When Lucy, the founder of a seasonal plant brand, came to me, she was doing what a lot of brilliant founder-led brands do with email marketing: sending the occasional newsletter and hoping it would land (sound familiar?).
Her go-to campaign? A weekly “What’s ready to order now” newsletter to her whole list. No segmentation, no automation, no data-led, email marketing strategy, just writing something up when she had time and hoping it brought in a few orders.
To be fair, sometimes it did. But she knew email could be doing more.
What she didn’t expect was just how quickly things would change once we set her up properly on Klaviyo.
Within 30 days of launching her new account and flows, email was responsible for over 56% of her total revenue. Not a typo. 56%.
Here’s how we did it, and what other founder-led product-based brands can learn from it.
Where we started: a great product, a loyal customer base… but no real email plan
Lucy’s a brilliant (passionate) founder with a seasonal product, an engaged customer base and a steadily growing audience. She started running Meta ads for the first time this year. But email? It wasn’t working for her.
She’d been using Shopify Email marketing, with no flows in place. No welcome series. No browse or cart recovery. Just one-off broadcasts when she had something to say. It wasn’t consistent, it wasn’t targeted, and it definitely wasn’t set up to scale.
As she put it:
“I know email works. I just need a plan, and I have no idea where to start.”
Her goals were clear:
- Grow her list
- Increase online sales
- Build something that didn’t rely on her manually writing every email
So we got to work.
The build: from blank slate to automated email marketing engine
We started from scratch and set Lucy up on Klaviyo. No copying and pasting from old systems. No duct-taped templates. Just a clean, strategic foundation built to scale.
We took time to understand her customers and how they buy:
- When are they browsing?
- What are they worried about?
- What kind of guidance or reassurance helps them click “Add to Cart”?
As the basis of our Klaviyo email marketing plan, we used those insights to build a journey that spoke directly to her customers’ mindset.
Don’t forget what happens after they click “Place my order.” We wanted to make sure that her customers felt taken care of so that next season, they’ll be back and excited to shop.

Here’s what we built:
- A master email marketing template that matched her branding and website (finally!)
- Sign-up forms that look great on both desktop and mobile
- A welcome flow designed to introduce the brand and convert first-time buyers
- Abandoned browse, cart, and checkout flows
- Post-purchase flows for both “Placed order” and “Fulfilled order” events
- Abandoned collection flow to engage mid-funnel traffic
Three months later, once we saw the early wins, we expanded the journey:
- Win-back flow to re-engage past customers and show them what was looking great right now in the garden (all dynamic)
- Birthday flow to build long-term loyalty (and capturing that demographic who love a potter at the garden centre on their birthday… or is that just me?!)
- Sunset flow to keep her list clean and her deliverability strong
- Back in stock notifications for high-interest products
Every flow was designed to feel personal, low-effort for Lucy, and totally on brand.
The early wins: what happened in the first 30 days
I always say flows are your best bet if you want fast results, and Lucy’s project proved it.
Within 72 hours of launching her new Klaviyo setup, Lucy was already seeing orders come in from the browse abandonment flow.
The forms were converting at 5-6% (well above Klaviyo’s average).
Here’s what the first 30 days looked like:
- Email was responsible for 56% of total revenue
- £10.5K attributed to Klaviyo
- £4.6K from flows
- £5.8K from campaigns
- Revenue up 588% vs the previous period
- 184 new subscribers
- Average open rates: 49.4%, click rates: 5.5%
All of this happened in a seasonal window that she’d previously been relying on Facebook ads and the occasional email to support. Now? Email is doing the heavy lifting and making sure she’s getting as much out of her paid traffic as possible.
A year-on-year comparison that speaks for itself
Let’s zoom out and look at the same seasonal revenue.

Spring 2024: £5,179 total email revenue
Spring 2025 (post Klaviyo set up): £60,340 total email revenue
That’s a 1,065% increase year-on-year.
→ Campaign revenue: £2,977 → £33,328
→ Flow revenue: £2,201 → £27,011
I mean… you don’t get results like that from a weekly campaign alone.
What made it work?
There are a few things that really made this click:
1. We mapped the entire customer journey
Not just one or two flows. We built a system that followed how people actually shop—from first browse to repeat purchase.
2. We built around how her customers buy
Lucy’s customers often need education and expert reassurance. We used every email to build trust.
3. Lucy already had authority, we amplified it
She’s well known in her space. She knows her stuff. So we leaned into that and positioned her as the go-to expert. Every flow helped customers feel confident that they were buying from the best.
4. The forms weren’t just “set and forget”
We didn’t just set them live and let them run. We tested background colours, CTAs (calls-to-action), offers and placement - This is one of the most important tips for email marketing! The more people we can get signed up, the more sales she’ll get in her Welcome flow.
What other brands can learn
If you’re still only sending newsletters when you have time, this is your sign to stop winging it.
You don’t need to send more emails. You need better systems.
That includes flows that:
- Welcome new subscribers properly
- Nudge browsers who didn’t buy
- Check in after an order and build loyalty
- Bring back lapsed customers
- Retarget high-intent visitors (on autopilot)
And forms that actually convert. Not just “subscribe to our newsletter,” but with an offer they’re really interested in using. This is where you need to move away from generic email marketing templates.
Email doesn’t have to be overwhelming. But it does need a plan.
Bonus tip: email + ads = a very good time
Lucy didn’t rely on email alone.
Alongside her Klaviyo flows, she was running Meta ads to drive new traffic. Smart move. But this time, her email setup was ready to catch every potential customer.
Every visitor from those ads who signed up? Retargeted in a Welcome flow with a discount.Every customer who bought once? Now, in a win-back flow to tempt them to purchase again.Every collection they browsed? We followed up with more seasonal items they might like.
What’s next for Lucy?
Now that her flows are running smoothly, Lucy’s focusing on growth - this automation is one of the key advantages of email marketing. We’ve set up A/B tests for her forms and subject lines. We’re exploring new flows like low stock alerts and price drop emails.
And most importantly: email no longer feels like a guessing game.
“Results are fab—so pleased!” – Lucy
Want results like this?
If you’re a founder-led product brand with a growing audience, email should be driving serious revenue for you. If it’s not, let’s fix that.
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Let’s turn email into your best-performing channel.