Klaviyo App Review 2024: Can This Marketing Automation Tool Foster Smarter Digital Relationships?
Klaviyo App Review 2024: Can This Marketing Automation Tool Foster Smarter Digital Relationships?
Published on Nov 07, 2023
Klaviyo - Targeted, personalized, and automated marketing across email, SMS, forms, mobile push, and reviews—all in one place
What is Klaviyo Shopify?
Core Value Proposition
At its heart, Klaviyo is all about getting to know your customers better than they know themselves — well, when it comes to shopping at least. It's a tool that takes the guesswork out of email and SMS marketing by giving you a clear view of who's buying what, when, and how often. This insight lets you send out messages that matter to your customers, rather than just another email for the trash folder. The app's bread and butter? Turning cold data into warm conversations and converting one-time buyers into repeat shoppers.
What Primary Purpose it Serves
Klaviyo's main job is simple: to send out marketing messages that actually get read. By syncing with your Shopify store, it tracks customer habits and helps you craft email templates and texts that feel like they're coming from a friend, not a faceless store. This isn't about flooding inboxes or phones with spam; it's about making sure that every "Hey, come back and check this out!" lands with the people who really want to hear it. With Klaviyo, you're keeping the checkout buzz alive, one personalized message at a time.
Who's it for? Who is it NOT for?
Target Audience
The Klaviyo Shopify app is a real find for e-commerce business store owners who are serious about stepping up their email and SMS marketing game. If you're running a Shopify store and crave data-driven marketing strategies that can be automated to churn out personalized messages, Klaviyo's got your back. It's especially useful for those with a growing customer base looking to segment audiences and tailor communications effectively. Ideal for both small business owners looking to explore email marketing campaigns and seasoned marketers aiming to fine-tune their campaigns with advanced segmentation and analytics to understand customer behavior.
Who is it NOT for?
Now, a Klaviyo account might not be everyone's cup of tea. It's not the best match for shop owners who are just getting their feet wet in the e-commerce pool and are tight on budget. The app's richness in features comes with a price tag that might not justify the investment for those with a smaller contact list. Also, if you're someone who prefers a more straightforward, less complex tool for your marketing needs, you may find Klaviyo's learning curve a bit daunting. It's packed with advanced features that, while powerful, can be overwhelming for beginners or those looking for a set-it-and-forget-it solution.
Features
A single hub for all your data: Centralize all your customer data from 300+ integrations including but not limited to web activity, tags, catalog, coupons, to drive meaningful, personalized experiences at scale.
Customer Segments: Group your contacts into ultra-precise audiences that update in real time, so you can target messages based on the latest purchase behavior, customer data, and even predictive analytics. You can define audiences along the following parameters:
Location
Tendency to use discounts
Products viewed
Purchase history
Email and SMS engagement
Any other kinds of data you integrate
Templates: 100+ High-converting drag-and-drop templates designed by experts for campaigns like Welcome, Back in Stock, Browse Abandon, and Price Drop to grow your marketing list and boost sales. No coding or technical skills required.
Create Customer Personas: Know your customers minutely - who they are, their likes and dislikes, their clicking behavior, and their likely next steps. Profiles start with some data fields baked in, like first name or email, but you can also add as many custom data fields as you’d like, such as if a customer owns an iPhone or Android.
Pricing
Klaviyo offers a 3-tiered pricing:
FREE Klaviyo Account
Free to install. Email free forever for up to 500 contacts. SMS free for up to 150 SMS/MMS credits
Sync Shopify data–tags, catalog, coupons
Templates for Email/SMS
Forms & push notifications
Segmentation & personalization
A/B testing
+more
EMAIL ($20/month. For 251-500 Contacts)
Higher for higher number of contacts
Everything in FREE plus:
Starting at 5,000 monthly email sends
Mobile push notifications
150 free monthly SMS/MMS credits
Includes applicable SMS carrier fees
Email and chat support
No contracts or lock-ins, cancel anytime
24/7 email and 24/5 chat support
EMAIL & SMS ($35/month for 251 to 500 contacts)
Higher for higher number of contacts
Starting at 5,000 monthly email sends
Mobile push notifications
Includes applicable SMS carrier fees
Email and chat support
Rating
3.9 / 5
What do real users have to say about it?
Pros & Cons
PRO
API access to fetch tech stack data and automate payments, cart management, support, subscriptions, reviews, referrals, and more
Intuitive dashboards to visualize your multi-channel performance. Create custom reports and schedule them periodically
AI tools for crafting intelligent subject lines, marketing content, A/B testing suggestions, future behavior predictions, and more
Web forms: Create custom forms (popups, flyouts, website embeds) to grow your subscriber list and gather useful customer data. Form builder also lets you create custom forms from scratch
CONS
Can be a steep learning curve for beginners
Pricing is a little on the expensive side
SMS sending can be patchy in terms of performance and functioning
Our Review of the Klaviyo Shopify App
After spending considerable time with the Klaviyo Shopify app, we're ready to share our comprehensive findings to save your effort. This isn't a surface-level glance; we've dived deep into the mechanics of the tool, pushed its features to the limit, and scrutinized its performance across various campaigns.
