Retention · Lifecycle · Email and SMS · Klaviyo

Retention marketing for CPG brands that want repeat customers, not just first orders.

I'm Andrew Gambino. I build and run email, SMS, and lifecycle programs for CPG and DTC brands, and I tie them to your media plan and daily numbers so you know what's actually driving growth.

Klaviyo Product CertifiedSubscription and replenishment brands

19yrs

In email and lifecycle marketing

Since 2008

50+

CPG brands

Beverage, food, pet, wellness, household

2015

Consulting independently since

Clients come through referrals

About

The retention lead who also reads the media plan.

I'm Andrew Gambino, an email, SMS, and lifecycle marketing consultant. I've spent 19 years getting customers to come back, and I've worked on retention for more than 50 CPG brands.

I've run the email channel for brands like Hint and PrettyLitter, set up Klaviyo and a company-wide dashboard for Kate Farms, and worked with brands including Chomps, Hiya, Reel Paper, and Cuddle Sleep Health.

Over time my work grew past email. I plan and direct paid media budgets, build forecasts, and partner with analytics teams on daily flash reports, because retention decisions are only as good as the numbers behind them.

More about me →

What's usually broken

Most retention programs stall in the same three places.

Flows

Your flows were built at launch.

The welcome series still talks about a product line you changed two years ago, and nobody has touched post-purchase since.

Channels

Paid and retention don't talk.

Media spend goes up, but nobody's asking what happens after the first order, or whether the customers you're buying ever come back.

Reporting

The numbers don't agree.

Klaviyo says one thing, Shopify another, and the ad platforms a third. Decisions get made on whichever report shows up first.

Services

Four ways to work together.

Most brands start with an audit. Retention is the core. Planning and reporting keep it honest.

How I think about it

Retention isn't a channel. It's what happens to every customer you pay for.

Most retention work gets measured in a vacuum: open rates, flow revenue, a number in Klaviyo that looks good in a deck. I look at it the way a CFO would. What did we pay for this customer, how fast do they come back, and what's the plan to make that happen more often?

  1. Acquire

    Media plan

    Budgets and channels planned against what customers are worth, not just first-order ROAS.

  2. Convert

    First order

    Welcome, lead nurture, and abandonment flows turn traffic you paid for into customers.

  3. Retain

    Lifecycle

    Post-purchase, replenishment, and subscription flows built around how your product is used.

  4. Repeat

    Second order

    Segmented campaigns, win-back, and testing that move repeat rate, not just opens.

  5. Measure

    Flash report

    Revenue, spend, and performance to goal every day, so the next budget decision is a clear one.

What the report shows sets the next media plan

Selected work

Email channels built, run, and measured.

Beverage

Hint

Email marketing manager, contract

2015 to 2019

Engagement

Email

Channel owned

The challenge

Hint needed an email channel built from the ground up, plus someone to grow it and run it week to week.

Built the channel from scratch and ran it for nearly four years.

What I did

  • Built the Klaviyo foundation and managed the email vendor relationships
  • Built and managed welcome, abandoned cart, and win-back flows
  • Set up and QA'd weekly promo, content, and retention campaigns
  • Ran a testing program on creative, subject lines, from names, and send times
  • Kept the list clean and compliant, and delivered weekly and monthly reporting

Pet · subscription

PrettyLitter

Email marketing manager, contract

2017 to 2019

Engagement

Email

Channel owned

The challenge

PrettyLitter brought me in to own the email channel end to end.

Ran the channel for two and a half years, from flows to weekly sends to monthly reporting.

What I did

  • Managed Klaviyo and all email vendor relationships
  • Built and managed automated flows, including abandoned cart, welcome, and win-back
  • Set up, tested, and QA'd weekly promo, content, and retention emails
  • Directed new creative with a freelance designer, within brand guidelines
  • Handled list hygiene and compliance, and delivered monthly reporting

Nutrition

Kate Farms

Email marketing and digital analytics consultant

2017

Engagement

Email + reporting

Scope

The challenge

Kate Farms wanted to jump-start its digital marketing and needed email infrastructure, strategy, and execution.

Left behind a working Klaviyo program and a company-wide dashboard used for daily decisions.

What I did

  • Vetted and selected the email platform, then set up Klaviyo for compliance and deliverability
  • Planned flows by segment and behavior, plus the monthly calendar and cadence
  • Defined KPIs and benchmarks, and identified on-site list growth opportunities
  • Built and managed welcome, win-back, and abandoned cart flows and weekly campaigns
  • Built a company-wide digital marketing dashboard the team used every day
Klaviyo Product CertifiedKlaviyo deliverability certificateOmnichannel strategy certificate

Klaviyo, Shopify, ReCharge, Skio, Stay.ai, Yotpo, Okendo, HubSpot

FAQ

Straight answers before you book a call.

Don't see your question? Ask it on the call, or send it over first.

What does a retention marketing consultant do?
I own the part of your marketing that happens after the first order: email, SMS, lifecycle flows, segmentation, and the reporting that shows whether customers come back. Depending on the engagement, I audit, build, or run the program alongside your team, agency, or freelancers.
What size brand do you work with?
Most of my clients are CPG and DTC brands doing roughly $5M to $100M a year. Below about $1M there usually isn't enough customer data to justify senior retention work, and I'll tell you so on the first call.
Why hire a consultant instead of a retention agency?
With me, the person who scopes the work is the person who does it. Agencies are a good fit when you need a large production team. I'm a better fit when you need senior judgment, a program built right, and someone who connects retention to your paid media and your numbers.
Do you work directly with brands or through agencies?
Both. I work directly with brands, and I've also been the senior retention lead inside agency and growth teams. If you're an agency with a client who needs lifecycle strategy, let's talk.
What's included in a Retention Audit?
A review of your Klaviyo account, flows, campaigns, segmentation, SMS, deliverability, list health, and integrations, measured against your revenue goals. You get a ranked list of fixes with effort estimates and a walkthrough call, in two to three weeks.
Do you only work in Klaviyo?
Klaviyo is where I spend most of my time, and I'm Klaviyo Product Certified. I've also worked with Shopify, ReCharge, Skio, Stay.ai, Yotpo, Okendo, and HubSpot, and I've moved programs between platforms.
Do you manage paid media too?
I plan and direct it: channel mix, budget recommendations, forecasts, and performance reviews, working with whoever runs the ad accounts. Retention is my focus. Paid planning is how I make sure the customers you buy are worth keeping.
Do you work with subscription brands?
Yes. Subscription and replenishment brands are a big part of my work, and I've worked in ReCharge, Skio, and Stay.ai alongside Klaviyo.
How is pricing structured?
The Retention Audit is a fixed fee. Builds are scoped as fixed projects, and ongoing work is a monthly retainer. We'll size it on a 30-minute call.

Next step

Let's look at your retention program together.

Book a 30-minute call. Bring your questions or your Klaviyo login. You'll leave with at least two things worth fixing, whether we work together or not.

Book a call
HintPrettyLitterChompsKate FarmsHiyaReel PaperCuddle Sleep HealthO2Sharma BrandsSIMOLumenLuminSootheWispLe MieuxSchumacher