When you think of Morning Brew Inc., you probably think of sharp, witty newsletters and fast-growing digital content. But behind the scenes, Morning Brew Inc. is also brewing something just as impactful: a smarter, more sustainable marketing operation.
At Activate 2025, Senior Manager of Audience Operations at Morning Brew Inc., Erika Olsen, took the stage to walk us through a transformational journey—one that started with data chaos and ended with a new kind of marketing clarity. Her session, Brewing a Strong Data Foundation: The Perfect Blend for Marketing Success, wasn’t just a peek behind the curtain. It was a masterclass in scaling personalization, automation, and audience growth the right way.
Here are three standout takeaways from the session—and why they matter to any brand trying to move beyond the status quo.
1. Your Data Is Talking—But Are You Actually Listening?
Erika opened with a confession: Morning Brew Inc.’s data was everywhere, but it wasn’t working together. Email data lived in one place, user engagement lived in another, and getting answers meant cobbling things together manually.
Sound familiar?
For Morning Brew Inc., the turning point came when they realized that fragmented data wasn’t just inefficient—it was holding them back from truly knowing their audience. So they invested in building a cohesive, first-party data foundation. The result? A unified source of truth that could power smarter decisions across the board.
“First off, who are we speaking to? Who’s the person reading that newsletter or registering for that event? What do they do? Where do they live? And, of course, what are they interested in? What’s going to make them sign up for that next newsletter or attend that event? The answer to all these questions lies in your audience data. It’s all about knowing your audience and being able to talk to them in a way that feels native to your brand.” – Erika Olsen
2. Personalization starts with clear intent.
Once the team at Morning Brew Inc. had a cohesive data foundation, they went deep on customization. Instead of sending generic messages, they used custom events to map real behaviors—what content a user engages with, how often they return, and what drives them to click.
This shift lets them personalize in meaningful ways, not just by name or segment, but by intent.
“Iterable understands that there are so many important audience signals that live outside of your standard marketing communications. Custom events allow you to track and activate on all those other user actions around your ecosystem. You can use them to trigger journeys and create audience segments. And they even allow for nested fields, so you get so much more context with that custom event.” – Erika Olsen
3. Automation should respond, not repeat.
For Morning Brew Inc., automation isn’t about volume—it’s about velocity. With a solid data pipeline and a deeper understanding of audience behavior, they automated with intent: onboarding flows that adapt, win-back journeys that actually work, and content triggers that meet users where they are.
They also used Iterable’s Predictive Goals to understand when a reader is likely to churn or convert and adjust communications in real time.
4. Data hygiene is a growth multiplier.
One of the biggest takeaways from Erika’s talk? Consistency matters more than complexity.
Yes, data volume is important. But if the definitions don’t match across teams or platforms, it’s like building a house on sand. Morning Brew Inc. spent time aligning naming conventions, processes, and validation logic across their systems—creating clarity and trust in the data they were using every day.
Scaling personalization and automation is only effective if your data foundation is rock-solid. Erika shared a few data hygiene best practices that have made all the difference in keeping Morning Brew Inc.’s marketing systems efficient and future-proof:
Data Best Practices:
- Use uniform inputs for profile fields to avoid discrepancies that can break personalization logic.
- Keep field and event names consistent across platforms and teams to reduce confusion and ensure alignment.
- Set clear data retention policies early so your database stays lean, relevant, and compliant.
- Remove stale or outdated subscriber data—especially contacts who’ve been inactive or unsubscribed beyond reach.
- Avoid uploading static lists to paid platforms that quickly become outdated.
- Activate and update audiences directly from Iterable to keep targeting data fresh and accurate.
- Leverage AI tools like Iterable’s Send Time Optimization and Predictive Goals to drive performance and guide future strategy.
Smart Marketing Starts with a Solid Core
Erika’s session was a reminder that flashy marketing doesn’t work without solid infrastructure. Morning Brew Inc. didn’t just improve their engagement metrics—they built a system that supports smarter, faster, more relevant communication at scale.
And it all started with a simple question: What do we really know about our users?
Want the full playbook?
Watch Erika’s complete session from Activate 2025 on demand here for all the details, strategies, and behind-the-scenes insights on Morning Brew Inc.’s recipe for success.
