Tenth Stoa

+ Delivered design, copy & creative strategy across sectors including skincare, investment, supplements, cloud computing, technology & HR. 

+ Scoped out & fulfilled briefs for creative strategy, copy, design & the build of websites, landing pages & ads for customer acquisition, leading creation from start to finish.

+ Conducted research, review & optimisation of copy, design & customer journeys to improve conversion rates across B2B and B2C channels, including paid social.

+ Developed website copy and structure for a new investment company, achieving 170% of their fundraising target (over £1.4m).

+ Created copy & design of a beauty product landing page, generating their highest cold lead conversion % from Meta to date.

+ Built relationships with and pitched to clients, generating tens of thousands in revenue to date.

Freelance Creative Strategist

Pureprofile

Part of Pure.amplify media division under Pureprofile umbrella. 

+ Hybrid agency role helping clients acquire more customers across industries such as insurance, charity, energy switching, phone networks, subscriptions & health.

+ Worked on brands including St John Ambulance, Diabetes UK, British Seniors, O2, RNIB and Hello Fresh.

+ Led design & creative strategy across paid social, overseeing creation, performance monitoring, research, reviews and ongoing optimisation of design & copy.

+ Scored 100% client satisfaction in client feedback surveys for creative and contributed to generating over 8 million leads for clients.

+ Managed campaigns & partner networks, monitoring and allocating budgets based on performance and fostering long-standing relationships with over a dozen suppliers.

+ Owned campaign analysis, developing tools to swiftly identify trends across campaigns.
Led company’s UK & EU Culture team and was a 2x winner of company-wide Above and Beyond Award.

Campaign Manager & Creative Lead

Cohort Global

Part of role with Pureprofile above, business acquired 2017.

Campaign Executive

GRAHAM Construction

Manage thousands of documents for numerous multi-million pound projects; responsible for creation, implementation and review of system procedures across the London and Northern Ireland regions; lead training of both internal and external system users; compile and present information for lengthy legal proceedings; assemble key handover manuals; content and database management; handle constant demands on various projects to strict deadlines without mistakes; maintain relationships with contractors and staff at every level to get information as required. Proud of becoming being a trusted, respected and sought-after member of the team in an industry I had no previous experience with.

Document Controller

Ards Borough Council

Promote and market events across the Ards Borough; shape communications to fit organsation’s ‘tone of voice’ and brand; copywriting (above and below the line advertisements); assemble and design marketing materials (brochures, posters, flyers); update websites; press releases; direct mail campaigns; manage high-profile ‘Experience Ards’ Tour programme; compile and sign off simultaneously on two key brochures with short publishing and distribution timeline.  The Council subsequently made this an annually-recurring, paid position.

Events Marketing Assistant

OCO Global

Identify trade leads and European contracts; research and compile status reports on global companies; assemble news reports for a leading mobile network provider.  Able to develop commercial awareness and ability to pay attention to detail whilst concisely summarising issues from a wealth of information. Offered a full-time position but instead moved to Ards Tourism to work towards long-term goals.

Placement Researcher

Helping you unlock more customers with more website conversions & distinctive design | Digital products & services | 8m+ customer acquisition leads | FSB Member

I'm a Creative Strategist with 9 years of experience in digital marketing and customer acquisition. I have a proven track record of leveraging a hybrid skillset of analytics, strategy, design and client management to deliver high-impact creative which works and want to help businesses get the results their brand deserves.

Claire Fletcher

Email Aficionado | Sharing ways that marketers and creators can profitably reach their customers via email

Hey! You're actually reading my about section - Welcome 👋🏻

You'd probably struggle to find someone on LinkedIn who has more passion for the digital, email, communication and strategy space than here.

So, what do I actually do, you may ask? 

Well, by day, I head up all things Commercial at Prebo Digital. We're one of Africa's premier digital performance agencies, where our team of experts and I help companies in various industries, both B2B and B2C, create returns from their paid media, SEO, marketplaces, and conversion-rate enhancement.

We're also helping businesses get found using AI! So, if this sounds up your alley, or if you're looking to grow your sales or leads, I'd love to speak with you!

