5 Problems Killing Your Conversions

I used to run Marketing Ops at some of the most known SaaS companies in our world. 

Lifecycle was my responsibility. 

I built the flows. Wrote the copy. Set up the triggers.

Spent way too much time in each of the MANY platforms trying to figure out why a message didn’t send. Or, why it sent to the wrong person. 

And, even more time explaining to leadership why “delivered” doesn’t mean “worked.”

If you’ve ever been the 1 defending why your automations didn’t hit as hard as expected, I’ve been there. I see you, and I take your side LOL. 

Back then, I thought it was a segmentation issue. Or bad timing. Or the creative didn’t land.

But the truth is, most systems are only built to react to the obvious stuff.

A form fill. A purchase. A clear action.

What they miss is everything in between.

The person who viewed a product 3 times but never took the next step.
The returning customer who’s already opted-in but is browsing from a new device.
The people clearly interested who get zero follow-up because your system doesn’t even recognize them.

That’s where better identity and behavioral signals unlock a different level of performance. A higher level – the “printing money” level.

You don’t need to rebuild your strategy.

You just need more visibility into who’s showing up and what they’re doing. You need to know who is who. 

These 5 tactics will help you do exactly that.

1️⃣. Make Mobile the Center of Your Lifecycle Strategy

If your lifecycle strategy isn’t built for mobile first, you’re already behind. 

According to the Wunderkind 2025 U.S. Consumer Insights Report, 95% of shoppers browse and shop on their phones. Gen Z? 99%. Millennials? 98%​.

And yet, most brands are still designing for desktop. 🙁

Your customers are scrolling while they wait for coffee. Tapping through your PDPs in the back of an Uber. Clicking from an SMS in the middle of texting their friends.

If your experience feels clunky on their phones, they are gone. </3

Here’s how to fix this:

• Simplify your emails. 1 offer. 1 CTA. Make it fast to skim and tap.
• Design for thumbs. Big buttons. Big fonts. No pinch and zoom needed.
• Send SMS that actually feels personal. Think early access drops, low stock alerts, browse follow-ups. Don’t message without something to say.
• Trigger flows off real behavior. Someone comes back to the same product 2 times on mobile? That’s your chance to step in.
• Fix your mobile pop-ups. Delay them. Personalize them. Stop interrupting the shopper the second they land on your page.

Mobile is not “a channel” anymore. It is the behavior. If your lifecycle marketing is not built for it, you are invisible. Everything should be optimized around that.

In summary, MOBILE-1ST.

2️⃣. Stop Losing Your Best Shoppers to “Anonymous” Traffic

Here’s a brutal truth most Marketers don’t want to talk about:

You’re spending time, money, and creative energy building flows. But, a huge chunk of your visitors are invisible to your system.

People are clicking through your PDPs, filtering by size or price, hovering over reviews.
Unless they fill out a form or log in, your platform treats them like they were never there.

It gets worse.

The Consumer Psychology Unleashed 2025 Report shows shoppers are playing games, too. 28% of them abandon carts on purpose, waiting for a better offer​.

^ Another 26% are browsing your site with 0 intent to buy that day, hoping you will come chase them​. 

Consumers are getting savvier across demographics

If you’re not recognizing these people while they are still in the moment, you are not just missing a follow-up. You are losing a sale.

Here’s how to fix this:

• Use identity resolution to recognize visitors even if they switch devices or clear cookies.
• Trigger browse and cart abandonment flows based on behavior, not just form fills.
• Personalize offers based on what people browsed, not just what they purchased.
• Serve smarter opt-ins while intent is still high.

Wunderkind allows brands to recognize more visitors and trigger the right messages without waiting for a “perfect” action.

Recognition is what separates the brands building loyalty from the brands paying for reacquisition every time.

If your lifecycle flows are not converting, start there. ^ signals. More scale. Less spray-and-pray.

3️⃣. Make Your Opt-Ins Smarter So Your Lifecycle Actually Converts

Most brands treat opt-ins like a box to check.
Throw up a pop-up. Offer 10% off. Hope for the best.

