Grow your ecommerce store · Email marketing · 3 min read
How to Hire the Best Ecommerce Email Marketing Agency
Short answer
Do one thing first: audit your current email setup and numbers, so you know which flows exist, what email earns today and what you want improved. Then shortlist agencies that specialize in ecommerce and your platform, ask for real examples and references, agree on clear deliverables and metrics, and start with a defined trial period.
A good email agency can turn your list into a dependable revenue channel. A poor one sends pretty campaigns that don't sell and leaves you with a messy account. The difference often comes down to what you do before signing anything.
The one thing to do first: audit yourself
Before talking to any agency, spend an hour finding out where you stand:
- Which automations exist? Welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, win-back, back in stock.
- What does email earn now? Look at attributed revenue per month in your platform and as a share of total store revenue.
- List size and growth. How many subscribers, how many added each month, from which sources.
- Engagement. Click rates and unsubscribe rates by campaign.
- Deliverability. Is your domain authenticated (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)?
This gives you a baseline to judge pitches and measure the agency later. If you're unsure whether you need outside help at all, read should you hire an email marketer for your Shopify store.
Define what you want
Pick two or three goals:
- Build missing flows
- Increase email's share of revenue
- Grow the list faster
- Send consistent campaigns without your involvement
- Add SMS
Clear goals let agencies propose concrete plans instead of generic packages.
Where to find agencies
- Your email platform's partner directory (Klaviyo has one)
- Referrals from other store owners
- Founder communities and Shopify forums
- Agencies whose emails you've received and liked
Questions to ask
- Which ecommerce brands like ours have you worked with? Ask for examples and permission to speak to a reference.
- What will you do in the first 30, 60 and 90 days?
- Who will actually work on our account? Strategist, copywriter, designer?
- How do you handle copy and design? In-house or freelancers?
- How do you measure success? Which attribution settings and reports?
- How often will we meet and get reports?
- What do you need from us? Product info, images, approvals, offers.
- What happens if we part ways? Who owns the templates and flows?
Red flags
- Guaranteed revenue numbers or percentages
- Asking to own your email platform account
- Pushing heavy discounting as the main strategy
- No questions about your margins, customers or products
- Templates that look identical across every client
- Long lock-in contracts before any results
Contract essentials
- Scope: number of campaigns, flows, design and copy included
- Revisions and approval process
- Reporting cadence and metrics
- Trial or initial term with a reasonable exit clause
- Ownership of creative and account access
- Confidentiality and data handling
Measuring the agency
Compare against your baseline after three months:
- Email-attributed revenue and its share of total revenue
- Revenue per recipient for campaigns and flows
- List growth rate
- Unsubscribe and spam complaint rates
Remember attribution windows differ between tools, so compare like with like. Our guide to optimizing email marketing covers the metrics worth watching.
Prepare your assets
Agencies move faster when you hand over a tidy package on day one: brand guidelines, logo files, product photography, your current offers and discount rules, shipping and returns policies, and a list of upcoming launches or promotions for the next quarter. Add your margins on key products so they don't build flows around discounts you can't afford. Give them platform access through user accounts rather than shared passwords. These materials save weeks of back-and-forth and let the agency spend its first month on strategy instead of chasing information.
Agency, freelancer or in-house?
| Option | Good for |
|---|---|
| Agency | Full service: strategy, copy, design, SMS |
| Freelancer | Specific tasks, smaller budgets |
| In-house | Larger brands with high email volume |
Smaller stores often start with a freelancer and move to an agency as revenue grows. For timing advice, read when to hire an email marketing expert for your Shopify store.
Frequently asked questions
When should a store hire an email marketing agency?
When you have steady traffic and orders but lack the time or skill to build flows and send regular campaigns, and the expected revenue lift exceeds the agency's fee.
What should an email agency deliver in the first month?
Typically an audit, a strategy, and the core automated flows (welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase) built or improved, plus a campaign calendar.
Who should own the email platform account?
You should. Keep the Klaviyo or Mailchimp account in your business's name and give the agency user access.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.