Tuesday, April 8

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In today’s newsletter 

• The First Name Fix: How Simple Personalization Spiked Open Rates by 28%

• Where Top DTC Brands Go to Grow — The 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show

• This Brand's Customer Support Inbox? Their Secret Marketing Goldmine

• A lesser-known tariff hack that can literally buy you time

• Turn Ideas into Reality: Find Customizable Products Instantly!

  Let's dive into it!👇

Need FREE Strategy advice?

• Email Marketing - Talk to Ibrahim

• Paid Ads - Talk to Sai

• Growing on Social Media - Talk to Hana

The First Name Fix: How Simple Personalization Spiked Open Rates by 28%

I love talking about emails and all things retention. And by now, you should know, personalization is more than dropping someone’s name in the subject line. But if you’re not even doing that yet, definitely start there!

We A/B tested a flow for a pet brand with and without the first name tag in the subject. Result? 28% higher open rate for the personalized version.

But here’s where it gets interesting: using behavioral personalization—like referencing the breed of the pet or the last product viewed—boosted click throughs by an additional 15%.

Quick wins to try today:

• Add first name to subject lines and preview text

• Segment by previous product viewed and use that as the hook ("Still thinking about the calming cat bed?") - Klaviyo or other tools have dynamic properties for this purpose

• Reference location or weather ("Rainy day in Portland? Here's what to wear")

Don’t overdo it. One personalized element per email is usually enough.

Want to test this? Start with a 50/50 split on your next campaign. Make one version hyper-personalized, and another one being generic. You’d be surprised how such small tweaks can make a big impact.

Where Top DTC Brands Go to Grow — The 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show

The Growth Show is the ultimate destination for digital retail and DTC leaders ready to level up. Taking place June 24–26 in NYC, this must-attend event brings together 150+ speakers and 75+ sessions to focus on what matters most: growth, innovation and connection.

2700+ attendees are joining CommerceNext this year—don’t miss your chance to meet and engage with retail leaders in an environment built for bold thinking and real conversations.

Get your travel covered: Qualified retailers can receive up to $1,200 in travel reimbursement through the most generous travel program in the industry.

If you want to make lasting connections and learn from the best, you need to be here.

This Brand's Customer Support Inbox? Their Secret Marketing Goldmine

One of the things I love spending some of my time on is reading our customer support tickets. And if you're not reading your customer support tickets, you're ignoring the best copywriter on your team: your customer.

A skincare brand we worked with noticed a trend: tons of tickets asking if their retinol was safe for first time users. Instead of tweaking the FAQ, we turned that into a full blown campaign:

Subject: "New to Retinol? Read This First"

Open rates? 42%. But more importantly, 17% of those who clicked bought a beginner bundle.

Here’s how to do it:

• Pull the last 100 (or more) support tickets and look for common themes or questions

• Turn the top 3 into educational campaigns

• Link to relevant products with CTA copy that syncs well with the original concern ("Gentle enough for first timers")

Supports tickets does not mean solving an issue, and you’re done. It’s data too. And possibly the previews of your next 3 educational emails. You have the data - just use them well.

A lesser-known tariff hack that can literally buy you time

Honestly, this is the kind of advice no supplier or freight forwarder will ever tell you, but can keep your business alive during a tariff crunch.

They hold your goods in limbo—tariffs unpaid—until you need them. Which means, no panic-paying huge duties on containers that aren’t even ready to sell yet.

If you’re tight on cash and got hit with Trump’s tariff wave, this move buys you time and breathing room. Especially helpful if you’re still figuring out pricing, strategy, or just need a moment to think.

But that said, Aaron (Ship Hero’s Founder) does have some warning:

This is obviously not a viable option for all. So proceed only after thinking through, and AFTER making your own research.

Turn Ideas into Reality: Find Customizable Products Instantly!

Inspired by a product idea but want to make it uniquely yours? Struggling to find suppliers who can bring your vision to life with the highest margin? With Alibaba Lens, the AI-powered image search Chrome extension, you can instantly find customizable products at the best wholesale prices—all without switching tabs!

📸 Simply screenshot any product, and Alibaba Lens will find customizable options from over 200 million products and 1.5 million verified suppliers worldwide. No more endless supplier searches, no more generic products—create something truly your own.

Why Alibaba Lens?

✅ AI-Powered Precision: Advanced image + text search delivers fast, accurate sourcing results
✅ Brand-Ready Customization: From private labeling to unique product designs, easily source from suppliers who help build your competitive edge
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Join over 5 million smart buyers using Alibaba Lens to create high-margin, custom products and build stronger brands. Start customizing today—add Alibaba Lens to your browser for free!

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Have any questions that you need help with?

Ask here - look out for Friday’s issue where Ibrahim will answer them.