Open to new projects & full-time roles
Saravanan Murugesan

Saravanan
Murugesan

Email & Lifecycle Marketing Specialist

I don't start with subject lines.
I start with your spam folder.

Open to: Email Marketing Manager · Lifecycle Lead · CRM Specialist · Campaign Analyst · Retention Marketer

Tamil Nadu, India · Available globally · All time zones welcome · 8 years in email & lifecycle · US · UK · APAC · EMEA
Who I am

I make emails land in inboxes — and stay there.

I'm a freelance lifecycle and automation specialist with 8 years of hands-on work across Klaviyo, Braze, SFMC, Adobe Campaign, and HubSpot. I've run campaigns across US, UK, APAC, and EMEA for global brands like Lenovo, Crocs, Gucci, and Clarins — and I've also quietly fixed accounts that were bleeding open rates without anyone knowing why.

My first instinct is always deliverability, not creative. If I can't get your email into the inbox, a great subject line won't save you.

99%

Inbox placement maintained

98%

On-time campaign launch

My rule #1

"Most people change the subject line.
I check the spam folder first."

Before I touch a single creative element, I want to know: is your domain warm? Is your sender reputation clean? Is your list full of ghosts dragging you down?

Only after those answers do I open Figma.

Full tool stack · 8 years hands-on

Every platform I've worked in.

Email & Lifecycle Platforms
Klaviyo Braze Adobe Campaign Classic Salesforce MC / ExactTarget HubSpot SendGrid Mailchimp WebEngage
SFMC-specific tools
Email Studio Journey Builder Automation Studio Landing Page Builder AMPscript Litmus Email on Acid
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics Looker Amplitude Microsoft Clarity Google Postmaster Tools MXToolbox
Design & Dev
HTML Email (7+ yrs) CSS Figma Canva Adobe Photoshop
Project Management
Jira Asana ClickUp Slack RACI Framework
Compliance & QA
GDPR CAN-SPAM CASL Cross-client Rendering Accessibility QA Dark Mode QA
What I actually do

Lifecycle, flows, coding & the boring stuff that matters.

  • Email & SMS campaigns — end-to-end execution, A/B testing, personalisation
  • HTML/CSS email coding — 7+ yrs building emails from scratch in code
  • SPF / DKIM / DMARC — authentication setup and repair
  • Klaviyo flows — Welcome → Winback with proper sunset paths
  • Engagement-tier segmentation — 30/60/90/180-day openers
  • IP warming — 4–8 week tiered ramp-up plans
  • API-triggered journeys & CDP integrations
  • Pre-send Looker data checks — freshness SLA, null-rate, audience variance
  • Compliance — GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CASL opt-in/opt-out management
  • ESP migrations — without inbox placement drops
  • Cross-client QA — Litmus, Email on Acid, dark mode, accessibility
  • Performance reporting — KPI, ROI, funnel diagnostics for leadership
  • Email copywriting — subject lines, body copy, CTAs that convert
How I keep you in the inbox
  • Technical: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI — authentication first, always.
  • Reputation: Google Postmaster (spam < 0.1%) + MXToolbox checks.
  • Warming: 4–8 week tiered volume ramp for dedicated IPs.
  • Diagnostics: Global seed testing, bounce analysis, complaint remediation.
6-stage lifecycle I map every client to
1. Awareness 2. Acquisition 3. Onboarding 4. Engagement 5. Retention 6. Advocacy

Customer journeys are rarely linear. I map the non-linear touchpoints so nothing falls through the gap between stages.

Experience by skill

Years of hands-on work, not just tool names.

Email Marketing7+ yrs
Campaigns & Automation7+ yrs
HTML & CSS (email)5+ yrs
Klaviyo / Braze / Mailchimp3+ yrs
Salesforce MC / ExactTarget3+ yrs
A/B Testing4+ yrs
Figma4+ yrs
Performance Marketing4+ yrs
Real scenario

Open rates dropped. Here's exactly what I do.

A client's list grew 40% but open rates fell. Before I touched a single subject line, I ran this sequence.

DELIVERABILITY FIRST
01
Reputation check

I open Google Postmaster Tools and MXToolbox immediately — before anything else. Domain/IP reputation and spam complaint rates tell me whether inbox placement is already compromised. That's the root cause I need to rule in or out first.

