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.

DTC EMAIL MARKETING

Founder | CERTIFIED Email Marketing Manager & Copywriter

Light Stalking

Direct Response Copywriter & AWeber Manager

Senior Copywriter

Ya-Hub

Managing professional client translation projects across the UK, USA, Canada, Middle East and all  English speaking countries (including areas of Europe & Asia).

We are specialised in North/South consulting and outsourcing and we offer business services to companies across the globe at very competitive rates. 

Our company can assist you with translation, (multilingual) web design / optimisation and business development fields. Headquartered in London, UK, we have a global presence in Europe (Paris, Brussels, Geneva) and North America (New York). 

Headoffice London: UDC, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE. You can reach us by email info@upanddowncs.com, via Skype upanddowncs or by telephone (44) 7948 504 642 for general inquiries. 

Realtid® Translation Chat Service http://www.realtid.net and Yazyk Multilingual Services (Translation, multilingual web design/optimisation) http://www.yazyk.co.uk are the property of UDC.

Sales Project Manager (UK, North America, Australia)

Walk the Walk Worldwide

* Built & maintained long-standing relationships with local and national volunteer groups, and large corporations further enhancing the charity’s profile. Annual renewed lead generation.
* Recruitment, management & distribution of 3000+ volunteers for our events. 
* Liaise closely with our Volunteers Director & CEO in addition to building strong relationships with our experienced social groups. 
* Managing a small office team to aid our preparation of documents, queries, communication and inventory for the events & charity directors.
* Prepare equipment, inventory & paperwork to very tight and specific deadlines. 
* Encourage and develop ‘fundraising support’ for our Volunteers.
* Manage allocation of tasks for our weekly office volunteers.
* Attending regular board meetings with staff, directors & external sub-contractors to discuss future events planning & de brief the year’s events.

Event Marketing Manager

KKSF Radio 103.7 (Clear Channel)

Internship for major Jazz Radio station in the Bay Area as Marketing & PR assistant.

Duties including:
* Editing existing website information,
* Assisting PR & Marketing Director with daily administrative email management,
* Proof-reading web page articles and editing images to publish live,
* Calling competition winners, plus follow up emails and written letters,
* Organising and running PR stand at various concerts, promoting products, CDs, launches, competitions and the music.

Marketing Assistant

Email marketer behind 7-fig DTC brands | Certified Klaviyo & Mailchimp Pro | Email Copywriter

Email Marketing to Boost Revenue for DTC Brands with Advanced AI Strategies

With an 8-year proven history in email marketing and status as a top-rated plus professional on Upwork, my expertise lies in catapulting ecommerce brands to unparalleled growth using email marketing, copywriting, and now, advanced AI technologies.

Unresponsive email campaigns and automations are now gone...
It's time to boost engagement and increase your revenue which your brand could be in danger of leaving on the table by integrating cutting-edge AI solutions.

Achievements of mine:

>> Consistently deliver over 40% revenue increase for ecommerce brands through Klaviyo-optimised email marketing strategies - but MOST importantly, targeting customer retention and LTV for brands.
>> Enhanced email marketing campaigns with AI-driven insights and prompt engineering, leading to a 20% increase in open rates and a 15% boost in conversions.
>> Successfully integrated AI tools to analyze customer data and optimise email content, resulting in more personalised and effective campaigns.

Why Choose Me?

☑️ Deep ESP Email Expertise: From segmentation to automated flows, I know most ESPs inside out.
☑️ AI-Driven Insights: Leverage advanced AI tools and prompt engineering to refine your email strategies and boost engagement.
☑️ Trust & Transparency: Be in the loop. I ensure you're always informed and a part of the journey.
☑️ Proven Upwork Reputation: My top-rated PLUS profile is evidence of my dedication to quality and results.
☑️ Unique Strategy Design: Each strategy is a blend of market insights, real-world experiences, and AI-driven data, tailor-made for your brand.

Ready to make the most of email marketing for your ecommerce brand? Reach out below.

Email: rgoodman82@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +44 7834379720

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Stefan Stefanov

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The Battle

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Russell Goodman

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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

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