Klaviyo: A Powerful ESP to Help You Automate Your Email Campaigns

 

Among digital marketing strategies, email marketing is on top of the list. And when it comes to Email Service Providers (ESPs), there is one name that really stands out—Klaviyo. With its powerful yet easy-to-use functionalities, it helps entrepreneurs increase their sales and traffic through automated emails. 

In fact, based on my experience, Klaviyo helps me make $160K revenue per year just on automated emails. Yes, you read it right. This is how amazing Klaviyo is. Since I started using this platform, I consider it as my trustworthy partner when it comes to my email marketing campaigns and email automation. It not only allows me to manage and track my email marketing campaigns effectively but also allows me to grow my business. 

Are you new to Klaviyo? Don’t worry because I will be discussing in this article everything you need to know— from highlighting its features that you can take advantage of for your business to setting up your Klaviyo account. 

What is Klaviyo? 

Klaviyo is a US-based software company that provides tools for marketing automation, email, SMS, and phone push notifications. It has 100+ integrations that allow online businesses to create highly personalized emails by analyzing the customers’ transactional and behavioral data and sending them to their target audience. It is best used for Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Commerce Cloud, Magento, WooCommerce, and Direct Integration. 

Why Choose Klaviyo?

Klaviyo has been providing email automation services since 2012 for over 265,000 businesses of all sizes worldwide. Some of them are huge brands such as Blenders Eyewear, Huckberry, Custom Ink, Nomad, and Chubbies Shorts. 

They pride themselves on being able to support and help not only those huge but also small-to-medium-sized enterprises grow by providing accurate and real-time customer data. 

Want to know my secret on how I get $160K revenue just on automated emails?  Find out the details here. 

Aside from email automation, they also have SMS automation that allows entrepreneurs and business owners to send personalized text messages to their clients. 

Complete Must-Have Features

Klaviyo offers complete must-have features that you can’t get from Mailchimp and other ESPs. In my opinion, Klaviyo is the best email marketing platform out there. 

Here’s why. 

• Multiple Pre-Built Flows

Pre-built flows make email marketing easy. It is a tool that allows you to set up automated sequences based on certain actions and helps you to send messages to your customers in a timely manner. And Klaviyo has multiple pre-built sequence templates (flows) that are essential for every stage of a customer’s buying journey. And compared to other ESPs, Klaviyo has better pre-built flows for welcome emails, abandoned cart reminder emails, thank you emails, and review requests. You can edit the pre-built flows according to your preference. But the pre-built flows are good nonetheless. 

• Advanced Segmentation

One of the effective ways to get a higher engagement and revenue is to segment your audience. And when it comes to segmentation, Klaviyo is the real winner. It has advanced segmentation tools that allow you to segment and create super-targeted email campaigns based on customers’ transactional and behavioral data. 

Let’s say, for example, you want to segment those who spent more than $500 or those who haven’t purchased within the last 30 days, Klaviyo can do in-depth segmentation in just two minutes so you can easily send your emails to your target audience. 

• Has Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

What if you can predict your customers’ future spending? Sounds good right? In Klaviyo, this “what if” is a reality. Another outstanding feature of Klaviyo is its predictive analytics called Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). It is a tool that helps email marketers segment their contacts and predict customers’ future spending based on transactional data. 

For example, using historic CLV, you can guess your customers’ next purchase, how much they would spend, monitor the number of upcoming purchases, and calculate the customer lifetime. So for those customers who have a low probability of purchasing again from your store, you can send special offers to them so that they would re-engage with your brand. 

• Deep Automation

Klaviyo makes email automation simple yet powerful enough that even if you are asleep, you can still make money. It allows you to create automated sequences of emails without requiring a third party. It helps you send the right messages to customers at the right time based on their behavior. Even in a free plan, advanced automation is available so you can easily set up and manage your email marketing campaigns. 

