Make Your List (And Warm It Twice): Your BFCM Email Retention Plan Starts This Summer

If your idea of a holiday prep strategy is “we’ll figure it out in October,” we need to have a talk.

On this episode of The Orita Podcast, Diana Zheng sits down with Meaghan Langston (Go Fish Digital) and Caren Carrasco (Mandate) to talk about email marketing, AI, collaboration—and why “set it and forget it” is a crime against your customer journey.

Together, they unpack:

• Why every email you send is a chance to unsubscribe (make it count)

• How to turn dusty automations into delightful, on-brand experiences

• Why cross-channel collaboration isn’t optional—it’s survival

• Dark mode, deliverability, and other things your ESP quietly hates you for ignoring

• How to rewarm your dormant list now so Black Friday doesn’t destroy your open rates

Plus: Caren shares the trick to getting C-suite buy-in with cold, hard unsubscribe math. Meaghan drops the mindset shift that changes how you write every campaign. 

If you’re an email marketer, ecom lead, or retention nerd gearing up for Q4—you’ll want this in your ears before your next send.

👥 Meet the guests

• Caren Carrasco, Co-Founder & CEO at Mandate [LinkedIn]

• Meaghan Langston, Director of Email Marketing at Go Fish / Agital [LinkedIn]

Hosted by Diana Zheng Partnerships Manager at Orita.ai [LinkedIn]

🎧 Chapters

[03:40] – Own your email or someone else will (badly).

[08:22] – Retention isn’t optional anymore—ask your CAC. [12:17] – Why marketing silos are killing your vibe (and revenue).

[15:59] – Email: still the unsung hero of your brand strategy. [20:18] – Your email program needs a glow-up, not a glow-down.

[24:33] – AI, accessibility, and emails that don’t get deleted on sight.

[28:44] – Black Friday is coming—don’t wait for the panic sprint.

[32:55] – Last licks: tools, tips, and tactical takeaways you’ll actually use.

🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast—where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing—by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.