Klaviyo email marketing for eCommerce brands

‍Introduction to Email Marketing 

Customers are bombarded with countless marketing campaigns and messages on a daily basis which makes it quite a challenge to attract customers’ attention toward your eCommerce brand. Email marketing has worked as a game changer for eCommerce brands in this environment of fierce competition. Marketers need to come up with compelling and unique marketing strategies to gain customers’ attention and turn them into loyal customers. The trend towards online shopping and digital marketing has escalated to a point that the eCommerce market has even become saturated.

What is Klaviyo?

Klaviyo is a cloud-based email marketing tool that enables companies to design customer-specific email campaigns. It comes with features like automated email campaigns, email templates, and analytics to help companies gauge the success of their marketing initiatives. With its rich API and ability to interact with a variety of e-commerce platforms, Klaviyo enables developers to create unique integrations. By enabling them to mass-send customized and targeted emails to their customers, it is intended to support business growth. 

At a high level, Klaviyo uses sophisticated data gathering capabilities to collect data from eCommerce brands and their users. It can gather a plethora of information, such as information about potential customers who visit your store, what products they checked out, abandoned carts, point of sale (POS), and other similar data points. Utilizing its cutting-edge algorithm, Klaviyo sorts out this data to provide information on eCommerce brands’ existing and future clients. It would take a lot of time and effort to manually filter through this data, so Klaviyo employed email marketing software to turn it into useful information that can be used for segmentation, targeting, and email marketing campaigns to grow your customer base and retain existing customers. Klaviyo increases brand awareness through email marketing and allows Direct To Consumer (DTC) eCommerce brands to target and segment their customers based on objective and useful data points. Klaviyo’s data segmentation capabilities are truly one of the software’s biggest strengths. 

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Klaviyo for Shopify

Klaviyo has gained large momentum as a pivotal email marketing software largely thanks to its robust integrations with various eCommerce platforms. eCommerce Brands can quickly import client information and purchase history from their online stores using these integrations, which can be utilized to develop targeted and specialized email campaigns.

Some of the e-commerce platforms that Klaviyo natively integrates with include; Magento, WooCommerce and BigCommerce. However, it is Klaviyo’s seamless integration with Shopify that has helped this business grow and scale alongside the world’s leading eCommerce platform. 

With Klaviyo's native Shopify integration, eCommerce brands can easily import customer information and purchase history from Shopify stores. Through this integration, these businesses can also leverage Klaviyo's automation tools to send emails based on client behavior and past purchases. The potential for segmentation based on user actions on site has deepened significantly over the past few years with Klaviyo. 

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The above graphic serves to outline how Klaviyo works as part of a unified ecosystem for your eCommerce business. It has the ability to connect to many different platforms to aggregate data that helps to segment your customers and communicate with them in a way that is best suited to specific campaigns and marketing flows your business needs to run. The above illustration shows us just how Klaviyo can power your eCommerce communications:

Some of Klaviyo’s key features include:

Powerful segmentation based on realistic customer-specific data to trigger a positive response among customers. The effective segmentation tools enable brands using Klaviyo to segment customers based on their browsing history, email response history, and transactional behavior to send the right email to the right customer at the right time. 

Klaviyo understands the power of social media platforms. It integrates with Facebook to collect additional customer data and target customers on social media sites where they spend most of their time. Targeting Facebook customers enhances the reach of eCommerce brands where they can locate and attract customers that can't be reached with email alone. 

Klaviyo shares reports showing the return on investment after the email marketing campaign to show what difference did it make.

Klaviyo has pre-established autoresponders and email templates that make it quite easy to design any new marketing campaign.

Smart targeting allows Klaviyo to send appropriate messages to the right customers. For example, it won't send a promotion and discount message for product ABC to the customer who has already bought product ABC before.

Klaviyo also recommends products to customers (in emails) based on the customer profile data that they generate (360-degree profile) via their website browsing data to ensure that they KYC in a better way.

Acknowledging the importance of aesthetics, Klaviyo also invests considerable time in developing responsive templates to send beautifully designed customized messages to customers to gain their attention.

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Klaviyo vs Mailchimp

Klaviyo and Mailchimp are both email marketing platforms that allow businesses to create and send email campaigns to their customers. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms:

Targeting: Klaviyo is more focused on providing targeted and personalized email campaigns, whereas Mailchimp is more general-purpose.

