A Calm After the Storm
Gauge Interactive founders Daniel Augustine and Mark Lubbers sit in their Savannah, GA office, the calm outside a stark contrast to the recent chaos of Hurricane Matthew. Two weeks earlier, like much of the city, the team had to evacuate. Now, back at work, the focus is clear.
After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design, the pair launched Gauge in October 2007—right as the financial crisis hit. They juggled night jobs to stay afloat, with Lubbers waiting tables and Augustine giving horse-drawn carriage tours, all while building Gauge out of a garage.
Today, Gauge is a 20-person e-commerce agency serving premium clients like Atelier Swarovski and MOSCOT. From humble beginnings, the agency has become a major player.
The Lightness Philosophy
Gauge’s growth is driven by simplicity. Inspired by the mantra of Lotus Cars founder Colin Chapman—“Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”—Lubbers and Augustine have built a company that values lean, efficient solutions.
As Magento Enterprise and Shopify Plus partners, they frequently recommend Mailchimp for email marketing. “We look for simple solutions our clients can use without adding digital overhead,” Lubbers says.
Augustine adds, “What I appreciate about Mailchimp is their Vince Lombardi approach. He said, ‘Pass, block, tackle.’ With email marketing, that becomes automate, analyze, optimize.”
Why Automation Matters
Marketing automation is key for resource-strapped e-commerce companies. “Even if our clients doubled their digital teams, they’d still be understaffed,” Augustine explains. “They don’t need complexity. They need clarity.”
That’s why Gauge avoids complicated enterprise email tools. The goal is to empower clients, not overwhelm them.
Post-Launch is Just the Start
Unlike many agencies that see a site launch as the finish line, Gauge views it as day zero. “You’ve built your Ferrari. Now it’s race time,” Augustine says.
Email plays a central role in that race. A successful launch is followed by strategic digital marketing—PPC, social media, SEO, and email automation.
“You have to have an effective email strategy in place to compete,” Lubbers says. “It’s not optional.”
And the returns are clear. “An email goes out, and sales come in,” Augustine says. “Unlike ads or social posts, it delivers instantly.”
Building the Feedback Loop
Effective email automation involves strategy, segmentation, content creation, and design. But the true value is in what comes after: analysis and refinement.
Well-designed automated campaigns become self-sustaining engines of growth. Insights from one email improve the next. This feedback loop builds momentum and profits.
No Shortcuts, Just Smart Guidance
While automation simplifies execution, success is far from automatic. Many of Gauge’s clients are self-taught entrepreneurs. “They didn’t study marketing. They learned by doing,” Augustine says.
Gauge’s role is to offer the structure and guidance to help them succeed—with tools that are powerful, but not overcomplicated.