Getting Started with Klaviyo: A Quick and Practical Guide

Dive into Klaviyo's features, best practices, and expert tips. Email marketing is a vital component of digital marketing. It enables direct communication with current and potential customers, helping increase conversion rate, retention rate, and customer lifetime value. 

When it comes to email marketing platforms, Klaviyo stands out as a leading choice, offering advanced features for email, SMS, and automation to help you achieve your goals.

In this quick Klaviyo guide, we’ll share 5 straightforward steps to help you get started with Klaviyo and make sure you’re set up for email marketing success from the get-go.

But first, let’s take a quick look at why Klaviyo is the right platform for your ecommerce business:
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5 Reasons to Choose Klaviyo for Ecommerce

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1. Complete email & SMS solution

Klaviyo has all the tools you need to manage your email and SMS marketing communications, enabling ecommerce businesses to engage with their customers across multiple channels. This comprehensive approach ensures a unified communication strategy.

2. Easy to use

The platform is designed with user experience in mind, making it easy for both new and experienced email marketers and ecommerce owners to create, launch, and manage their marketing campaigns. There’s no need for extensive technical knowledge to use Klaviyo for email marketing.

3. Cutting-edge technology

With advanced automation, segmentation, and personalization tools, Klaviyo enables ecommerce businesses to send highly targeted messages based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history, ensuring that each communication is relevant and likely to convert.

4. Loaded with features

Klaviyo’s vast array of features empowers businesses to execute a wide range of strategies easily. From pre-built templates and triggers to A/B testing and dynamic content, the platform provides everything you need for effective marketing communication that drives results.

5. Exceptional customer support

Klaviyo distinguishes itself with outstanding customer support. The platform offers extensive resources, including a knowledge base, webinars, community forums, and responsive customer service teams to guide users.
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Steps to Get Started with Klaviyo for Email Marketing

Now that you know the advantages of using Klaviyo, let’s move on to setting up your Klaviyo account and sending your first campaigns.

Step 1: Integrate your ecommerce store

The first thing you should do after setting up your Klaviyo account is integrate it with your ecommerce platform. This integration is essential as it allows Klaviyo to collect customer data like purchase behavior and browsing history, which is required for more targeted and personalized emails. 

Luckily, Klaviyo offers seamless integration with multiple ecommerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. Hence, you can easily connect your store with Klaviyo and sync data. 
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Step 2: Build and segment your audience

Once you’ve successfully integrated your ecommerce store, the next step is to build your audience. This consists of 2 key actions: first, creating a list, and second, segmenting this list for targeted engagement.

Lists are a collection of contact information of people who have consented to receive marketing communication from your business. Where do you get this information from?

• People subscribe to your list through a sign-up form.
• You get their information from third-party integrations.
• You manually add information to a list (e.g., through CSV upload). 

Each contact on the list is known as a profile or subscriber. Klaviyo allows you to import your existing lists or create your first one on the platform. Most of the email service providers (ESPs) can be integrated into Klaviyo, but if no integration is available for your ESP, you can manually import your subscribers.

In case you don’t have an existing list, you can simply move on to the next step: publishing a welcome sign-up form on your ecommerce store to turn visitors into subscribers. Klaviyo has a library of pre-built form templates that you can tweak per your needs.

Once you have created a list with enough profiles, it’s time to create segments to maximize engagement. Luckily, Klaviyo has pre-built segments for immediate use. You can even create your own (you’ll learn more about this as you start using the platform).
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Step 3: Set up automated flows

Automations (called flows in Klaviyo) are a series of emails that are automatically sent to subscribers based on specific triggers or actions they take. These flows enable you to deliver a highly personalized experience, resulting in increased engagement and higher conversion rates. 

From onboarding new subscribers to post-purchase messages, these flows play a crucial role in your customer journey.

Here are 5 key flows used by ecommerce stores:

1. Welcome flow: A series of emails or messages aimed at engaging and orienting new subscribers or customers, introducing them to the brand, and setting the tone for future communication.
2. Cart Abandonment flow: A targeted communication strategy to re-engage customers who have added items to their cart but left the website without completing the purchase.
3. Browse Abandonment flow: Similar to cart abandonment, this involves reaching out to users who viewed products on a site without adding anything to their cart, encouraging them to return and make a purchase.
4. Post-Purchase flow: A sequence of communications sent after a purchase aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction, providing product usage tips, and encouraging future purchases.
5. Winback flow: A marketing strategy focused on re-engaging past customers who have not purchased in a long time through special offers or messages highlighting new or improved products.

Related: 10 Essential Email Flows for Ecommerce Stores
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Step 4: Create your first campaigns

After you’ve built your audience and collected enough subscribers, the next step is to keep them engaged through regular email campaigns. Lucky for you, Klaviyo has an extensive email campaign library template library to match any business's unique needs.

Here’s how to create and send email campaigns through Klaviyo:

1. Log into Klaviyo and navigate to the 'Email Templates' section under 'Emails & Texts'.
2. Select a suitable template from Klaviyo’s collection based on your campaign needs.
3. Use the email editor to modify text, fonts, images, and colors to align with your brand.
4. Incorporate dynamic tags for personalized elements like names or past purchase information.
5. Check how your email looks on different devices and send test emails to ensure accuracy.
6. Save the template for future use or use it immediately in a campaign or automated flow.
7. Select your segment and add scheduling details like the send date and time to launch the email.
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Step 5: Establish reporting standards

Last but not least, you need to monitor your weekly, monthly, or yearly email marketing progress to ensure your emails are performing as expected and aligning with your business goals. Start by defining key metrics that will indicate success, such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. 

Klaviyo’s robust reporting tools enable users to set up custom reports focusing on the metrics that are most relevant to your business, allowing you to access real-time data and insights effectively. All you have to do is log into Klaviyo and navigate to the ‘Custom Reports’ section under ‘Analytics’. Click on Create Custom Report, and choose from multiple pre-set templates or create your own. That’s it!
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Set Up Your Klaviyo Account Today!

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Klaviyo is one of the most user-friendly email marketing platforms, offering multiple tools to help ecommerce businesses scale their revenue and make the most of their email marketing efforts.

So, what are you waiting for? Get started with Klaviyo today!

If you struggle with the account setup process or need help with campaigns, don’t hesitate to ask for assistance from an expert like DIGITORM. We are certified Klaviyo Silver partners and have helped over 200+ ecommerce stores boost their email marketing efforts with Klaviyo. 

Get in touch now for a free email consult.

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