SMS marketing
Maximize your SMS revenue
Your SMS marketing checklist
Launch at least 1 form collecting SMS consent. Use click to text for mobile forms.
• Drop the contact card a few messages into your welcome
Launch at least 2 flows actively sending SMS. Besides the SMS welcome series, which should be SMS-only, these can be SMS-only or combined email & SMS flows. Prioritize the following flows:
• Welcome series
• Back-in-stock
Best practices & strategic guidance
Follow the best practices below to grow your SMS list, optimize your SMS flows, build SMS campaigns, and drive more revenue.
SMS forms and list growth
Use a multi-step form to collect both email and phone numbers.
Quick tip
Regulatory risk & importing SMS consent
People who initially consented to SMS but later unsubscribed pose regulatory risk. To minimize risk, aim to import your SMS subscribers into Klaviyo as soon as you download the list from your previous provider.
SMS flows
For attribution purposes, always include a shortened or branded link in SMS messages within flows. In Klaviyo, the “automatically shorten links” button is checked by default in your account. Do not uncheck it, and you’ll be good to go.
For attribution purposes, always include a shortened or branded link in SMS messages within flows. In Klaviyo, the “automatically shorten links” button is checked by default in your account. Do not uncheck it, and you’ll be good to go.
Klaviyo compliance settings
The Klaviyo defaults are set with compliance in mind. The compliance settings are best handled by teams with an outside counsel that want to adjust their SMS marketing to match regional normals. If you are new to SMS marketing, you'll find leaving the defaults enabled makes it easier.
Quick tip
SMS campaigns
For attribution purposes, always include a shortened or branded link in SMS campaign messages. In Klaviyo, the “automatically shorten links” button is checked by default in your account. Do not uncheck it, and you’ll be good to go.
For attribution purposes, always include a shortened or branded link in SMS campaign messages. In Klaviyo, the “automatically shorten links” button is checked by default in your account. Do not uncheck it, and you’ll be good to go.
Quick tip
How to improve your SMS campaign click rates:
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Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
01
Executive summary
02
SMS marketing
03
List growth
04
Segmentation
05
Multi-channel campaigns
06
Automated flows
07
Priority checklist
08
What’s next?
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List growth
Build your audience faster
Your list growth checklist
Launch at least two on-site forms deployed (i.e., pop-up with teaser plus embed).
Best practices & strategic guidance
Follow the best practices below to grow your list size and collect more first-party data that you can use to personalize both your retention and acquisition strategies.
Select a segment to dive deeper:
For entrepreneurs
Small businesses
Enterprise brands
For entrepreneurs
Quick tip
Coordinate your use of ad networks with Klaviyo
For small businesses
Prioritize experimentation within your mainstay forms.
For enterprise brands
Take advantage of your high visitor volume and drive incremental conversion gains by experimenting with more nuanced aspects of your forms.
Quick tip
Personalize ever further with Klaviyo's API
Use embedded Klaviyo forms to personalize banners or sections of your site, or leverage Klaviyo’s group membership APIs for more robust and holistic web personalization powered by Klaviyo data. (Note: This feature requires Klaviyo CDP.)
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Table of Contents
Get started now
Upgrade now
Table of Contents
01
Executive summary
02
SMS marketing
03
List growth
04
Segmentation
05
Multi-channel campaigns
06
Automated flows
07
Priority checklist
08
What’s next?
Get started now
Upgrade now
Best practices from top-performing brands
Executive summary
Quarter-over-quarter engagement rates are relatively steady—especially in email.
Most industries saw only marginal changes from one quarter to the next across average open rate, click rate, and placed order rate.
The exception to this: some industries, like food and beverage, saw higher placed order rates and revenue per recipient in Q4 2023, but the largest increases are less than $0.04 in RPR, primarily in SMS marketing.
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
What does this mean for the wider ecommerce industry?
If you aren’t using SMS, start now
Grow your
Segment your
Drive more revenue
Add more
Most of the strategic recommendations in this guide are based on your brand’s list size:
Entrepreneur
20K
A list size under 20,000 subscribers.
Small business
20-200K
A list size between 20,000 and 200,000 subscribers.
Enterprise
200K+
A list size bigger than 200,000 subscribers.
See the best practices in action
Otherland grows revenue from Klaviyo flows 157% in first quarter with Klaviyo SMS
Bearpaw grows their email list 48% YoY
with Klaviyo
Read their story
Read their story
Read their story
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If you aren’t using SMS, start now
Quickly grow your owned marketing revenue by launching SMS, and sending weekly SMS campaigns. Launch a pop-up form targeted to your email subscribers encouraging them to join your SMS list. Set up an SMS welcome series and send at least one campaign per week.
Grow your list(s)
The bigger your audience, the more revenue you can bring in. You should have at least two sign-up forms live, but don't stop there. Encourage your email subscribers to join your SMS list, build a VIP audience, and add consent at check-out to get started. Use forms to grow your list and your first-party database so you can segment even further.
Segment your campaigns
Segmentation increases click rates, order rates, and deliverability. Your active profiles are the most important part of your list. Active profiles are subscribers who have engaged in the last 180 days. Keep that part of your list growing, and active, with segmentation. Creating more segments helps you increase your campaign volume by sending smaller, more targeted campaigns to specific audiences.
Drive more revenue with campaigns
Across channels, top-performing brands send at least 12 campaigns per month across email and SMS. You can drive more growth with even just one campaign per week, and easily increase campaign volume with segmentation. Campaigns with an element of urgency work best, like product launches and limited-time offers. Gut-check your campaigns by asking, “Would I want to receive this?”
Add more automated flows
Table of Contents
Get started now
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Table of Contents
01
Executive summary
02
SMS marketing
03
List growth
04
Segmentation
05
Multi-channel campaigns
06
Automated flows
07
Priority checklist
08
What’s next?
Get started now
Upgrade now
Quickly grow your owned marketing revenue by launching SMS, and sending weekly SMS campaigns.
The bigger your audience, the more revenue you can bring in.
Experiment with different types of forms:
Optimize your forms with AI:
The fastest-growing brands on Klaviyo are seeing over 240% annual growth in Klaviyo-attributed value (KAV). Here’s what these brands are doing to drive those results—and how you can do the same.
Flows drive the most revenue per recipient (RPR) because they send automatically based on someone’s behavior. One secret to flows is more flows, not necessarily complex flows. Maximize flow revenue by adding more automations across the customer journey. Start with welcome flows for email and SMS, browse and cart abandonment, post-purchase, win-back, sunset, and VIP flows.
These days, shoppers expect sales all year, not just on Black Friday—year round, brands often compete for consumer attention with clever discounts and limited-time offers.
Write shorter SMS messages.
Add a footer form:
Ask for email consent during check-out:
Brands that want to excel beyond the average will need to go beyond discounts to develop smarter digital relationships. Effectively using customer data for smarter segmentation and better personalisation is key to standing out. (Keep an eye out—more tactical advice on this later in the report.)
Launch an exit intent pop-up form:
Experiment with your homepage sign-up form:
Data-backed steps to grow faster with email & SMS
best practices based on