In terms of my role in the organisation: To sum things up, I lead and solve problems for our team and customers, while looking after client relationships, both locally and internationally. I also help lead where our client strategies go, how they enhance their awareness, and how they reach their audience across the funnel (in the most affordable way possible).

I also help lead our sales and partnership efforts, because we're big on creating referral relationships that work, while helping businesses that need practical help to grow. This all leads to Prebo Digital's growth and my getting paid to do what I'm (pretty) good at.

By night...though I'd love to call myself the Batman 😉 I help businesses, creators and marketers make the most out of their email learning and communication. With a marketing degree and over 15 years of digital-specific experience, email has a special place in my heart. I put my skills to use best in helping email senders of every creed strategise, create, send and grow in the email space.

If you want to learn effective email, we have a free newsletter community called Email Advice in Your Inbox that you HAVE to be part of, so hit that "newsletter" link in my profile. I also help businesses execute their email strategy, and would love to help you win at email!


Feel free to reach out (and coffee is on me if you're in SA), if you need email help, or are a business looking to create sound returns on your email, digital performance, and communication. 

I'd love to tell you how Prebo Digital and Email Expert Africa can help you.

Email: desmond@prebodigital.co.za | des@emailexpertafrica.com
Call: 072 266 1879
www.prebodigital.co.za | www.emailexpertafrica.com

Des Brown

Next time your mom asks you why you didn't become a doctor...

😅


(Not sure if a Doctorate in Email would count - maybe?)


Happy Thursday!

Email & Digital Aficionado | Sharing ways marketers can win in the digital space while building profitable relationships

😅 Every time I see a new email or AI tool.

(Or Spotify Premium Platinum...not even sure what lossless audio does)


Go forth and spend thy coin 😉


Happy Friday!

Email & Digital Aficionado | Sharing ways marketers can win in the digital space

Today I'm quietly launching something I've put my heart and soul into...

And it's built for EVERYONE in the email space 💌


Folks, meet 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.com!

(And I hope it's going to be your next favourite free cross-promotion and sponsor-seeking tool)


If there's one thing you know about me, it's that cross-promotion is (BY FAR) my favourite way to grow an email audience.


And, don't get me wrong...there are so many great cross-promotion and sponsorship platforms out there for email senders.

But so often:

• They're limited to using complex platforms
• They're designed for only those senders with large audiences
• And there's no true connection and realtionship built between email senders


The idea to build something that works in a way that creates a 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 connection hit me early last year.

And, yes, I could vibe-code an empty shell and tick some boxes (and that's what I initially did), but it felt 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺, and because I'm by no means a coder/ dev, I sat literally pulling my hair out. 🙃


Cue the introduction of my friend (and one of the sharpest technical dev minds I know), Francois Schoeman who has put in an insane amount of midnight oil and dealt with my pedantic details to co-found this with me, and turn it into what it should be.


And here's where we're taking this!

• We want ANYONE sending any type of email to have an opportunity to have the opportunity to cross-promote.
• We're going to be inviting some top-tier sponsors to list available inventory and find newsletters to suit their goals.
• I'm transitioning an already vetted list of over 250+ newsletters I know and trust into CrossLetter to spread the word about them.
  

𝗔𝗻𝗱, 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗟𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀!


So, here's my humble invite to you, email senders, newsletter operators and sponsors:

☝️ Hit the link in the comments and list your newsletter or sponsor profile.
✌️ Open your profile to cross-promos and sponsorships.
👌 Make new friends and discover the newsletters we're adding over the coming weeks.


Honestly, there's so much work still to be done, but as long as this helps build meaningful connections that help newsletters grow in some way, then the sense of fulfilment in building this thing makes it all damn worth it.


Happy Friday the 13th, and I look forward to cross-promoting with you all 💌

If communicating across regions, AI translation is not a competitive advantage.
 
Let's face it: Everyone can do it...but should they?

 
The real risk for folks communicating across different language lines (especially on email) is losing the thing that made your content work in the first place.

