Casper Ackermann’s expert take: What works in email marketing right now
Email marketing constantly evolves, and staying ahead requires data-driven strategies and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. That’s where Casper Ackermann, Senior Director & Head of Marketing Automation at s360, comes in. In this exclusive interview with Stripo, Casper shares insights on what makes email marketing effective today, from segmentation strategies to interactive content and behavioral triggers.
Casper dives into the power of gamification, the nuances of email marketing across different regions, and the key principles that eCommerce brands should follow to boost conversions. Whether you’re looking for fresh ideas to engage your audience or practical tips to refine your strategy, this conversation is packed with actionable takeaways. Let’s get into it!
Expert
Casper Ackermann is a leading expert on email marketing in Denmark, currently serving as Senior Director and Head of Marketing Automation at s360. With years of experience in the field, he has shared his expertise at numerous conferences and educational institutions and has contributed to books and articles on email marketing. In 2016, he founded Ackermann, Scandinavia’s largest Klaviyo partner agency. Over the years, his team has worked with rapidly growing startups and major international brands, including Novo Nordisk, G.H. Bass, and ECCO, helping them optimize their email marketing strategies at scale.
Getting started in email marketing
Stripo: While still at university, you founded your email marketing agency, Ackermann, and grew it into Scandinavia’s largest Klaviyo partner. What initially drew you to email marketing and keeps you excited about the field today?
Casper: I got my first real digital marketing job back in the early 2010s. I worked across multiple digital marketing channels while still an undergraduate student, including paid social, content marketing, and email marketing.
What quickly drew me to email marketing was the ability to attribute data back — on a large scale — to every single person. What irritated me about paid social was that it relied on audience clusters, whereas with email marketing, we could look at a profile and see all the specific actions that a person had taken. These actions could then be used for segmentation, personalization of in-mail content, triggers, and more. I found that extremely fascinating.
Interestingly, I am still excitable by the ability to feed data into actual profiles, analyze it, and then activate it.
Email marketing in Scandinavia vs. the UK
S: Having built the leading email marketing agency in Denmark and worked with s360, which operates across six countries — Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK — what unique characteristics or cultural nuances define email marketing in Scandinavia? Are there any differences between Scandinavia and the UK? Are there any specific strategies, consumer preferences, or regulatory considerations that marketers should consider when crafting emails for this market?
C: When working with clients across multiple countries, we always aim to understand the businesses we work with and the consumers they serve. I believe there are two fundamental elements that we, as marketing automation consultants, always need to consider:
- Consumers — what platforms do they use? How do they shop? What do they shop for? Where do they look for social proof?
- Regulatory frameworks — these differ from country to country or region to region and must be factored in.
If we start with the language aspect, English proficiency is high in Scandinavia. This means that performance is less affected for international companies that might not have the resources to localize content than in markets like Germany. We’ve run tests in Germany that showed content written in German performed significantly better than English content. These performance differences are common across Europe, even among neighboring countries.
Another major factor is mobile messaging habits. In some countries, WhatsApp is the dominant messaging platform, whereas traditional SMS is still preferred in others. This has a huge impact on how businesses integrate text messaging with email marketing.
Regarding buying decisions, businesses should also consider how consumers seek social proof, as the services they trust may vary from country to country.
Strategies for increasing email conversions
S: Increasing email conversions is always a priority, but tactics evolve. What are the most effective strategies you see now, especially for high-intent users?
C: The million-dollar question! It varies by industry, but for eCommerce and D2C brands, classic marketing principles still hold true:
- urgency and scarcity — incorporating countdowns, emphasizing limited availability, and sending campaign reminders. This taps into loss aversion (FOMO);
- social proof — including testimonials, user-generated content, and reviews from trusted platforms;
- emotional connection — founder-led newsletters often perform well because consumers prefer to buy from brands they feel connected to;
- reducing friction — simplifying the path to purchase. If a subscriber has to jump through multiple hoops to convert, the chances of losing them increase significantly.
S: What behavioral segmentation email marketing strategies have proven most effective for you in targeting specific customer groups? Can you describe examples where these strategies worked particularly well?
C: Great question! I’m a firm believer in not overcomplicating segmentation. I usually take a simple approach, dividing subscribers into three core groups:
- subscribers without a purchase;
- subscribers with a first-time purchase;
- subscribers with multiple purchases.
Even within broad campaigns, in-mail personalization ensures that different segments see content tailored to their behavior — like adjusting CTAs and images based on purchase history. This balances the benefits of broad campaign insights with personalized experiences.
The role of gamification and interactivity
S: Gamification and interactivity in email marketing are often praised for engagement but can be tricky to implement effectively. How frequently do you use interactivity in emails, and for what purposes? What do you think about the current trend toward interactivity? Have you seen successful gamified email campaigns in eCommerce, and what makes them work?
C: I believe people want to feel part of a social group, be educated, be entertained, and get great deals. These four pillars should make up the foundation of all email content. A diversified content strategy keeps a brand fresh and interesting in the eyes of consumers.
The opposite — a brand only sending a case study every month or a “buy now” campaign every two weeks—results in newsletters where subscribers have no incentive to engage unless the static offer is exactly what they need at that moment. This approach limits attention capture and prevents brands from learning what types of content resonate best. Ultimately, the company’s email marketing efforts will never evolve.
That’s why gamification and interactivity offer huge potential, allowing companies to test different content formats and diversify their email strategies.
Many brands still view gamification as simple “play-to-win” mechanics, but I’ve seen companies successfully integrate gamification across multiple customer journey touchpoints, such as:
- data enrichment — using gamification to collect additional subscriber data;
- product guidance — helping customers choose the right product interactively.
Note from Stripo:
As Casper Ackermann highlights, interactivity and gamification are powerful tools for keeping subscribers engaged and learning more about their preferences. By integrating interactive elements, brands can go beyond static promotions and create emails encouraging participation, enhancing the subscriber experience, and driving conversions.
At Stripo, we make interactivity easy with our no-code Interactive modules generator. With just a few clicks, you can create gamification, interactive forms, quizzes, and surveys that boost engagement and provide valuable customer insights. Emails with interactive elements see up to 500% more feedback from subscribers.
Optimizing email production with Stripo and Klaviyo
S: You’ve worked extensively with Klaviyo and Stripo. Have you noticed that using Stripo speeds up email production and simplifies the work of teams? Could you share your workflow for email production using Stripo and Klaviyo?
C: We primarily use Stripo when a brand requires more advanced email designs than what’s possible within Klaviyo’s native editor. Stripo allows us to build emails and easily export them to various platforms.
Wrapping up
We are incredibly grateful to Casper Ackermann for sharing his knowledge and experience. Here are some insights from this interview:
- Data-driven personalization is key — email marketing stands out because it allows for precise tracking and segmentation based on individual actions, making personalization more impactful.
- Regional differences matter — Scandinavian email marketing benefits from high English proficiency, but localization and understanding of platform preferences and social proof dynamics still play a crucial role in other markets.
- Gamification and interactivity boost engagement — diversifying content beyond traditional promotions keeps brands fresh, and interactive elements can enhance data collection, product recommendations, and customer engagement.
- Proven conversion tactics still work — urgency, social proof, emotional connection, and frictionless experience remain the most effective strategies for driving sales and engagement.
Casper’s insights highlight the evolving landscape of email marketing while reinforcing the core principles that make campaigns successful. Whether refining your segmentation strategy or exploring interactive elements, these expert tips can help elevate your email marketing game.
