What Is Klaviyo Email Marketing? (And Why Your Business Needs It)

Melanie Balke
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October 11, 2023

If you’re looking for powerful email marketing, one of the best options is Klaviyo. This handy platform takes everything you love about the channel — its affordability, flexibility, and data — and packs it into a convenient, all-in-one solution. It’s the modern solution to a decades-old medium, and it’s redefining the way marketers work.

Today, I’ll be showing you the basics of this remarkable tool and how it can help businesses expand their reach.

There’s a lot to cover in today’s blog post, so keep scrolling to learn more!

What Is Klaviyo?

Text from a postcard, dated September 21, 1940. Overlaid text reads, “The Basics: What Is Klaviyo Email Marketing?”

Now, that intro may be a little too “sales-y” for some. That’s okay! Just know that I’m not exaggerating. Klaviyo really works, and it handles everything you could ever need. It’s a powerful email marketing tool for any size business, and my team at The Email Marketers is one of its official partners!

But I’m getting ahead of myself!

So, let me back up and start with the basics.

Klaviyo Is an Email Service Provider

What is Klaviyo?

By definition, Klaviyo is an email service provider — commonly shortened to “ESP.” That means it’s a tool to help businesses create, manage, and monitor their email marketing campaigns. In addition to streamlining email marketing, integrations give these digital toolkits near-infinite flexibility.

Notably, despite all its perks, Klaviyo does not come with a content creator. You must provide your own content! More specifically, you’re responsible for designing, writing, and implementing your email campaigns. You’ll also need additional internal bandwidth to take full advantage of Klaviyo’s extensive suite of data collection tools.

Klaviyo Helps Businesses Grow

Leaves with stylized, blurred text. “Growth: How Klaviyo Helps Businesses.”

However, once you’ve assembled a capable team, you’re ready to roll!

Klaviyo’s extensive lineup of tools streamlines email marketing like never before. It’s become one of the most popular email marketing platforms, and it’s certainly earned its title. Simply naming its features would produce a massive, illegible list. So, instead, I’ll split the platform into four distinct parts:

  • Audience management
  • Email creation
  • Email implementation and automation capabilities
  • Monitoring and reporting

Find the Right Audience for Your Email Marketing Campaigns

I’ll start at the top of this list.

Email marketing campaigns require an audience, but managing your email list can be overwhelming. Klaviyo simplifies the process, breaking even the largest lists into bite-sized pieces. The effects of this are twofold. First, users have more control over their audience. Secondly, that control allows businesses to segment and create personalized email campaigns.

Yes, many other email marketing platforms offer those features, but Klaviyo has one of the best list management toolkits on the market! Its tools run the full spectrum of customer management, including features such as…

  • Audience Segmentation: Users can segment their email list, simplifying the production of targeted campaigns. Segmentation also powers the creation of triggered campaigns (e.g., abandoned cart flows and welcome emails).
  • Customer Management: Klaviyo’s basic email marketing features rival some traditional customer relationship management tools. Its customizable tags and filters help businesses create targeted campaigns with pre-built lists. The same data can be endlessly reused, amplifying your brand’s customer lifetime value.
  • Integrations: Klaviyo email marketing integrates with multiple platforms, including social media outlets and ecommerce business providers. While social media provides valuable customer insights, Klaviyo’s web integrations support highly targeted triggered campaigns based on purchase history!
  • Predictive Analytics: This next-level tool gives ecommerce businesses unprecedented access to insights into actions before they happen. Klaviyo analyzes existing data and then uses that information to generate predictive reports. This information is particularly useful for planning sales and tweaking campaign calendars. If you need more advanced analytics capabilities, it is also possible to export data from Klaviyo to BigQuery, Power BI, or other business intelligence tools.

Easily Create Beautiful Email Marketing Campaigns

A couple poses on a pier at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Overlaid text reads, “Make It Pop: Klaviyo’s powerful editing tools make it easy to create beautiful email campaigns.”

Of course, you still need to create a campaign.

Worry not! Klaviyo email marketing is as simple as can be!

Like many other email marketing platforms, Klaviyo utilizes a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface to guide you through the creation process. More advanced users can also fiddle with the behind-the-scenes code of their email marketing efforts. Users also gain access to gorgeous email templates, further simplifying an otherwise wrought process.