E-commerce integrations: Klaviyo has more robust integrations with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Magento, which makes it easier for businesses to use customer data from their online stores to create targeted campaigns.

Automation: Both platforms offer automation features, but Klaviyo's automation is more advanced and allows businesses to create complex workflows based on customer behavior.

Analytics: Both platforms offer analytics to help businesses understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, but Klaviyo's analytics are more detailed and provide deeper insights.

Pricing: Klaviyo is generally more expensive than Mailchimp, with plans starting at $20/month for up to 500 contacts. Mailchimp has a free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and paid plans starting at $9.99/month for up to 50,000 contacts.

It's worth noting that both Klaviyo and Mailchimp are well-known and reputable email marketing platforms, and the best option for you will be determined by your specific requirements and preferences.

However, when it comes to eCommerce specifically, we are big proponents of Klaviyo and feel that it is far superior to Mailchimp when building out your DTC email strategy. 

Here are some of the other reasons why Klaviyo is best suited for your eCommerce business:

Klaviyo has a more user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder that can help you create professional-looking emails without any coding knowledge.

Klaviyo offers more comprehensive documentation and support resources, such as a comprehensive knowledge base, video tutorials, and a dedicated support team.

Klaviyo's pricing model is more flexible, allowing you to pay for only the features you require and scale your subscription as your business grows.

Klaviyo integrates with a broader range of marketing tools and platforms, including Google Analytics, Salesforce, and Facebook Ads.

Klaviyo allows you to create custom fields and tags in order to store and segment customer data more precisely. This can help you create highly targeted marketing campaigns and personalize the customer experience.

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Klaviyo Pricing

Klaviyo offers a range of pricing plans to suit the needs of different businesses, from small startups to large enterprises.

Klaviyo has four different pricing tiers: free, growth, pro, and enterprise.

The Free plan is ideal for small businesses and startups just starting out with email marketing. It comes with basic email marketing features like email templates, automation, segmentation, and sign-up forms, and it lets you send up to 15,000 emails per month to a list of up to 250 subscribers.

The Growth plan is appropriate for companies that have outgrown the Free plan and require more advanced email marketing features. It includes everything from the Free plan, plus advanced segmentation, A/B testing, and integrations with other marketing tools. You can also send up to 500,000 emails per month to a list of up to 25,000 subscribers with the Growth plan.

The Pro plan is intended for companies that require even more advanced email marketing features, such as multi-step automation, advanced reporting, and priority support. It includes everything in the Growth plan, as well as extra features and higher sending limits. You can send up to 2 million emails per month to a list of up to 50,000 subscribers with the Pro plan.

Finally, the Enterprise plan is intended for large companies that require customized email marketing solutions as well as dedicated support. It includes everything from the Pro plan, plus advanced integrations, customizable sending limits, and a dedicated account manager.

It’s also worth noting that Klaviyo offers a number of add-on features that can be purchased separately in addition to the four main pricing plans. Integrations with other marketing tools, advanced automation and segmentation, and increased email sending limits are among them.

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So, how do you pick the best Klaviyo pricing plan for your eCommerce Business? Here are a few pointers to think about:

Determine your email marketing requirements: The first step is to assess your company's email marketing requirements and determine which features are most important to you. If you're just getting started with email marketing, the Free plan might be enough. If you require more advanced features, such as automation and segmentation, you should consider the Growth or Pro plans.

Consider the size of your email list: Another important factor to consider is the size of your email list. Klaviyo's pricing plans are based on the number of subscribers you have, so it's critical to select a plan that fits your list size. If you have a small email list, the Free or Growth plan may be sufficient. If you have a longer list, you may require the Pro or Enterprise plans.

Consider your monthly email sending volume: Klaviyo's pricing plans are also based on the number of emails you intend to send each month. If you send a lot of emails, you might want to look into a more expensive plan with higher sending limits.

Look for extra features and integrations: If your company uses other marketing tools, you might want to consider a Klaviyo plan that includes integrations with those tools. Klaviyo integrates with a variety of popular marketing platforms, including Shopify, Salesforce, and Google Analytics.