User Interface and Experience
From the get-go, Klaviyo presents a dashboard that's polished and inviting. However, this isn't a tool where you can just wing it. We took our time to understand the intricacies of its interface. Initially, we stumbled through a few complex segments and automation sequences, but patience paid off. Once we got past the initial learning phase, the workflow became smoother, and we could appreciate the thoughtfulness in the design. It’s a bit like learning to drive a manual car; it takes effort at first, but you get full control over the machine once you’re proficient.
Shopify Integration
Klaviyo's partnership with Shopify feels almost native. The data sync is real-time and robust, feeding into all the crevices of the app's functionality. This synergy allowed us to craft campaigns that didn't just shoot in the dark but instead hit the bullseye in terms of customer relevance and timing. The Shopify data integration is the spine of Klaviyo’s efficacy, and for us, it worked without a hitch.
Customer Segmentation
The segmentation functionality is not just a feature; it's a strategic asset. We carved out niches within our audience with precision, and this wasn't limited to just demographics or purchase history. The ability to segment based on predicted behaviors or even engagement levels allowed us to curate campaigns that felt individually crafted. This is a tool that understands the modern shopper's disdain for irrelevance.
Automation
Setting up automations felt like we were constructing a Rube Goldberg machine at first — complex and a tad overwhelming. But as we became familiar with the triggers and actions, it became second nature. We mapped out customer journeys and watched as users flowed through our funnels, with Klaviyo automating the entire communication process. The insights we gained here were not just beneficial; they were revelatory.
Analytics and Reporting
Klaviyo doesn't skimp on the data. The analytics platform is a treasure trove for numbers enthusiasts. We could dissect every campaign and automation with a surgeon's precision, gleaning insights that would have otherwise slipped through the cracks. The granularity can be a bit much for the uninitiated, but for a data-driven team, it's a veritable gold mine.
Customer Support
Whenever we hit a snag, Klaviyo's support team was there. Quick to respond and armed with knowledge, they guided us through our challenges. Coupled with an expansive knowledge base and a community of users, the support system is a sturdy safety net.
Email and SMS Deliverability
On the deliverability front, Klaviyo stands tall. We monitored our bounce rates and spam complaints closely and saw numbers that pleased us. In an age where inboxes are guarded like fortresses, Klaviyo managed to deliver our messages reliably and effectively.
Final Thoughts
Having given the Klaviyo Shopify app a thorough shakedown, we're poised to offer you the distilled essence of our experience. For those who've navigated beyond the beginner's shores in Shopify and are poised to embrace a suite of marketing tools that offer granular control and in-depth analytics, Klaviyo might just be your huckleberry. It's stacked with features that cater to the savvy marketer's appetite for detail and personalization. User-friendly? Absolutely. But it's the kind of user-friendly that comes with a manual; you'll need to invest time to unlock its full potential.
However, Klaviyo isn't a catch-all solution. If you're someone who prefers simplicity over sophistication, or if your budget is more shoestring than substantial, then Klaviyo might feel like a square peg for your round hole. The pricing, while justifiable for the firepower it delivers, might give pause to those still in the early days of e-commerce.
So, what's our candid take on Klaviyo? It's robust, it's intelligent, and it certainly brings a lot to the table. If the price tag and the learning curve don't deter you, and if you're all about that data-driven, personalized marketing life, then we'd nod towards giving it a try. We've laid out all the cards so you can make an informed decision. Here's to making choices that propel your business forward.
FAQs
What all can I do with my Klaviyo Shopify integration?
Klaviyo is basically a marketing automation platform for your online store. You can do Klaviyo email marketing by playing around the personalized email flows, make better sign-up forms, manage attributions, other retention exercises for your Shopify account SEO and more. In addition to these, Klaviyo offers a lot of pre-made email templates and even completed flows. Flows like Welcome series, Abandoned cart, Shopify personalized product recommendations, or Onboarding.
How do I get started with Klaviyo and Shopify integration?
Check out this page for a guide on this. Be sure to sync all data including Phone number, Shopify email, Store URL with Shopify.
Julien Mamalian
CEO, Bloggle
After an exciting 5 years of designing and optimizing Shopify sites for well-known French startups, I launched Bloggle. Our mission? To assist merchants worldwide in crafting compelling articles that rank high in SEO and truly engage their audience. In just 3 years, over 2,000 clients have trusted us, publishing more than 55,000 articles through Bloggle. Thanks to them, I’ve learned the keys to success and the pitfalls to avoid