• In-Depth Reporting

When it comes to reporting, nothing is as accurate as Klaviyo. Unlike other ESPs, Klaviyo does in-depth reporting on metrics for active on site, bounce emails, clicked email, dropped email, marked an email as spam, opened email, received email, and unsubscribed. These metrics help you to track the success rate of your campaign and see what your customers are doing in real-time too. Aside from that, Klaviyo reports revenue. So, you can easily compare how much revenue you get from your current campaigns to the last one you have. 

• Personalization

Personalized emails encourage your customers to buy from you. The more it is personalized, the higher your conversion rate will be. Klaviyo makes personalized emails better and easier. You can create more personalized content using template variables such as personalization variables (name, email addresses, etc), custom properties (favorite color, birthday, etc), account variable (organization’s name and addresses), and event variables. You can use personalization variables like first name, last name, full name, email addresses, and email addresses to create more personalized content. 

• Has Smart Sending

One of the reasons why customers click the unsubscribe button is when they are bombarded with emails. So in order to prevent that, you need to make sure that you send just the right amount of email to them. But making sure of it is a tedious job. 

Thankfully, Klaviyo has another game-changer feature called Smart Sending. Smart sending is a feature that gives you an option to limit and skip your receivers from a given period of time. For example, you just sent an email to a particular person recently and you don’t want him/her to be included in your next email campaign, just simply turn on the Smart Sending and that person will not be included in the recipient list. With smart sending, you won’t annoy your subscribers with too many emails at once that would trigger them to unsubscribe you. 

• Integration with Shopping Websites and Facebook

Email marketing software should have an integration with shopping websites. With Klaviyo, you don’t have to worry about that because it has strong integration with various websites like Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Commerce Cloud, Magento, WooCommerce, and even Facebook. So you can dynamically sync your list and segment them afterward so that your subscribers from these shopping websites and Facebook can also receive your email campaigns. 

• Easy to Use

Klaviyo is easy to navigate. You can easily create a full-page signup form that would serve as a subscribe page (landing page). You can just drag and drop the elements to compose a campaign. With its advanced segmentation, deep automation, and in-depth reporting, you can easily set up even those complicated campaigns with sophisticated targeting. 

Even better because it makes design easy and looks great across all devices. So your customers would not need to open their laptop or computer just to see your email. 

Reliable Customer Support

Reliable Customer Support gives you peace of mind that if something happens, you can ask for assistance. For Klaviyo, even when you subscribe for free, you can already get email support. For paid plans, aside from email support, you can contact them via live chat (only available for paid plans) from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, from Monday to Friday. 

You can also access their detailed resources uploaded on their websites such as training videos, getting started handbook, and FAQ on the following topics:

• Account Administration 
• Advertising
• Analytics
• Architecture & Data Model
• Campaigns 
• Compliance
• Custom Platforms & API
• Email Deliverability
• Ecommerce Integrations
• Flows
• Guides
• Lists & Segments
• Other Data Integrations
• People & Profiles
• Signup Forms 
• SMS & Push Notifications
• Templates
• Workshops & Events

They also provide a Community Forum that is available 24/7 for all customers. Their customer service is very helpful and they would help you tweak your reporting as well as give you additional features like sending unique coupons. 

Reasonable Fees

Of course, pricing is what you need to consider above all things especially if you are just starting up. You need to know if the one you are getting is worth the price. You don’t want your hard-earned money to go to waste for a platform that would only stress you out.

For marketing platform start-ups, Klaviyo offers a free plan that includes up to 250 contacts, up to 500 email sends as well email support. 

But if you want to upgrade your plan, you can start paying $20 per month. It will provide you with automated emails, email templates, reporting, one-click integrations, and unlimited email sends. But the higher you pay, the more contacts you can get. 

Getting Started with Klaviyo

Now that I’m done sharing with you the few things why you should use Klaviyo in your email marketing campaigns, I will be sharing with you as well the how-tos so you can get familiar with Klaviyo. So keep reading. 

