Lifecycle email and SMS programs that drive owned-channel revenue, customer retention, and product launches for firearms, outdoor, and performance brands.
Email and SMS are the only marketing channels brands actually own. Paid media programs get restricted, social platforms ban accounts, search algorithms change without warning – but the email list and SMS subscribers a brand builds belong to them, regardless of what any platform decides. For brands in firearms, outdoor, and performance industries, that’s not just useful – it’s strategically critical. The brands that win these categories tend to be the ones with the largest owned audiences and the lifecycle programs to convert those audiences into recurring revenue. OMG builds and runs the email and SMS programs that turn one-time buyers into lifetime customers and that compound revenue over months and years without depending on platforms the brand doesn’t control.
The work isn’t just sending campaigns. It’s strategy that maps the entire customer lifecycle, copywriting and design built for each channel’s specific behavior, automation workflows that fire at the right moment, deliverability work that keeps messages landing in inboxes instead of spam folders, and the integration with the brand’s broader marketing program so email and SMS pull their weight alongside paid media, social, and SEO. Every program we run starts with the question of what business outcome the channel needs to drive – and gets built backward from there.
Why Owned Channels Win in Our Industries
Firearms, outdoor, and performance brands operate in an environment where every rented channel carries platform risk. Meta restricts firearms content. Google restricts certain firearms and aftermarket categories. YouTube demonetizes content that gets through. Even social media organic accounts get shadowbanned or restricted without warning. The one place these restrictions don’t apply is the brand’s own list – the email subscribers and SMS opt-ins who chose to hear from the brand directly. That’s the audience the brand keeps no matter what any platform does, and that’s why email and SMS are typically the highest-margin, most reliable revenue channels for brands in our categories. A subscriber who opens an email is more valuable than a paid impression because the brand isn’t renting the relationship – the brand owns it. The agencies that understand this build email and SMS programs that compound over years. The ones that don’t treat email as a checkbox and SMS as an afterthought.
The Email and SMS Stack
We work with every major email and SMS platform, but the right platform for any specific brand depends on the category, the catalog, the audience size, and the level of automation the program needs. We help brands pick the right stack at the start rather than fighting with the wrong tools later.
Email Platforms
We build and run programs on Listrak, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Constant Contact, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Each platform has its own strengths – some are better for ecommerce brands with deep automation needs, some are better for content-heavy newsletter programs, some have better deliverability in regulated categories than others. We’ve run programs on all of them across firearms, outdoor, and performance clients, and we know which platforms work cleanly for which categories.
SMS Platforms
SMS programs run on Listrak, Klaviyo, Attentive, Postscript, Twilio, and SimpleTexting depending on the brand’s needs. SMS has the highest open and engagement rates of any digital channel – 90%+ open rates regardless of category – and pairs especially well with email for time-sensitive campaigns, launch announcements, restock alerts, and abandoned cart recovery.
Combined Email + SMS Platforms
The industry is consolidating toward unified email + SMS platforms like Listrak and Klaviyo because the lifecycle work runs better when both channels share data, audiences, and automation logic. For new programs, we typically recommend a unified platform unless the brand has a specific reason to keep email and SMS separate.
Migration and Setup Projects
Moving from one platform to another – or setting up email and SMS from scratch – is a separate project scope from ongoing program management. Migration includes data migration, template development, automation recreation, compliance setup, deliverability seasoning, and the testing required to launch on the new platform without breaking existing lifecycle programs.
How an Email and SMS Program Runs
Every retainer program runs across four overlapping work streams. The strategy work front-loads, the content and automation work happens monthly, and the optimization work compounds the program’s performance over quarters.
Strategy and Lifecycle Planning
Customer lifecycle mapping, segmentation strategy, automation architecture, and the editorial calendar that coordinates email and SMS with the brand’s broader marketing program. This is where we figure out what messages each customer segment needs to receive at each stage of their relationship with the brand – and which channel (email, SMS, or both) is the right vehicle for each message.
