Case Study
From Blocked Campaigns to Cost-Efficient Success
Summary
This case study examines how a women’s fashion e-commerce store with 20,000 email subscribers transformed their revenue generation strategy by implementing a professional email marketing infrastructure. The client initially relied exclusively on Facebook and Google Ads, with previous email marketing attempts resulting in complete failure due to poor database management and technical setup issues.
Through our white-label email marketing platform, we successfully cleaned and warmed their database, implemented proper technical configurations, and achieved over 96% inbox deliverability. The results demonstrated significantly higher ROI compared to traditional paid advertising channels, with only a 10% budget reallocation from Facebook Ads.
Challenge & Context
The Client Profile
Our client operated a successful women’s fashion e-commerce store with approximately 20,000 email addresses collected over several years. Despite having this valuable asset, they focused exclusively on Facebook Ads and Google Ads for customer acquisition and retention, leaving their email database completely unused.
Previous Failed Attempts
First attempt – Complete Disaster
The store owners initially tried email marketing by taking the most basic approach possible. They exported their entire raw database and uploaded it directly into an Email Service Provider (ESP) platform. Without any preparation or technical setup, they created a simple template and sent thousands of emails at once using their paid plan limits.
The results were catastrophic – their account was immediately blocked and all campaigns suspended. This happened because:
- Raw database issues: The email list contained numerous invalid addresses, duplicates, incorrectly formatted emails, and addresses that hadn’t received emails for years
- Abnormal sending nehavior: Sending thousands of emails to a “cold” database triggered spam filters and appeared as suspicious activity to the ESP
- Missing DNS configuration: Critical email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) were not configured, causing emails to fail authentication checks
- No warm-up process: Attempting to send high volumes immediately without gradually building sender reputation
- Poor list hygiene: No verification of email validity or engagement potential before sending
Second Attempt – Limited Success
Learning from their first failure, the store owners tried a more cautious approach:
- Basic cleaning by removing obviously fake emails and duplicates
- Sending only 200-300 emails daily to avoid triggering spam filters
- Using their own domain for sending
While this method worked technically, it created new problems:
- Scale limitations: At 200-300 emails per day, it took weeks to reach their full database
- Missed opportunities: During 5-day promotional campaigns, they could only reach 25% of their audience before offers expired
- Critical timing issues: Flash sales, Black Friday promotions, and holiday campaigns required immediate reach to the entire database
- Poor ROI: Such small volumes generated minimal revenue impact
- Technical risks: Using their own domain for email marketing exposed their primary business domain to potential blacklisting
Methodology of our service
Phase 1: Database audit and deep cleaning
We began by exporting their complete raw database of 20,000 email addresses and subjecting it to our comprehensive audit process:
- Format validation: Removed emails with incorrect syntax and formatting
- Domain verification: Checked validity of email domains and removed non-existent ones
- Duplicate elimination: Identified and removed multiple entries for the same addresses
- Spam trap detection: Filtered out known spam trap addresses that could damage sender reputation
This process reduced their list to approximately 16,500 validated addresses.
Phase 2: Audience warm-up and re-engagement
Instead of immediately sending promotional content, we implemented a strategic warm-up campaign:
- Gradual volume increase: Started with 500 emails per day, gradually increasing to full database capacity
- Re-engagement content: Sent welcome-back messages and brand story content to re-establish connection
- Engagement monitoring: Tracked open rates, click rates, and negative responses
- Progressive segmentation: Identified highly engaged, moderately engaged, and low-engagement subscribers
Phase 3: Secondary database cleaning
After the warm-up period, we performed a second cleaning phase:
- Bounce removal: Eliminated addresses that returned hard bounces
- Unsubscribe processing: Properly handled opt-out requests
- Engagement-based filtering: Separated highly engaged audiences for priority targeting
This resulted in a final clean database of approximately 14,800 active, engaged subscribers.
Phase 4: Infrastructure setup
All campaigns were sent through our white-label platform infrastructure:
- Premium domain configuration: Used our established sending domains with excellent reputation
- Proper DNS setup: Implemented SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records according to latest email authentication standards, on our domain
- Premium SMTP partners: Leveraged our relationships with top-tier email delivery services
- Advanced monitoring: Real-time tracking of delivery rates, spam complaints, and engagement metrics
Phase 5: Campaign development
We created customized email templates specifically for the fashion brand:
- Brand-aligned design: Templates matching their website aesthetic and brand voice
- Mobile optimization: Responsive designs for optimal mobile viewing
- Strategic funnel sequences: Welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, and post-purchase follow-up campaigns
ROI comparison and budget reallocation
Facebook Ads Performance (typical month):
- Budget: €4,000
- Average ROAS: 3.5x
- Revenue Generated: €14,000
- Cost per Acquisition: €25
Customer Lifetime Value Impact: Limited repeat purchase encouragement
Email Marketing Performance (with €400 budget):
- Setup and service cost: €400
- Average ROAS: 3.75x
- Revenue Generated: €1,500
- Cost per Acquisition: €16
Customer Lifetime Value Impact: Significant increase through retention campaigns
Key Financial Benefits:
- Lower Acquisition Costs: €16 per customer vs €25 through Facebook Ads
- Superior ROAS: Email marketing delivered 3.75x return vs 3.5x from Facebook
- Improved CLTV: Regular email engagement increased repeat purchase rates by 35%
- Risk diversification: Reduced dependence on paid advertising platform changes
- Owned Media Channel: Built valuable direct communication channel independent of third-party platforms
Project Results
CLTV Increase
Lower Acquisition Costs
Higher ROAS
Key Learnings
Database quality over quantity: A smaller, clean list significantly outperforms a large, unverified database
Technical infrastructure: Proper DNS configuration and sending reputation are non-negotiable
Gradual implementation: Warm-up processes prevent deliverability issues and build sustainable performance
Professional expertise: Email marketing requires specialized knowledge often unavailable in-house
Budget reallocation strategy: Small reallocations from existing marketing budgets can yield disproportionate returns