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Most DTC brands obsess over customer acquisition. Ads, influencers, TikTok… you name it. But if you don’t have a retention engine, you’re leaving money on the table.
In the DTC world, email and SMS often drive 25–40% of revenue. The brands that win in 2025 aren’t just good at getting clicks; they’re great at turning first-time buyers into repeat loyalists.
And that’s where hiring a Klaviyo Retention Marketer comes in.
Note: There are 8 & 9 figure brands on every ESP. From Klaviyo to Omnisend and beyond. But given that we are focused on e-commerce today, Klaviyo is the top platform.
A lot of founders think of retention as “just sending emails.”
That’s like saying growth marketing is “just running ads.” A strong retention marketer inside Klaviyo will map out the entire customer lifecycle and build flows around it.
They will build a consistent campaign calendar around holidays and special events. They’ll get deep on the platform and use segmentation to make sure customers are only seeing relevant messaging.
And on top of all of the email flows, they'll integrate SMS alongside email to hit multiple touchpoints on top of analyzing data, running A/B tests, and actually move the needle on LTV and churn reduction.
It’s part creative, part analytical, and part customer experience. Which is why this role is so high leverage once you’re at scale.
Not every brand needs a full-time retention marketer right away. In fact, for most DTC businesses, the right time to bring this hire in-house is when you’ve already proven product-market fit and scaled revenue.
Benchmarks: For most brands, this happens at $10 to 15M in annual revenue.
Exceptions: Subscription-heavy brands can justify the hire earlier, since retention is mission-critical to survival.
Other signs you’re ready:
This role requires a unique mix of left-brain and right-brain skills.
Hard Skills
A strong candidate has owned retention for brands doing at least 7 figures per month in Klaviyo-driven revenue. That’s the experience level that tells you they know how to scale beyond “pretty emails.”
The reality: this talent is in high demand, and you’re competing against both brands and agencies for it. Here’s what you can expect to pay based on different tenures.
Compare that to agencies charging $5K–$15K/month for retention services.
The hiring process is where many founders get tripped up. Primarily because most founders see a portfolio of brands and designs and stop there.
A good way to vet candidates is to assign a project during the interview process.
Ask them to audit your existing flows and point out areas for improvement. Or have them map out a 90-day campaign calendar that balances promotions, launches, and evergreen storytelling. The goal isn’t to see a finished product. The main goal here is to to understand how they think and whether they know how to turn strategy into execution.
Good candidates will focus on lifecycle strategy and data-driven insights. They’ll ask about your products, margins, and customer journey. They’ll bring up deliverability and segmentation unprompted. On the other hand, red flags include vague answers about “making emails pretty,” a lack of A/B testing experience, or an inability to show how their work has driven revenue.
If you want inspiration, look at brands that are already running world-class retention. Sometimes the best way to understand great retention is to study who’s already nailing it.
Brands:
Agencies:
Extra Resource: If you're looking for another way to find great emails, check out Milled.
If you’re not at $10–15M yet (or don’t have the subscription volume to justify it), there are alternatives:
Retention isn’t flashy. It won’t get you viral moments on TikTok or headlines in Ad Age. But it’s the backbone of sustainable growth. Without it, every acquisition dollar you spend works once and then disappears. With it, every customer you acquire compounds over time.
Once you cross $10–15M in revenue, hiring a Klaviyo retention marketer is one of the highest-ROI moves you can make. It’s the role that turns a $5M brand into a $50M brand.
I’ve seen it firsthand. At Constant Hire, we’ve helped dozens of founders make this exact hire, and the results are transformative. If you’re ready to stop leaving money on the table and start compounding your acquisition efforts, it’s time to invest in retention talent.
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