Consider your budget: Finally, when selecting a Klaviyo pricing plan, keep your budget in mind.

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Email Marketing with Shopify

If you’re using Shopify to run your eCommerce business, you’ll be able to leverage built-in email marketing features to create and send newsletters, promotional emails, abandoned cart reminders, and more. However, compared to the advanced email marketing features you can use on Klaviyo, most successful Shopify eCommerce businesses will use Klaviyo for email marketing in place of Shopify’s default email marketing functionality. 

The ability to send abandoned cart reminders to customers who have added items to their cart but have not completed the purchase is a key feature of the basic Shopify email marketing functionality. This can be an effective way to recoup lost sales and persuade customers to finish their purchase. You can set up abandoned cart reminders in your Shopify admin's "Notifications" section.

You can also  use Shopify's email marketing features to send newsletters, promotional emails, and other types of communications to your customers in addition to abandoned cart reminders. As already alluded to though, Klaviyo’s advanced features make it a no brainer to evolve to as soon as you start collecting meaningful numbers of subscribers that you can begin to segment, retarget and remarket to.

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5 Must-Have eCommerce Email Marketing Flows

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The Welcome Series Flow

You only have one chance to make a good first impression. If your introduction to a new subscriber isn’t memorable, your follow-up campaigns won’t be, either.

Driving 3 times the transaction and revenue per email than any other promotional mailing, the welcome email is an integral campaign in your repertoire.

Its role is to thank subscribers for joining your list, set expectations for what’s to come (e.g. how often you’ll email) and, when done right, simplify your sales process.

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The Cart Abandonment Flow

According to a recent report, 69% of all e-commerce visitors abandon their shopping cart with 61% of visitors citing shipping costs as their number one reason. 

Abandon cart emails typically perform best in terms of revenue per recipient. Create your abandon cart flow to trigger within 24 hours of users abandoning their cart and incentivise them to return and complete their checkout. 

When you know the lifetime value of a customer, you can afford to offer discounts to incentivize cart completion.

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The Post Purchase Flow

Your order confirmation and shipping confirmation emails can be the first two emails in this flow. After this, you want to thank your customers for supporting your brand, but also be strategic about capturing valuable feedback, user generated content, and incentivinsg them to keep returning in future. This flow should contain the following 5 emails in this order:
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1. Order Confirmation Email

2. Shipping Confirmation Email

3. Personalized Thank You Email

4. Review Request email (Sync this with your Reviews App)

5. Upsell Email (Offer customers an incentive to return 30 days after purchase)

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The Browse Abandonment Flow

With the browse abandonment flow, a visitor doesn't have to add an item to their cart to trigger this flow. All a site visitor has to do is view an item and move on.

Visiting a product page doesn’t indicate the same level of high intent as adding an item to a shopping cart, so your browse abandonment messages should be a "lighter touchpoint" than your abandoned cart flow.

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The Win Back Flow

It’s happened to us and it’s likely happened to you, too. You invest your time, attention, and energy in growing your email list only to have a percentage of your customers unsubscribe, or disengage entirely. 

It’s crucial you re-engage subscribers who have emotionally “checked out”, and that is exactly what your win back flow is for. 

It doesn’t always work but it’s always worth reminding previous buyers you’re still thinking of them by crafting an email flow that entices them back to your store by informing them of new product releases and special offers, just for them!

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Conclusion

Klaviyo is a powerful email marketing tool designed specifically for ecommerce brands. Its sophisticated features enable businesses to segment and target their audiences, personalize their messaging, and automate their email campaigns.

Klaviyo's ability to integrate with notable  ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento is one of its most salient features. This makes it easier for businesses to import customer data and purchase history, making it easier to create targeted and relevant messaging. Klaviyo also provides a variety of pre-built templates and design tools to assist businesses in creating visually appealing emails that stand out in the customer’s inbox.

Klaviyo offers advanced analytics and reporting tools in addition to its core email marketing features. This enables businesses to track campaign success and make data-driven decisions about future email strategy.

Overall, Klaviyo is a comprehensive email marketing solution that caters to the needs of ecommerce businesses. Its ecommerce platform integration, advanced automation capabilities, and robust analytics make it an invaluable tool for direct to consumer brands looking to expand their email marketing efforts.

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