Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️

I run retention for some of the best 7-9 figure ecom brands in the world. $300M+ generated, 150 brands, 7 years in. Teardowns, takes, and a free course 👇

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

I've run retention for 150 ecom brands over 7 years. $300M+ in email and SMS revenue. Most retention advice on X is written by people who've never managed a real list at scale. Here's how it actually works in 2026, from your list to your LTV 🧵

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Plenty of agencies chase logos for the case study. We'd rather keep a brand for three years than win a name we'll lose in three months.

Our roster is built on renewals, not trophies, because retention is literally the thing we sell. If we couldn't retain our own clients, why would you trust us with yours?

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Map your discount ladder before you need it, don't improvise it. Welcome gets the standard offer, abandonment can go a touch higher, winback higher still, and your true VIPs get access instead of a deeper cut.

When every flow reaches for its own number on the fly, you train customers to hold out for the biggest one.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Myth: GIFs and animation make emails feel premium.

Reality: they balloon load time, break in plenty of inboxes, and distract from the one thing you want clicked.

A clean, fast email that loads instantly beats a moving one that renders as a broken box. Motion isn't the same as polish.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Myth: a higher open rate is always the goal.

Reality: you can juice opens with clickbait and tank everything downstream when the email doesn't deliver on the promise.

An open that doesn't lead to a click or a sale is a cost, not a win. Optimize the whole funnel, not the vanity step at the top.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Most brands write to the average customer, who doesn't exist. Your list is a first-timer who's never heard your story sitting next to a 10-time buyer who knows it cold, getting the same email.

Write to a specific person at a specific stage and conversion climbs. "Everyone" is the audience nobody answers to.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

@ecomAJb Breakthrough Advertising and Cashvertising are def. my faves!

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

Get all of my email marketing guides for 100% FREE below:

https://t.co/lzc3XZAbAj

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

My favorite type of month?

No drama.
Clients happy.
Team calm.
Numbers steady.

Boring is elite.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

I'd rather tell a prospect an uncomfortable truth about their setup than win the deal with a comfortable lie.

After 150 brands the diagnosis is usually the same three problems, and sugarcoating it just buys them another quarter of flat revenue.

They can hear it from me now or from their P&L later.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

That's the operator version of retention in 2026.

The full system is in my free course. 275 pages on exactly how we run email and SMS across 150 brands.

Grab it via the link in my bio!

Follow for more like this.

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

I've run retention for 150 ecom brands over 7 years. $300M+ in email and SMS revenue. Most retention advice on X is written by people who've never managed a real list at scale. Here's how it actually works in 2026, from your list to your LTV 🧵

[Emiel | The Retention Magician 🧙‍♂️ @Email_Magician]

The real moat in 2026 isn't AI, everyone has AI.

Anyone can spin up a store and one-shot a year of email copy in an hour. What they can't copy is taste and strategy. The brands that win are the ones who know which move is right, not the ones who pump out the most slop fastest.