Spam > 0.08% = inbox already at risk
02
List quality audit

In Klaviyo, I segment by acquisition source and engagement tier. Fast list growth from paid traffic, giveaways, or co-registration floods the account with unengaged contacts who drag down average open rates and hurt sender reputation over time.

Source × engagement tier breakdown
03
Sending behaviour

Did frequency increase? Did campaigns start going to the full list instead of engaged segments? I've seen accounts where simply switching to a 90-day engaged segment recovered open rates by 10–12 points — without changing a single subject line.

+10–12 pts open rate. Same creative.
My onboarding process

What I do in the first 48 hours on any Klaviyo account.

Authentication and list hygiene always come first. Creative optimization comes last — after I know the foundation is solid.

HOUR 48 → ACTION PLAN
1
0–4 hrs
Technical foundations
  • Verify SPF, DKIM & DMARC
  • Confirm dedicated sending domain
  • From-address domain must match
  • Broken auth = most common silent issue
Priority #1
2
4–12 hrs
List & segment health
  • Active vs. suppressed counts
  • 30/60/90/180-day engagement tiers
  • Duplicate profile check
  • Email consent vs. SMS consent separation
Is your list actually alive?
3
12–24 hrs
Flow audit
  • Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Browse Abandon
  • Post-Purchase & Winback
  • Flag flows without engagement filters
  • Winback needs a sunset path — no infinite loops
Deliverability risk zone
4
24–48 hrs
Campaign history
  • 90 days of frequency & segment sizes
  • Open/click/revenue trends
  • Unsubscribe spikes tied to specific dates
  • Full prioritised action plan delivered
Creative = last on the list
Dec 2023 – Present

Versatiletech Solutions

Senior Integration Engineer · Freelance · Bangalore

🏆 Great Team Lead 2025
  • +15% user acquisition via A/B testing, funnel optimisation & conversion tracking
  • Reduced churn by 10% using behavioural analytics and predictive send timing
  • 5x ROAS through advanced audience segmentation & creative optimisation
  • +18% customer retention with AI-powered lifecycle email campaigns
  • 99% inbox placement — GDPR, CAN-SPAM & CASL compliant throughout
  • 98% on-time launch rate with RACI frameworks and two-person QA process
  • 35% QoQ reduction in hotfixes after weekly post-mortem process introduced
  • Deployed across Klaviyo, Braze, HubSpot, SFMC, Adobe Campaign, SendGrid
Sep 2017 – May 2023 · 6 years

Genxlead Solutions

Email Automation Specialist · Chennai

🏆 Team of the Year '21 & '22 ⚡ Growth Hacker '20 🌟 Emerging Performer '19
  • End-to-end cross-channel campaigns — segmentation, workflows, personalised content
  • Reduced targeting errors by 40% with pre-send Looker data quality checks
  • Standardised dark-mode & accessibility QA — improved CTR by 12% on high-volume sends
  • Led email QA using Litmus & Email on Acid — reduced rendering defects across major ISPs
  • Managed projects via Jira, ClickUp & Asana for global teams across IST, EST & CET
  • Led opt-in/opt-out compliance — GDPR, CAN-SPAM & CASL across all regions
  • Reduced onboarding bounce rate by 10% collaborating with product & UX teams
500k+ subscribers +15% acquisition lift

Lenovo Global Market

Built and optimised triggered workflows and A/B test frameworks in Braze across US, EU, and APAC. Improved acquisition flow conversion by 15% through segment-level personalisation.

BrazeMultichannelGlobal
200k+ list managed 5x ROAS on flows

Crocs

Built loyalty-focused flows in Klaviyo. Ran comprehensive pre-send QA keeping complaint rates well below 0.08% even during peak sale periods. Flow revenue contributed 35% of total email revenue.

KlaviyoRetentionQA
Global luxury audience +12% open rate lift

Gucci Global Market

Managed luxury retention campaigns through SFMC. Tightened segmentation and reduced unsubscribe rates by 18% while improving open rates by 12 points across global markets.

Salesforce MCLuxuryRetention
Multi-country rollout +20% post-purchase CTR

Clarins

Executed multichannel skincare promotions across Adobe Campaign and Mailchimp. Built personalised post-purchase workflows matched to lifecycle stage — improved CTR by 20%.