How to Set Up Your Klaviyo Account?

1. In your browser, go to  Klaviyo’s website and then click on Sign Up.

2. Then, you need to put in the information for Company name, Email address, Phone number, Password, Number of contacts you have, and Company URL. Once done, click on Get Started. 

3. Once you’ve verified your account, you can now start creating your campaigns. 

How to Create Sign-Up Forms in Klaviyo?

Sign up form is the most basic email marketing campaign. And for Klaviyo, creating a professional-looking sign-up form is easy. 

1. In your dashboard, click on Signup Forms. 

2. Then, click on Create Signup Form. 

3. Choose your sign-up form. On the left side, you will see that there are available options you can choose from for the Type, Device, and Goal. Then, on the right part, there are available pre-built templates that you can use and change based on your need. Or you can create your signup from scratch. 

There are three types of signup forms you can create in Klaviyo. These are the:

• Popup – the one that pops up on your website. 
• Flyout – the one that appears from either on the left or right side of your website. 
• Embed – the one that is being displayed on your web page.

Whatever type of form you want to create, you can just tick the box next to it. The same thing applies to the device and goal. 

4. Let’s say, for example, you want to use a pre-built template for your welcome signup form. Just tick on the box for Popup and click on the Welcome Popup template. 

5. Then, Name your template and choose a Subscribe List. When you select your subscribe list, only those who belong to that list will be able to see the form. Then, click on Create Form. 

6. This is what your workspace looks like. On the left side are your tools. You can drag and drop the elements under the Blocks on your template. 

7. If you click on the Blocks, you will see that it is divided into two categories namely: Elements and Input Fields. 

For the Elements, there are: 

• Text
• Button
• Image

For the Input Field, there are:

• Email Input
• Phone Number 
• Text Input
• Radio Button
• Multi Checkbox
• Date
• Dropdown 

8. Then, if you click on Styles, here you will see that you can change the Form Type, Size, Background, Styles, as well as the Input Field Text Styles and Input Field Styles. So, if you want to add some colors in your signup form, you can do that here in Styles. 

9. The last thing is the Behaviors. What does it do? Here, you can set the following:  

• Display Timing: When will it be displayed?
• Display Frequency: How frequent will it be displayed?
• Device: On what device will it be displayed?
• Targeting: to whom will it be displayed? (It can be by Visitor, By URL, or By Location)

10. Here, I changed the background color and the content. I added my business logo at the top. Once I’m satisfied, I will just click on the Publish button on the upper right side and then it’s good to go. 

Also, creating the flyout and embed forms are pretty much the same. You just have to tick on the box next to the type of signup form you want to create. 

How to Segment Your Email List in Klaviyo?

Unlike creating subscriber lists, segmentation is a process wherein you are grouping your contacts based on their transactional, behavioral, and predictive data. Segmented lists are dynamic and more powerful than an ordinary list of subscribers. In fact, highly segmented lists help you boost your revenue at least 3x than unsegmented lists. That is why it is very essential in your email marketing campaign. 

Luckily, this is one of Klaviyo‘s outstanding features. It does deeper segmentation that you cannot find in other email automation software. To guide you, here’s the step-by-step process on how to segment your list. 

1. Go to the List & Segments. 

2. On the next page, in the upper right-hand corner, click on Create List / Segment.

3. Then, select Segment. 

4. Afterward, a segment builder will appear on your screen to build your segmentation. You need to Name it according to its purpose. Then, fill out the Definition. 

For example, you may choose your Condition based on What someone has done (or not done). Then, you can add some metrics for deep segmentation like this:  Clicked Email at least one in the last 30 days. 

When done, click on Create Segment.

5. You just have to wait to finish it up. When it is completed, it will automatically show the result. 

How to Use Klaviyo’s Pre-Built Flows?

Another powerful function of Klaviyo is its pre-built flows. 