But, shoppers are getting smarter.
If your opt-in feels generic, they will skip it without thinking twice. 

The Wunderkind 2025 U.S. Consumer Insights Report showed the real reasons people are willing to give you their email or phone number​:

• Free shipping 
• Loyalty points 
• Early access to new drops

(Psst: see the rest on page 45.)

Nobody is signing up for another boring welcome discount or a warranty they don’t care about.

If you want stronger lifecycle performance, your opt-in strategy needs to be stronger. 

Here’s what to do:

• Personalize opt-ins based on behavior. Someone returning to a product page should see a restock alert or a low-inventory offer, not a generic discount.
• Delay pop-ups until after they show intent. Page 2, scroll depth, or 2nd product view is a better moment to ask.
• Match the offer to the user. New visitors get shipping perks. Repeat browsers get early access messaging. Cart abandoners get a reminder tied to what they left behind.
• Test mobile-first opt-ins that feel native to the experience, not like an interruption.

With Wunderkind, you’ll trigger dynamic, personalized opt-ins based on real-time browsing behavior. 

The result = more emails captured, more phone numbers collected, and way stronger lifecycle flows feeding off that list. MORE MONEY MADE. 

Smart opt-ins are not just about growing your database. They are about growing a database that actually wants to hear from you. The data proves this. 

4️⃣. Speed Up Your Lifecycle Timing Before Interest Fades

Most lifecycle flows are too slow. 🐢

They wait hours, sometimes days, to respond to someone who just showed intent.
But, online shoppers don’t operate on your timeline.

According to the Wunderkind 2025 U.S. Consumer Insights Report, Millennials and Gen Z are shopping online 2 to 3 times per week​. Ari is outside of this range LOL. 

IKTR

They bounce fast, they price check in real time, and they make decisions quickly. If you wait too long to follow up, someone else already won their click.

Your lifecycle strategy needs to act while the signal is fresh.

Here’s what that looks like:

• Trigger browse or cart abandonment flows immediately, not hours later.
• Send low-stock alerts when someone views a product twice without converting.
• React to filter behavior or scroll depth as signs of hesitation.
• Speed up post-purchase flows to hit while brand recall is still high.

If someone showed intent today, following up tomorrow is already too late.

The right timing is make or break. Full out.

5️⃣. Upgrade Your Segmentation Based on Behavior, Not Lists

Most brands are still segmenting the old-fashioned way. 

Demographics. Past purchases. Which list someone signed up through.

That might have worked when inboxes were quieter.

It doesn’t work anymore.

Today’s shoppers expect you to know what they are interested in right now. Not what they bought 6 months ago.

And the Wunderkind 2025 U.S. Consumer Insights Report backs it up.

Consumers are shopping across multiple categories, using multiple devices, and making faster decisions​.

If you’re still grouping people by basic traits, you’re missing the real signals.

Here’s what to focus on:

• Segment based on live behavior. What products they browsed, what categories they bounced between, what they filtered for.
• Prioritize intent over history. Someone who viewed a product 3 times this week is way more valuable than someone who bought once last year.
• Adjust your cadence based on engagement. Speed things up for high-intent browsers. Slow it down for casual window shoppers.
• Personalize by what they almost did, not just by what they completed.

The brands that win are the ones acting on what customers are doing right now.

If you are still relying on old lists, you are marketing to a version of your customer that may not exist anymore.

Behavior is the new segment.

In summary, I don’t have all the answers. I do know that the best Marketers are powered by the best MarTech. And, that staying curious is what takes us from good to great.

Check out Wunderkind and stop by their Knowledge Hub. It’ll be the best use of time you spend today. I know because I took so many notes that I accidentally missed my podcast.  

Having this data might just be the difference between hitting goal and hitting goal early. 

Now doesn’t that sound nice?

Your friend,
Daniel

P.S. Marketing Ops forever. ♾️