 
We’re now at a stage where you can easily translate an email into five languages in minutes. They might be grammatically solid, structurally clean and even technically correct.
 
But email (and solid communication) doesn’t convert because it’s 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵.
 

The real action comes from what feels 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 to your reader.
 

There's tone. There's cadence. There's humour. There's subtle persuasion. And, importantly, there's cultural sensitivity.
 
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.

 
And trust erosion is one of those silent things that bites most comms teams in the butt.
 
It sneaks into your metrics over time...
 
• Slightly lower clicks
• Less reply behaviour
• Softer engagement
• “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧” kinda feedback
 

With so many global teams often optimising for efficiency, this becomes evident when automation scales in structure, but not so well in nuance.

 
Remember, your brand might sound playful in one market, but flat (or even offensive) in another.

Or, elements like urgency might feel compelling in one region and seriously pushy in another…  You don’t have a translation issue.

 
This is where the “𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” question 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 be “𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 [𝘹] 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯?”

 
I had the immense privilege of unpacking this in more detail for an interview piece I worked on with the brilliant team at Knak, which I'm linking in the comments.

We took a look at where AI translation helps and where human review is still non-negotiable at scale.

 
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.


Happy Wednesday 💌

Hot take (and this might bite me here) ...

But, you don't need to pay to grow your email audience 👀


Okay, this is definitely likely to bite me 😅, especially because ads DO work for subscriber acquisition, but it shouldn't be the first thing you do to grow an email audience.


𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼: I've attracted thousands of subscribers to my niche newsletter... and I've yet to spend a cent on paid acquisition.

Yeah, I know, I could have doubled that, grown faster, blah, blah, but I'm a bit of a "there's gotta be a cheaper way to do this" kinda guy (or a cheapskate, but we'll go with the hard work angle).


That said, though, this approach isn't for everyone, and it's certainly not easy, but it can be done.


If you're looking to grow the "free" route, here are the 2 biggest ways I've attracted readers (that have stuck) to 𝙀𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙄𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙭:


☝️ 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Some great tools make this easier, but it's as simple as signing up for newsletters that speak to an audience you're aligned with and building a connection with them.

There are so many great newsletter operators out there, and more of them than you realise are willing to find ways to tap into mutual audience fits.

And this doesn't cost a dime (if you make the relationship fair and valuable).


𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻? Do something without the expectation of return.

Feature them to your audience. Speak about what you admire about these newsletters. Tell your audience they're also good sources of info.

Not only does this add value to your audience, but you're showing a willingness to help others win, which builds relationships (and friends).


The principle of Reciprocity is stronger than you realise.


✌️ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗠𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹

If someone engages with you, if you're connecting with people who fit your ideal reader profile, or even if you're enjoying someone's content...reach out!

It should never be a hard sell (and more caution below), but it's such a great way to introduce yourself, build connections and also tell folks about your newsletter.


𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Guys, DMs are a private space (yeah, it's a social place, but this small corner of the social world is sacred).

Don't be spammy. Don't just plug it to everyone. Respect inboxes! If someone says no or doesn't sign up, don't shun them either. You've given someone a chance to take a look, and that will always be a future opportunity.


There's no better way to choose who you want in your audience, so put time into this well.



There are heaps more ways to grow without ads, and I'll unpack more of those soon, but would love to hear what everyone's using (for free) to grow their audience?


(𝗣.𝗦. Feel free to plug your newsletter in the comments - here's a free opportunity you can take advantage of because, hey, I'm asking!)


Happy Wednesday 💌

List hygiene in email is so often an afterthought.

The email senders that win? They're making it part of their workflow.


Unfortunately, most teams and email senders only wind up thinking about email verification when something breaks.

And those breaks? They're subtle, aren't they?


Bounce rates creep up.
Email revenue starts slipping.
(IT starts throwing the word “blacklist” around in meetings.)


𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘢! Suddenly, everyone cares about list hygiene 😅


What many marketers don't realise is that you don't have to act only when damage control is needed if you're applying the right operational discipline.