1. In your dashboard, go and click on Flow.

2. Then, click on Create Flow. 

3. Let’s say you want to use the pre-built flows for Abandonment Cart. Just tick on the box next to it and then choose a pre-built flow you want to use. 

4. Then, this will appear. No need to change anything. Just click on the Create Flow button. 

5. This is what your workspace looks like. If you want to change something, just click on the flow, and on the right side, you can edit the content. For example, you can edit the number of hours your flow will appear. And if everything is okay, just click on the Save & Exit button. 

How to A/B Test Your Email in Klaviyo?

So, how to A/B test your email? 

1. In your dashboard, go and click on Campaigns. 

2. Then, click on Create Campaign. 

3. In here, you need to Name your campaign and select a list of recipients for Send to. Then, click on Save and Continue to Content. 

4. You need to Create a Subject line. Then, click on Save Changes and on Select Template. 

5. Click on My Templates and choose the template that you want. So, for this campaign, I want to use the one shown in the image below. 

6. If you are done editing the content (in which for this example I did not change anything), just click on Save Content. 

7. When you scroll down, you will see a link for Create A/B Test. Click on that to lead you to A/B testing. 

8. As you can see here, I already changed the subject line for Variation B. Just click on Edit Variation, and then it would lead you to the next page wherein you would be able to edit the subject line. 

For Test Setting, you can choose the Open rate for the Winning Metric. Then, for the Test Size, you can set it to 50% and set the Test Duration to 4 Hours. Of course, you can change it based on your preference. 

Then, click on Save & Schedule Campaign. 

So what happens to the remaining 50%? After 4 hours, the variation with the highest open rates wins and the winning variation will be sent out to the remaining 50% of your subscriber’s list. 

9. Then, click on the Schedule or Send button once you are ready to send it out. 

Pros and Cons of Using Klaviyo for Your Business

Klaviyo is the only marketing automation platform that keeps you in control of your marketing agency. Your Klaviyo account keeps you up-to-date on every activity related to your marketing strategy, including the entire lifecycle of your campaigns. It means you can rest assured that you always have the latest information about your email marketing campaigns. 

Pros

I highly recommend that you use Klaviyo. As presented above, Klaviyo has better segmentation and automation compared to Mailchimp and other ESPs. It has a visual flow builder that will guide your customers from the beginning until the end of their journey in your business. Also, you can design your email for mobile. 81% of customers prefer to open their email using their smartphone. 

Its data science features can help you grow your business faster because it can predict your customer’s next purchase, how much they would spend, monitor the number of upcoming purchases, and calculate the customer lifetime. 

Cons

Klaviyo may be a bit pricey than other ESPs like Mailchimp but it has no hidden fees. When it comes to customer service, as mentioned above, live chat is only for paid plans. Also, phone support is not available most of the time. 

In my opinion, it would be great if phone support is always up and make the live chat available for all the customers regardless of the plan they are subscribed to. 

Final Thought

Sending emails is essential in your eCommerce business. You need to send emails to your customers to welcome them to your business, thank them for purchasing, promote new products and services, offer them promo, or simply build a relationship. When it comes to the growth of your business, having a good marketing strategy is a must.

That is why email marketing, without a doubt, is one of the most effective ways in turning prospective customers into REAL customers and making one-time buyers into loyal ones. But it only works if you apply the right strategy and use the right software to help you automate emails. Don’t just settle for something cheaper. Choose platforms that would provide everything you need.

And when it comes to email marketing, nothing beats Klaviyo. With its powerful functionalities to automate and personalize emails, segment customers, as well as provide analytics, you would be able to make money and get a higher ROI even if you are using a free subscription with just 250 subscribers. 

Another good thing about Klaviyo is that it has no annual contracts and no hidden fees. So whatever your monthly subscription is, you will not be charged for unique coupon codes, segmentation, multivariate testing, Zapier integration, back-in-stock automation, and advanced pop-ups.