Content and Copywriting
Email copywriting, SMS copywriting, subject line testing, preview text optimization, and the call-to-action work that determines whether a campaign converts or gets archived. Email and SMS are different writing disciplines – email runs longer and benefits from structure, SMS has to land its message in 160 characters – and the same writer rarely produces strong work in both. OMG covers both with copywriters who understand the specific demands of each channel.
Design and Automation Build
Email template design, mobile-responsive layouts, brand-aligned visual design, modular component systems that speed up future campaign production, and the automation workflows that fire lifecycle messages at the right moments – welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase nurture, win-back campaigns, VIP programs, and the launch-specific automations that anchor product introductions.
Performance and Optimization
Deliverability monitoring, list hygiene, A/B testing on subject lines and content, segmentation refinement, automation performance analysis, and the monthly performance reporting that connects the program’s metrics back to revenue. Email and SMS performance compounds over time when the optimization work is consistent, which is why ongoing program management produces measurably better results than periodic campaign blasts.
Brands Running Email and SMS With Us
The brands below run active email and SMS programs with OMG as part of retainer engagements. Production-only project clients and ads-only clients are not listed here.
KelTec is a Florida-based firearms manufacturer known for innovative pistol, rifle, and shotgun designs and one of OMG’s largest active email and SMS clients. Their full-service retainer includes lifecycle email and SMS programs supporting product launches, customer retention, and direct-to-customer outreach across their owned audience.
Eclipse Holsters makes premium custom kydex holsters for concealed carry. Their full-service retainer includes email and SMS as a major revenue engine in their direct-to-consumer growth program – lifecycle automations, post-purchase nurture, abandoned cart recovery, and launch campaigns that anchor their owned-channel revenue.
SB Tactical invented the modern pistol stabilizing brace and remains the category-defining brand. Their full agency-of-record relationship includes email and SMS programs focused on dealer outreach, B2B nurture, and customer education across their product line.
A3 Tactical is a modular firearms accessory and component brand. Their core retainer package includes email and SMS as a primary revenue and retention channel alongside digital advertising and social media.
HB Industries makes high-end aftermarket parts and accessories for popular firearms platforms. Their core retainer package includes email and SMS programs alongside digital advertising and social media – lifecycle content, launch campaigns, and customer retention work.
Precision Armament is a precision components and accessories brand. Their retainer covers email, SMS, and SEO together as a coordinated demand generation program.
What Sets Our Email and SMS Work Apart
We Build Programs That Drive Revenue, Not Just Send Messages
Brands don’t pay for emails – they pay for the revenue, retention, and lifetime value that email and SMS produce. Most agencies measure email by open rates and click rates because those metrics look good in reports. We measure email by revenue attribution, customer retention, average order value, and the contribution margin email and SMS deliver to the business. Every program we run gets evaluated against business outcomes the brand can defend to leadership – and the work compounds because we focus on the inputs that compound: list growth, automation refinement, lifecycle expansion, and the deliverability foundation that determines whether any of it works.
We Live the Industries We Email
The same audience fluency that makes our social content perform makes our email and SMS perform. We write subject lines that hunters open because the language sounds like a hunter wrote it. We build SMS programs that shooters engage with because the messaging respects what they actually care about. We segment audiences by the use cases that matter in our industries instead of the generic demographic buckets ecommerce templates default to. The team writing the content knows the products, the audience, and the buying cycle – which is why the programs we run typically outperform what generalist agencies produce for the same brands.
We Know Which Platforms Work in Our Categories
Not every email platform works equally well for firearms, outdoor, and performance brands. Some have category restrictions that surprise brands halfway through onboarding. Some have deliverability issues that compound over time. Some have automation capabilities that look good in demos but break under real load. We’ve run programs across every major platform in this industry and we know which tools work cleanly for which use cases – which means brands working with us don’t lose months testing platforms that won’t work for their category in the first place.