Remember:

• People change jobs
• Email addresses decay over time
• Typos slip through forms all the time

(And, let's not forget those freebies, promos and giveaways that inevitably attract a heap of junk sign-ups.)


It's never intentional (unless you're sending to emails you shouldn't be sending to), but the inbox doesn’t care about your intentions if it's reacting to your subscriber behaviour!

 
Deliverability is the by-product of who you send to, how engaged they are, and how clean your data is.
 
So, if verification only happens 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 something goes wrong, you’re already playing defence.
 

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 ⚒️
 

Of the smartest out there, my friends at Bouncer certainly come to mind, and I had the immense privilege of breaking down how they do this in the latest edition of 𝙀𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙏𝙇𝘿𝙍.
 
I got to run through their insanely easy-to-use email verification platform and see exactly how their platform helps email teams make verification part of the workflow.

 
If you care about long-term email performance, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.


And if you're keen to see why I've got their name up in lights, there's a link in the comments to take a read (because there's something in it for all readers too, btw).



If you're planning before imports, big campaigns, reactivations, scaling paid traffic into lead magnets, or just want to make sure you have the healthiest email environment possible...

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁! ☝️
 

See you in the inbox and happy Friday!

I speak to folks about choosing the right ESP all the time.

Most often, many of them go about it completely the wrong way...


Many start with pricing.
Others begin with which platform has the fanciest features.
And, best of all, I've had a plethora of people saying their "𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦" said it was good.

(and that's also a great example of why 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 friends and good business decisions don't often mix well) 🙃


But, steering us back on track, yeah, these things matter... 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁?


That's what I've invited my (insanely well-informed) friend, Robert Brandl, to share his insights on for our 𝙀𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘼 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 community tomorrow.


Not only is he well-informed, but the man literally does this for a living, helping folks as the founder and CEO of the brilliant EmailTooltester team.


Robert put together an instant favourite on how businesses can go about making the right email platform choice for their business model, lifecycle and what matters to the people who 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 send emails in a business.


And, if that's not convincing enough, he'll also be sharing a link to a detailed spreadsheet that lets you compare the best email marketing services for various businesses for our readers 💎


If you're keen to grab a copy, drop a 👋 and I'll send over a link (or just hit the link in my bio and you're in!)



Happy Wednesday, and see you in the inbox 💌

If you're in the performance marketing game, you'll know one thing:

Clicks are easy.  But journeys? 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵...
 

And, unfortunately, most dashboards don’t show you the difference.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁: We’ve built an entire industry around optimising the click.
 
CTR.
CPC.
CPM.

(Yep, all the acronyms that celebrate lower costs and higher click-through rates like they’re the finish line 🏁).

 
I hate to break it to you, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁. They're just the doorway, and we so often forget this.

 
The real question is actually where your real performance focus lies:
 
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩?

 
Because you can have great ads, strong targeting  and healthy traffic, and yet may still not grow.
 

And the real reason why is that the journey after the click is weak.
 

Pages take forever to load.
Messages don't match ads well
Offers are vague and lack clarity
Forms wind up asking for waaay to much
Tracking only stops once folks take that click
And (I don't just blame sales here), but CRM follow-up is often inconsistent.
 

And who gets the blame? The poor platforms, or 𝘣𝘢𝘥 leads, or even your agency 🙃
 
But most often, it's your architecture of that full customer journey letting you down, not the traffic.
 
 
Ad platforms are designed to optimise for the click. That’s literally their job.
 
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸.

 
So, to give you something to work on and really put your focus into, here's my take:
 
Solid (revenue-generating) journeys require clear intent alignment, strong landing environments, clean event tracking (with tight feedback loops), and all need to be set up with good data flowing into the optimisation side of things.
 

If you really want those clicks to work for you, this is the stuff that matters.
 
And, if you need help getting this right, pop me a DM or head over and chat to our team at Prebo Digital - This is our bread and butter ☝🏼


Happy Saturday!

taplio

The Battle

Claire Fletcher

Des Brown

Followers

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Performance ScoreDes Brown's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Claire Fletcher

Des Brown

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Des Brown's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDes Brown's LinkedIn Performance