How We Prep Brands for Inbox Success (Before BFCM)

Hey there, Tarun from Milkshake🥤

Welcome to the BFCM Growth Series, our 6-part playbook for crushing Q4 with email and SMS.

Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll be walking you through the exact strategies we’re implementing for our 7-8 figure ecommerce brands to drive serious revenue during BFCM.

From deliverability and list growth, to segmentation, flows, campaign calendars, and post-BFCM strategies, we’re breaking it all down, step by step.

No fluff. Just actionable systems you can deploy now to stay ahead of the BFCM chaos.

Let’s get into it 👇

🧠 Why Deliverability Is Your Q4 Lifeline

If your emails don't land in the inbox, nothing else matters.

The best offer. The prettiest design. The perfect subject line.

All worthless if you're trapped in the Promotions or Spam folder.

This is why we start prepping deliverability in September/October.

Let’s walk through the same process we use to get our ecommerce clients 100% inbox-ready. 👇

🔧 Step 1: Audit Your Deliverability Health

Before you change anything, you need visibility.

Use these tools to benchmark your current inbox performance:

✅ Klaviyo Health Dashboard: Review your account’s sending reputation.

✅ Google Postmaster Tools: Check domain reputation, spam rate, and authentication.

✅ GlockApps: Run inbox placement tests across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and Apple Mail.

Look for red flags like:

• High bounce/spam complaint rates

• Sudden drop in open or click rates

• Inbox placement score below 70%

If your score is under 70%, your BFCM emails are unlikely to hit the inbox, and your campaign strategy will underperform.

🛠️ Step 2: Fix The Technical Foundations

You want to lay the concrete before building the walls of your BFCM house. Without it, everything crumbles.

Here’s what to double-check now:

1. SPF / DKIM / DMARC Authentication

These DNS records verify that your emails are legitimately from your brand, and ISPs require them for inbox placement.

Run tests via your ESP or tools like MXToolbox to confirm:

• ✅ SPF includes your sending domain

• ✅ DKIM is signed and valid

• ✅ DMARC policy is set up (at minimum p=none)

2. Dedicated Sending Domain

If you’re still sending from [email protected] or a shared domain like news.klaviyoemail.com, you’re playing a dangerous game.

Switch to a branded subdomain like: → mail.brand.com or email.brand.com

Then warm it up slowly with consistent sending to your engaged segment.

3. Sender Identity Consistency

In the 4-6 weeks leading up to BFCM, avoid any major changes to your:

• “From name”

• “From email address”

• Sending IP (if applicable)

Why? Sudden changes are a red flag for ISPs and can hurt deliverability right before your biggest sales window.

💌 Step 3: Run a Controlled Reactivation Program

You probably have thousands or tens of thousands of dormant subscribers sitting in your list.

Ignoring them is a missed opportunity, but blasting them all at once? Suicide for your domain.

Here’s our safe, tested method for reactivating them without killing your inbox score.

✅ 1. Build Your Pool

• Source manually suppressed profiles with last engagement ≤ 365 days

• Prioritize the freshest first:
  → 90 days > 180 > 270 > 365
  

✅ 2. Create “Batch 01”

• Start small: max 1,000 profiles or 2% of suppressed pool

• Tag every profile with reactivate_batch_01 for tracking
  

✅ 3. Route to a Dedicated Winback Flow

• Email #1: Sent immediately

• Email #2: Sent 72 hours later only if no open/click
  

✅ 4. Use Gradual Send

• Spread sends across 12-24 hours to avoid delivery spikes and throttling
  

✅ 5. Run a Health Check After 24 Hours

• If spam ≥ 0.15% or hard bounce ≥ 0.4%, halt the program

• Resuppress non-engagers from Batch 01 and investigate

• If clean? Launch Batch 02 48–72 hours later
  

✅ 6. Write Re-Engagement Friendly Content

• Email 1: “We miss you” + soft CTA

• Email 2: Add small perk (free shipping, free sample, bonus points)

💡 If a profile clicks, opens, or purchases → move them into active segments.

✅ 7. Sunset Cold Profiles

• No engagement after 2 touches?
  → Resuppress for 90 days
  → Exclude from all BFCM campaigns

Final Thoughts

Most ecommerce brands wait until mid-November to realize their deliverability is broken.

By then, it’s too late.

Want to be 100% inbox-ready before BFCM hits?

We’ll audit your account and implement this deliverability strategy for you before the chaos starts.

The next email will be focusing on your segmentation and how to get them BFCM ready.

See you in the next one,

Tarun

PS: If you’re an ecommerce brand making over 50K/month and need help with fixing your deliverability before BFCM? Book a call with me personally here