Adobe CampaignPersonalisationBeauty
What you can hire me for

Services

  • Klaviyo Audit — full 48-hr account audit, prioritised action plan delivered
  • Flow Architecture — Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Winback, Post-Purchase built from scratch
  • Deliverability Fix — SPF/DKIM/DMARC, IP warming, reputation repair
  • ESP Migration — move from Mailchimp / SFMC / HubSpot to Klaviyo without inbox drops
  • Campaign Management — monthly retainer, end-to-end execution
  • One-off Consulting — hourly strategy calls, account reviews
Engagement model
Project-basedMonthly retainerHourly

Best fit: E-commerce DTC brands · 10k–500k list size · Klaviyo or Braze accounts

How to work with me

3 steps from hello to go-live.

1
Say hello

Email or WhatsApp me with a brief overview of your account and what's broken or missing. I respond within 24 hours.

2
Discovery call (30 min)

We talk through your goals, current setup, and pain points. No charge. I'll tell you honestly what I can fix and what it involves.

3
Proposal & kickoff

You get a clear scope, timeline, and price. Once confirmed, I start within 48 hours.

Start with a hello →
Deep case study · Crocs × Klaviyo

How I recovered a dropping open rate
and made flows the top revenue channel.

KlaviyoDeliverabilityRetention
🔴
The problem

The account had grown its list by 40%+ through paid acquisition and giveaways. But open rates had quietly dropped from 28% to 14% over three months — and no one had connected the two.

Campaigns were going to the full list. The Welcome flow had no engagement filter. The Winback flow was looping indefinitely — re-mailing unengaged contacts every 30 days with no sunset path. Sender reputation was already showing amber on Google Postmaster.

Open rate: 14% Spam complaint: 0.12%
🔧
What I changed
  • Immediately switched all campaigns from "All Subscribers" to a 90-day engaged segment
  • Segmented list by acquisition source — suppressed all giveaway and co-reg contacts pending re-engagement
  • Added an engagement filter to the Welcome flow entry — unengaged contacts exit after Day 3
  • Rebuilt Winback with a proper sunset path — 3 attempts, then permanent suppression
  • Fixed SPF record mismatch on the sending domain
  • Ran a 3-week IP warming reset on the dedicated IP
  • Added 30/60/90/180-day tier segments as the core sending framework going forward
The result

Within 4 weeks of switching to the engaged segment and fixing authentication, open rates recovered. Within 8 weeks, flows became the top email revenue channel — without a single new campaign being launched.

28%
Open rate recovered
35%
Email revenue via flows
<0.08%
Spam complaint rate
5x
ROAS on flow revenue
What people say

Recommendations

Colleagues and clients who have worked with me directly. View the full recommendations on LinkedIn.

View on LinkedIn ↗
★★★★★

"What stood out immediately was how fast Saravanan moves. The results were visible within days — not weeks. He has a rare ability to get things done quickly without cutting corners."

MS
Mohamad Salman
Client
★★★★★

"Saravanan's process is clean and efficient — you can see the results quickly. He diagnosed what was wrong, fixed it fast, and communicated clearly throughout. Exactly the kind of person you want on a lifecycle project."

SJ
Sanjay
Client
All recommendations

Read what colleagues and clients say about working with me.

View on LinkedIn ↗
Actively looking — available now
Contact me →
Roles I'm targeting
Email Marketing Manager Lifecycle Lead / Strategist CRM / Retention Specialist Email Automation Engineer
Remote Full-time Contract Global
Can join in
2
weeks
notice: flexible
Experience
8
years
IC + cross-functional
Availability
All
Zones
EST · GMT · IST · SGT
async & live calls
Email craft

Emails I've built — from scratch in HTML.

I code emails by hand. Not drag-and-drop. Real HTML/CSS built to render correctly across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and dark mode.

7+ YRS HTML EMAIL

Real campaign emails I've managed and executed for global brands. More samples available on request — email me or WhatsApp.

Get in touch

Let's talk about your email programme.

Whether you need a full Klaviyo audit, a flow rebuild, or someone to quietly fix why your inbox rates dropped — I'm available. Fast response, all time zones.

Response time

I reply within 24 hours — usually faster.

Send me a message

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