But Klaviyo’s reputation as a powerful email marketing platform doesn’t come from its basic tools. Users have even more tools to support their marketing, including:

  • Advanced Coding: Klaviyo email marketing is a limitless sandbox for advanced users. The only limitation is your creativity!
  • Customizable Content Blocks: Create highly personalized campaigns by using dynamic content blocks. These bits of code display personalized information, such as shipment tracking and order confirmation details.
  • Recommendation Support: Klaviyo email marketing takes full advantage of its massive data pool. Its built-in recommendation engine uses customer data and purchase history to produce unique, personalized email campaigns!
  • Reusable Content Blocks: Add more flexibility to those flows and campaigns by saving frequently used elements, such as branded headers. These elements can be reused throughout multiple email campaigns, offering more flexibility than traditional templates.

Unlock Powerful Email Automation Capabilities

One of Klaviyo’s most lauded features is its wide range of automation tools. Forget about other email marketing platforms; they’re years behind Klaviyo! You’ll be setting up post-purchase flows in no time, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Klaviyo email marketing gives businesses access to…

  • A/B Testing: Garner more sales by running automated A/B tests. Klaviyo’s platform has pre-built testing parameters, but you can also create highly detailed custom tests.
  • Advanced Automation Capabilities: Tweak your campaigns to your heart’s desire! Klaviyo’s mix of data-driven marketing and modern tech allows businesses unprecedented access to a world of micromanagement.
  • Built-In Logic: Klaviyo’s logic is accessible to anyone. Designers and writers can easily access a campaign’s conditional information, making it easier than ever to design according to multiple parameters.
  • Flow Creation: Klaviyo email marketing comes with pre-made automated campaigns. Users can also create unique automated email workflows.
Overlapping leaves with informative overlaid text. “Klaviyo Allows Infinite Automated Flexibility.” The text details the points below, including how the email marketing tool can streamline an automated marketing strategy.

Stay Informed With Klaviyo’s Reporting Tools

Finally, Klaviyo’s signature data collection capabilities extend to its dashboard. When you’re using Klaviyo, you can access enough data to spin your head to the moon and back!

Frankly, there are too many metrics to name! However, I will point out the perks of Klaviyo’s uniquely user-friendly reporting. Unlike many other email marketing platforms, Klaviyo email marketing campaigns are tracked through a wholly customizable dashboard. Users can tweak this view to their liking, discarding information as necessary. Likewise, anyone using Klaviyo can see the same data, giving companies unprecedented synchronicity across multiple departments.

Who Uses Klaviyo Email Marketing?

Klaviyo email marketing was originally designed for ecommerce business use. But that doesn’t mean it’s limited to ecommerce use! Many other businesses use Klaviyo, and its data-driven approach has endeared the email marketing platform to countless industries.

Its wide range of features makes Klaviyo the perfect platform for anyone, including (but certainly not limited to):

  • B2B marketers
  • Local businesses of any size
  • Professional services (e.g., financiers and lawyers)
  • Real estate agents
  • Travel and hospitality enterprises

Klaviyo Can Even Help Businesses With SMS Marketing!

A Western Union Telegram envelope. Overlaid text reads, “There’s More: Integrations and SMS Marketing.”

That’s not all of it, either!

Klaviyo has one final trick up its sleeve: SMS marketing!

Yes, this powerful email marketing platform decided that email marketing wasn’t enough. It expanded to cover SMS marketing services. Like its email services, Klaviyo’s text message marketing automation platform covers everything you’ll ever need. You get the same top-of-the-line customer data, open rates, click rates, and more. You also gain access to integrated email marketing features and on-demand customer support.

Why You Need an Email Marketing Agency

That’s not all of it, either!  Klaviyo has one final trick up its sleeve: SMS marketing!  Yes, this powerful email marketing platform decided that email marketing wasn’t enough. It expanded to cover SMS marketing services. Like its email services, Klaviyo’s text message marketing automation platform covers everything you’ll ever need. You get the same top-of-the-line customer data, open rates, click rates, and more. You also gain access to integrated email marketing features and on-demand customer support.  Why You Need an Email Marketing Agency

Now, we have a new problem: Can you do this by yourself?

Yes! You can handle your own email marketing campaigns. You can micromanage your Klaviyo email marketing to your heart’s desire, carefully crafting targeted email campaigns without outside help. You may even be able to tackle those pesky SMS campaigns.

But that’s not efficient!

You need a partner to help you create automated workflows. You need someone to help you craft that amazing targeted email — the campaign that reaches your audience and converts! It takes time and practice to create consistently successful campaigns. So, simplify the process. Find a partner to help you create highly targeted email campaigns.

If you’re ready to get started, get in touch! Schedule a free strategy session. We’ll discuss the importance of relevant email campaigns. I’ll even show you how we use Klaviyo email marketing to jumpstart businesses and drive more sales.