In this episode of E-coffee with Experts, Austin Willman talks with Scott Cohen, CEO at InboxArmy about the real, often-overlooked mechanics behind modern retention marketing, from deliverability and DMARC to channel hierarchy (email, SMS, push), automation, attribution, and how to make AI actually useful without losing your brand voice.

Scott breaks down why email is deceptively complex (copy, design, code, deliverability, analytics), what Gmail’s stricter authentication enforcement (SPF / DKIM / DMARC) means for holiday sending, and why “spiking” volume for Black Friday can tank long-term inbox reputation.

He shares practical guidance for smaller and mid-size brands: ramp up volume gradually, rely on automations (welcome flows, cart abandons) to keep consistent daily engagement, and use channel testing (email vs SMS vs push) to learn which audiences convert where.

If you manage growth, retention, or marketing operations, this episode gives tactical, operational advice to protect holiday revenue and scale responsibly.

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In this episode, we discuss:

00:00 - 00:22: Introduction

00:22 - 01:00: Welcoming Scott Cohen

01:00 - 01:40: Is AI Taking Email Jobs?

01:40 - 02:20: Why Email Is More Complex Than People Think

02:20 - 03:00: Big Changes in Email Deliverability

03:00 - 04:20: What SPF, DKIM and DMARC Really Mean

04:20 - 05:35: Gmail’s New Rules and Why They Matter

05:35 - 06:20: Black Friday Email Problems

06:20 - 07:10: Why Google Is Cracking Down on Low-Quality Content

07:10 - 08:05: How Inbox Providers Judge Your Reputation

08:05 - 09:20: Biggest Mistake: Sending Too Much Too Fast

09:20 - 10:40: How Email Spikes Hurt Deliverability

10:40 - 11:50: How To Ramp Up Sending the Right Way

11:50 - 12:40: Using Automations To Keep a Healthy Baseline

12:40 - 13:20: Email, SMS, Push: How They Work Together

13:20 - 14:50: When To Use Email vs SMS vs Push

14:50 - 16:00: How Customer Behavior Drives Channel Choice

16:00 - 17:20: Can SMS Clicks Trigger Other Flows?

17:20 - 18:20: Why Opt-In Rules Really Matter

18:20 - 19:00: Building Flows Based on Engagement

19:00 - 20:10: What Metrics Actually Matter in Email

20:10 - 21:30: Why Opens Are Unreliable Now

21:30 - 22:30: Real Attribution vs Direct Attribution

22:30 - 23:50: How Email Drives Paid and Organic Search

23:50 - 24:40: Email’s Role in Customer Conversion

24:40 - 25:15: Why Clean Data Is the Real Advantage

25:15 - 26:10: The Right Tech Stack for 2025

26:10 - 27:15: CRM Mindset vs CRM Tools

27:15 - 28:10: Why Teams Need Shared Customer Visibility

28:10 - 29:20: Why Training Custom GPTs Helps Marketers

29:20 - 30:05: Keeping Brand Voice When Using AI

30:05 - 30:35: Where To Find Scott Cohen

30:35 - 30:53: Closing Thoughts

 Connect with Scott Cohen

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcohen13/

 http://inboxarmy.com/

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