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Insurance companies are paying $10-14K for medical-grade kids' beds, and parents aren't paying a dollar out of pocket. This changes everything about how you structure your email strategy, bundle offerings, and lifecycle automation. In this episode, Samar Owais breaks down the exact email playbook she built for a medical device brand that creates beds for kids with special needs.

What You'll Learn:

→ Why bundle offers outperform discounts when insurance covers the cost → The 90-day customer journey from quiz to approval to purchase

→ How to write empathetic emails for sleep-deprived special needs parents → Why weekly nurture alone won't drive sales (and what will)

→ Accessory upsells that drive repeat purchases after a one-time big buy

→ The psychology of buying when someone else pays the bill

If you're a DTC founder, email marketer, or eCommerce operator trying to figure out high-AOV email strategies, niche market positioning, or lifecycle automation for complex purchase journeys, this episode gives you a complete playbook from a real client case study.

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Find out more about Samar: https://samarowais.com

Take the Email Strategy Quiz: https://emailsdoneright.com/quiz

Check out the eCommerce Email Bootcamp: https://emailsdoneright.com/eebc-special-admission

00:00 Intro: Insurance pays $10-14K for kids' beds

01:39 Medical device brand scenario introduction

02:29 Samar introduces the client case study

03:45 Why bundle offers are the correct answer

05:15 Understanding the audience: parents vs. kids as users

06:30 The empathetic email approach for sleep-deprived parents

08:10 Importance of knowing your customer deeply

09:29 Additional products: pillows and accessories for repeat purchases

10:38 The 90-day purchase journey and qualification quiz

13:15 Post-purchase education and measuring success

15:45 Using testimonials instead of making medical claims

17:54 The power of social proof from exhausted parents

19:12 Compliance challenges with medical-grade products

19:50 Service guarantees and bed repair programs

20:33 Why 20% off discounts don't work for this brand

21:42 The role of weekly nurture emails in the strategy

22:24 Potential for secondary bed purchases

22:48 Final insight: knowing when buyer and user are different

23:11 Outro: Key takeaways and livestream announcement

Most 7-figure DTC brands hire full-time email marketing managers and wonder why revenue doesn't move. The problem isn't effort, it's that one person can't genuinely master strategy, copywriting, design, data analytics, and technical execution. And if they could, you couldn't afford them.

Elliot Kovac is the founder of Dispatch, an email & SMS marketing agency that's generated over $50M for DTC brands. After spending 10,000+ hours inside Klaviyo as an e-commerce director at an 8-figure apparel brand, Elliot built an agency on one core value: don't suck. Today he breaks down the math and reality behind why agencies with specialists outperform full-time generalists at the 7-8 figure scale—and where the threshold changes.

What We Cover:

→ Why there's not enough meaningful work for 40 hours/week at 7-8 figure brands

→ The five expertise domains required (strategy, copy, design, data, technical) and why one person can't master all of them

→ Why the "unicorn" hire who's expert at everything would cost $250-300K

→ Where the nine-figure revenue threshold changes the full-time vs agency equation

→ The opportunity cost of hiring wrong and what brands miss in lost revenue

→ Why 5 hours per week from specialists beats 40 hours from a generalist

If you're a founder or operator at a $1M-$20M DTC brand wrestling with whether to hire an email manager or work with an agency, this conversation will save you months of ramp time and potentially hundreds of thousands in lost revenue.

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

Connect with Elliot:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-kovac-13a7b0152/

https://x.com/elliotkovac28

https://www.thedispatch.agency/

00:00 Why 5-10 hours from experts beats 40 hours from a generalist

01:08 The controversial take: What do email managers actually do for 40 hours?

03:42 The revenue threshold where full-time makes sense

04:10 Nine figures changes everything: Why $10M brands need agencies

05:45 The five expertise domains one person can't master

07:22 The unicorn hire problem: Why they cost $250-300K

08:24 Resource allocation: Better places to spend that salary

10:20 Why most agencies suck and what makes Dispatch different

13:45 Strategy, copy, design, data, technical: Expertise requires reps

16:38 The jaded perspective after hundreds of brand audits

18:52 Opportunity cost and not knowing what you don't know

19:43 What agencies can and can't bring to the table

21:32 Email as your direct communication line with customers

23:10 The oversight most brands make until it's too late

23:42 Final recap and where to find Elliot

Amazon can take up to 50% of your revenue, and DTC brands are still scaling profitably. Here's the complete breakdown of when Shopify brands should launch on Amazon, how to protect margins, and why your wholesale strategy might be sabotaging your marketplace success before you even start.

Mark Lathrum is the Founder and GM of Tiide Commerce, an Amazon growth agency that's helped DTC brands scale from first launch to eight figures on the platform. With almost a decade in the Amazon ecosystem, Mark specializes in helping Shopify-first brands navigate marketplace economics, avoid cannibalization, and unlock incremental revenue

What You'll Learn:

→ The real breakdown of Amazon's 40-50% fee structure (and why it's still profitable)

→ When Shopify brands should actually launch on Amazon (revenue threshold + readiness checklist)

→ FBA vs FBM: Why 95% of brands should choose FBA despite the fees

→ How to price $2-4 higher on Amazon without customer complaints

→ The wholesale trap: Why 60% of wholesale products leak to Amazon and ruin your launch

→ Why you can't spend on Amazon like you do on Meta (and what to do instead) → Product selection strategy to avoid cannibalizing your DTC channel

→ When to hire in-house Amazon talent vs. working with an agency

If you're a DTC founder or operator doing $1M+ on Shopify and considering Amazon as your next growth channel, this episode gives you the complete framework to launch strategically, protect your brand, and scale profitably on the world's largest marketplace.

Connect with Mark:

linkedin.com/in/marklathrum

Mark’s Agency: https://tiideco.com/

Connect with Matt:

https://x.com/mattlady

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlady/

The Performance Marketing Agency for eCommerce & DTC Brands: https://www.klientboost.com/

00:00 Amazon takes 40-50% of revenue

01:01 When Shopify brands should launch on Amazon

02:25 Inventory requirements and working with experts

03:35 FBM vs FBA: The 95% rule explained

04:30 Breaking down Amazon's fee structure

05:49 Why you can't scale spending like Meta

07:20 The review and ranking throttle explained

07:50 Product selection to avoid cannibalization

09:15 Pricing $2-4 higher on Amazon strategy

11:45 Bundle and multi-pack tactics

13:30 Amazon's search algorithm dynamics

17:15 Category and keyword strategy

20:15 Brand consistency across channels

21:00 Packaging inserts: What's allowed vs banned

22:16 Cannibalization concerns addressed

23:48 Wholesale warning: 60% leak to Amazon

25:09 In-house Amazon hire vs agency ($10M threshold)

28:07 Final takeaways