses offer the guy who has bought 5 items from them and the guy who has bought nothing from them the same discount 

Companies are throwing away margin unnecessarily because... they are lazy

For our clients (yes... subtle pitch ;) )

We are dividing audiences into segments based on purchase history

And laying out different incentives for each of these segments 

The results, the same, if not more, revenue for our clients

But even better

We are making more profit from those sales 

If we can get someone to buy at 40% or 20% off, why the hell would I give them 20% off? 

I would much rather get the same sale with more profit

Just a little tip for ya

taplio

The Battle

Stefan Stefanov

Gavin Hewitson

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreStefan Stefanov's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGavin Hewitson's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Stefan Stefanov

Gavin Hewitson

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Stefan Stefanov's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGavin Hewitson's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreStefan Stefanov's LinkedIn Performance