Includes welcome, onboarding, cart abandonment, retention, free preview/upsell, referral and advocacy email examples from some of our favorite subscriber focused companies including MeUndies, Birchbox, Netflix, Hulu, Blue Apron, Evernote, Nature Box and more.

1. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Email trends from 2015, expectationsfor 2016, and
LIFT email best practices and examples…
…for subscriber-focused businesses.

2. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Outline
| 2
Email trends from 2015
Expectations for 2016
• Conversational commerce
• Chat with robots
LIFT approach to customer lifecycle
communication
• Welcome
• Onboarding
• Subscribe/purchase
• Cart abandonment
• Retention
• Free preview/upsell
• Referral/advocacy

3. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Email Trends from 2015

4. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Email is still doing
the marketing
heavy-lifting
Email Trends 2015: A Visual Guide10 Email marketing experts give their views and examples of the future of email marketing
www.smartinsights.com
In 2015, email was still considered one of the
top three sales drivers for digital marketing
channels.
With a return on investment (ROI) of 38-to-1
on every dollar invested, it has the highest
ROI among digital marketing channels.

5. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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72% of people say they prefer
companies to communicate with them
via email over any other channel.

6. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Our email inboxes
are full… always
www.smartinsights.com
A person’s email inbox is where forgotten
passwords are revived, mass-mailings are
collected, pumpkin-pie recipes are shared,
toddler photos saved and travel itineraries
referenced. It’s become the one-stop, go-to
spot for all of our information.

7. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Emails are more
often read on mobile
source: Yesmail.com
And because we use phones more, of course,
we use our mobile devices to check email
more. 50% of users only open emails on
mobile, 42% only open emails on
desktop/laptop and 8% on both platforms.

8. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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“Inbox” will change
email beyond
recognition
Inbox by Gmail is a new app from the Gmail
team. It is an organized place to get things
done and get back to what matters. Bundles
keep emails organized (and group all
promotional and marketing emails together).

9. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Email needs to
display on new
screen sizes
The debut of the Apple Watch makes it
absolutely clear that marketers must
optimize that plain-text alternative for
wearables.

10. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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More
customization
By segmenting users into their preferences
and behavior patterns, user engagement
increases. Email contents are tailored to
readers’ preferences by giving them choices
to click on.

11. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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More
personalization
It’s no longer enough to include someone’s
first name and call it personalization (and it
hasn’t been for years now…) With automated
communication tools based on behavioral
triggers and customer profile information, it’s
easier to personalize emails now than ever.

12. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Automated
marketing tools are
smarter than ever
Marketing automation space is "still a market
that is in the learning and skill-building
phase." And Silicon Valley is quickly creating
more and more competitors.

13. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Push notifications
are the natural
extension of email
The Internet-everywhere era that
smartphones ushered in brought with it
vibrating, chiming, knocking, thrumming,
anytime alerts from an endless number of
people and apps.

14. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Expectationsfor 2016

15. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Messaging apps are
now bigger than
social networks
Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-messaging-app-report-2015-11?IR=T
Users around the world are logging into
messaging apps not only to chat with friends
but also to connect with brands, browse
merchandise and watch content. What were
once simple services for exchanging
messages, pictures, videos and GIFs have
evolved into expansive ecosystems with their
own developers, apps and APIs.

16. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Slack: the fastest
growing start-up
Ever. And the CEO refers to it as a
replacement for company email. "It’s all your
communication in one place, instantly
searchable, and available wherever you go."
Slackbot integrates with Google Analytics to
Box. If employees communicate to each
other primarily via chat, will they eventually
communicate to customers the same way?

17. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Slackbot automates
internal chat
Isn’t chat easier than an interface? Employees
can create their Slack user profiles via chat
(with the help us the slackbot). What is
customers could sign up for new services and
products that same way? It’s immediate. And
automatic. And much simpler.

18. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Payments are
already part of
conversations
Conversational mobile apps have a lot more
contextual information about users, including
location, health sensor and social data.
Friends can pay friends the same way they
text message.

19. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Instant interaction
is key expected
You can order coffee via a message, pay and
have a piping hot cup of joe in front of you a
few minutes later. No hailing a waitress
required. Interaction is immediate.
If you can order at restaurants via a bot, what
else can we use bot communication for?

20. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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The net result is that customers will be
talking to brands and companies over
Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp,
Telegram, Slack and elsewhere before
year’s end, and we will find it normal.

21. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Will messaging
replace email?
Maybe. Hard to know for certain. But the role
of email is going to change in 2016 as more
customers expect to pay via chat and
communicate with bots via messenger apps.
Email is always going to have a place in the
marketing mix. But we do expect that role to
continue to evolve in 2016.

22. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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2016 will be the year
of conversational
commerce
Customers will expect to make payments and
use brand products or services from directly
within their favorite messaging app.

23. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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2016 will be the year
of bot chat
Customers will expect immediate and
automatic communication with brands (even
if it’s a robot on the other end of the chat).

24. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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LIFT approach

25. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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We always look at the entire customer lifecycle.
Never just individual steps.

26. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Our examples
We’ve specifically looked at onboarding and
retention emails from subscription-based
companies across multiple industries.

27. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Onboarding

28. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Sign-up/Start trial
We’ve captured their email address. Now what? We
need to help a new customer over barriers, show
key benefits, validate the offer, and guide new
customers throughtheir first experience.Easier said
than done.

29. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Netflixuses “Anytime,Anywhere”to drivefreemonthtrial
Enjoy NetflixAnytime,Anywhere.The messaging is
consistentacross remarketing bannerads and social.
Emails are concise with a single call to action.

30. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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ClassPass encouragesusers tostart afreetrialrisk-free
Trial offer istop priority. Email includesthe two key benefitsof joining ClassPass. 1) The ability to take
multiple classes for one monthly price, and 2) The ease of booking via the app or website.

31. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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LeToteexplainshowtheserviceworksthen sendsdiscounts
The first two emailsfrom LeTote focus on
how the service works. The idea of rental
wardrobes is new and they have a lot of
explaining to do.
Once they have explained how,they focus
on getting customers to start their
subscription (and offer as low as 50%off in
order to do so).

32. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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MeUndiesuses testimonialsto drivesubscriptionpurchases
After one month (or two weeksafter a new customer boughttheirfirst
pair) MeUndiesencouragescustomersto subscribe in order to save and
receive the design of the month.
The monthly design isa key part of the brand and content.Each month
they have a theme, campaign and contentranging from video spoofsto
zombie races to promote the design.
Tweets specific to the subscription are
pulled into emails.

33. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Birchboxshowsusers whattheymightbe missingouton
Although you don’thave to subscribe, the core of the
Birchboxbusinessmodel is a subscription to their
sampling program. Only 30%of their businessise-retail.
Each month they feature what wasinside the Birchbox
to anyone who didn’treceive it.
Birchboxfollowsup with a ”Last chance to subscribe
and getthe January Box” email.

34. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Welcome emails
This is the first line of communication. It sets the
tone for all future communication. Theseinitial
emails need to setexpectation and demonstrate
stats.
Welcome emails serve several purposesfrom
welcoming members onboard, brand
indoctrination, setting expectations, giving
incentives and connecting with the brand in other
channels.
www.marketingsherpa.com

35. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Huluprovidesabasicoverviewof subscriptionandcontent
Hulu sendsa single email to guide the initial
experience followed by an email about top shows7
days later.

36. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Netflixprovidesabasic overviewof subscriptionandcontent
NetflixWelcome is divided into two emails.1) The first
confirms your trial and providesdetails. 2) The second
showcasestop-watched showsand encouragesnew
users to watch across any supported device.

37. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Netflixcommunicationatstartof membershipsimilar
The contentand the tone are similar (ifnot
identical to messaging in the trial emails.

38. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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MeUndies“Welcome”fromJenstates companymission
Whetheryou subscribe or
buy, the first email is a
message from Jen. All of
your email communication
will be from Jen!
The message is impassioned;it’s essentially a mission statement. MeUndies
thinksshopping for underwearis boring and they want to change it. This
email lays the foundation for the rest of yourMeUndiesexperience.
(The MeUndies team
won’trevealJen’s
identityandthere are
billboardsbegging
the question “Who is
Jen?” aroundLos
Angeles.)

39. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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MeUndiesfollowsupwithproductinformation24hourslater
A photo of the team and #hashtag immediately connects
new customers to the @meundiescommunity online.
They share three important
thingsthat differentiate their
company: high-quality materials,
great customer service and a
100%satisfaction guarantee.
This email is all about alleviating
anxiety.

40. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Make the most of the products
and services (during trial)
Helping a person make the most of the productor
service is key to getting trial users to subscribeand
to retaining customers. It’s important to build a
multi-step flow of emails and communication that
makes surethe customer is engagedand satisfied.

41. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Evernote“Welcome”providesclearnextstep
Evernote has 10 welcome and onboarding emails
spread over36 days. Instead of sending a generic
“welcome to the family,” Evernote sendsspecific calls
to action in theirsubject,“Get started with Evernote,”
and in the body, “Accessyour notesanywhere.Open
your email on your computer, tablet and phone to
download Evernote on each device.”
Each email in the welcome serieshas a specific call to
action in order to expose new customers to Evernote
features. One at a time.

42. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Evernote“Welcomeflow”over10emails/36daysonboards

43. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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TrunkClub encouragesappdownloadearly
Trunk Club saw that when customersinstalled the app they were better able to engage
with their stylistand therefore more likely to continue using TrunkClub. Therefore Trunk
Club encouraged usersto download the app (and could target usersthat hadn’t
downloaded the app or had neverused it with additional information).

44. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Cart abandonment emails
67% of online shopping carts are abandoned. Yikes.
In other words, 67 out of every100 potential
customers is browsing your website, looking at
products, adding products to their cartand going to
the checkoutpage because they intend to
purchase.
But then they leave.
Retail cartabandon emails follow these guidelines:
• Email 1 is a reminder (23 hours later)
• Email 2 is an objection handling email (47 hours
later)
• Email 3 is a discount email (71 hours later)

45. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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NatureBoxremindersnewsubscribersto completeyourorder
Simple. Direct. Honest. It’s immediately obviouswhy they’re emailing you,
as well as what you need to do next.

46. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Honestofferscustomersupportto completeorder
The first step that Honesttakes isto connecta customer to the
support team.
Customer testimonialsare featured on all emailsto new
customers.

47. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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BlueApron sharesrecipesforeverymealyoumiss
Blue Apron neverwantsyou to miss a meal with them.

48. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Retention

49. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
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Make the most of the products
and services
Unlike during trial and onboarding, brands can
leverageemails to communicate changes, updates,
new contentand newservices to continue to
engagetheir subscribers.

50. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Hulushowssubscribers whatistrendingeachweek
Subscribers receive a weekly email with whatis
trending rightnow on Hulu.Emails are poorly
integrated with the productexperience and not
designed well.

51. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Netflixcommunicatesnewshowsaddedregularly
Although these emailsmost likely go outto all subscribers, “we
just added new showsyou might like”feels personal (butisn’t
overly promising).Users can immediately play the contentor add
to theirwatch list.

52. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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NatureBoxsendsyouthebest ofthebest
NatureBoxsendsout weekly recommendationsbased
on the most popularitems and recently added
seasonal snacks.

53. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Texturesendsdailyrecommendationsforwhatto read
Texture sends daily recommendationsfor whatto
read based on current eventsand activities.

54. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Customization and
personalization
The emails with the highestengagementrates are
those that feel the most specific to ME! This is done
in two parts: firstly, by segmenting your customers
and secondly, personalizingthe content for the
different segments.
source: MarketingSherpa.com: Top 8 Marketing Sherpa case studies

55. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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The entireYummlyexperienceis customizedto you
The home screen of the app is also tailored to a user’s
past viewsand saved recipes.
Yummly times theiremailsbased on your previous
engagementwith the app. Forexample, if you last
searched for recipesat 5pm, your nextemail from
Yummly with recipe recommendationswill arrive at
the same time.

56. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Netflixsends personalrecommendationsforwhatto watch
The email is titled “What to watch tonight”and
although itsays “for Danielle”itdoesn’t match whatis
in the app experience.It’s unclearhow often these
emailsare sent.

57. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Birchboxtailorsto groupsbasedon profilesandbehaviors
Birchbox’slighttouch customization feels more
personal than itreally is. These emails are based on a
specific profile attribute (skin type) and a custom
email is sent to the 5 groups.

58. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Zapiersendsemailswhenno actionsaretaken
This is an example of a behavioral email.Zapiercan see that the user has
signed up for a free trial but hasn’t done much. With that knowledge,they
can triggera very targeted email.This email is loaded with ideasfor using
Zapierand it’s a great catalyst for onboarding.

59. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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BlueApron sendsayearin review
Blue Apron sendsa year in review of all the mealscooked and ingredientsused to remind
customers how much they used the service. Each email ispersonalized to the user.

60. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Upsell/Cross-sell
New products and servicesare often created
becausebrands identified an additional need of
their existing subscribers.We want our customers
to get the most out of what we offer them. So the
messaging needs to start there.

61. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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DollarShaveCluboffersadd-onsbeforeshipping
Dollar Shave Club providesan overview ofwhatis shipping each month.Even though most
members receive the same products each month, thisserves as a reminderfor whatto
expect in the shipment(and opportunity to add something to the shipment).
Customer testimonialsare featured on all emailsto new customers.

62. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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BlueApron dedicatesemailcampaignsto newproduct
Blue Apron dedicated a 3+ month email campaign to
existing subscribers to getthem to try their new wine
pairing product. They did everything shortof sending
bottles of wine!

63. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Referral/Advocacy
What would you offer your currentsubscribersif
they referreda friend to use the product?Can your
currentsubscriberstell your productstory to a
friend better than you can? We think so. And shares
to Facebook don’t cut it anymore. Brands need to
be smart abouthow they incentivize and reward
currentsubscribersfor referringtheir friends.

64. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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BlueApron sendsfreemealsforsubscribers to giftfriends
Blue Apron giveseach member the ability to gift free
meals to 3 of their friends(based on usage and time).
The current customer doesn’treceive anything,but
the recipientgets 2 meals free (about66% off) their
first delivery when they subscribe.

65. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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BarkBoxrewardsalldogs withafreemonthofgoodies
Bark Box confirms when a referral has signed up and
prompts the subscriber to checktheiraccount online
to confirm the credit has been applied.
Bark Box takes the opportunity to encourage the
subscriber to invite more friends (and receive more
months of Bark Boxfree).

66. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Textureleveragesgiftcardsratherthan credit
Texture used multiple incentiveswithin a shortperiod
of time to test what worked!

67. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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ENJOY!

68. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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LIFT is the agency that connects
subscriberand e-retail brands to
their customers
to drive business performance.

69. is the agency that connects subscriber and retail brands
to their customers to drive business performance.
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Contact us: jason@wearelift.com
NeedaLIFT?