Overview

Klaviyo is a vital tool for over 143,000 e-commerce brands globally. With an ROI of 36:1, email is the most cost-effective marketing channel.

By avoiding these 15 common mistakes, you can improve engagement rates, conversions, and overall deliverability, ensuring that your emails 

15 Top Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid When Using Klaviyo

Mistake 1: Neglecting List Segmentation

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  ‘Batch & blast’ campaigns are a one-way ticket to spam & low engagement rates. By segmenting your list you can speak directly to the variety of customer personas, their unique interests & needs. This boosts conversions & engagement whilst lowering the risk of unsubscribes & spam complaints.

• How to Avoid:
  Klaviyo provides robust segmentation tools that allow you to group customers by factors like purchase history, location, engagement, and more. Start by identifying your key customer segments, such as frequent buyers, one-time buyers, and inactive customers. Tailor your messages for each group and send emails that speak directly to their interests or buying stage. Segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue for businesses, and campaigns using segmentation have 14.31% higher open rates than non-segmented ones according to ProofJump. Click this link to learn more about Klaviyo’s segmentation strategies. 

Source: RetentionCommerce

Mistake 2: Not Leveraging Dynamic Content

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Generic emails no longer cut through the noise. Today’s consumers expect highly personalised content that reflects their interests and purchase history. Failing to include personalised elements like first name variables or recommended product blocks from Shopify, means your emails may feel impersonal and irrelevant, negatively impacting open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately conversions. Personalisation enhances customer experience by making communications more engaging and tailored to their needs.

• How to Avoid:
  Klaviyo enables you to use dynamic content to personalise your emails at scale. Incorporate first-name variables in your subject lines and email copy, making the recipient feel like the message is directly addressed to them. Use dynamic product recommendations that pull from Shopify to showcase products based on a customer's previous purchases or browsing behaviour. You can also set up automated flows to suggest complementary products, further enhancing the relevance of your messaging and increasing the likelihood of conversions.

Source: Klaviyo

Mistake 3: Overloading Subscribers with Too Many Emails

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Sending too many emails can overwhelm your audience, leading to unsubscribes and spam complaints. Your subscribers don’t want to feel bombarded, and if they do, they are more likely to ignore your emails altogether. An excess of emails can also damage your brand’s reputation and result in lower engagement rates over time.

• How to Avoid:
  Klaviyo’s smart sending feature helps you manage email frequency by ensuring you don’t send too many messages to the same person in a short period. Additionally, give your subscribers control by allowing them to update their email preferences through a “manage preferences” link. This gives them the ability to choose how often they hear from you, reducing the chance of overwhelming them.

Source: SafeMailer

Mistake 4: Ignoring Klaviyo's Email Deliverability Score

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Even the best-crafted emails won’t be effective if they don’t reach your audience’s inbox. Ignoring deliverability metrics like spam complaints, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates can result in your emails landing in the spam folder. This not only reduces engagement but also damages your sender reputation, making it harder for future emails to reach inboxes.

• How to Avoid:
  Regularly monitor Klaviyo’s deliverability metrics available in the reporting and benchmark tabs. Keep an eye on spam, bounce, and unsubscribe rates. Use best practices like cleaning your email list regularly to remove inactive subscribers and using double opt-in for new subscribers to ensure they genuinely want to receive your emails. This will improve your deliverability score and help your emails land in inboxes. Click this link to learn more about email deliverability.

Mistake 5: Not Using Double Opt-In for Subscriptions

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Single opt-in makes it easy for low-quality subscribers or spambots to end up on your list. This leads to a higher risk of spam complaints, poor engagement, and even a damaged sender reputation, all of which hurt your deliverability and effectiveness in the long run.

• How to Avoid:
  Enable Klaviyo’s double opt-in feature to ensure that only genuinely interested subscribers make it onto your list. This process requires users to confirm their subscription by clicking a link in an email, helping to filter out fake sign-ups and reducing spam complaints. A higher quality list means better engagement and more effective campaigns.

Mistake 6: Weak or Misleading Subject Lines

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Subject lines are your first impression. If they’re weak, unclear, or misleading, recipients are less likely to open your emails. Misleading subject lines may drive short-term opens but can erode trust and lead to unsubscribes in the long term.

• How to Avoid:
  Use A/B testing within Klaviyo to experiment with subject lines and find what resonates with your audience. Focus on creating clear, concise, and compelling subject lines that accurately represent the email content. Avoid clickbait tactics, as they can harm your brand’s credibility.

Mistake 7: Failing to Optimise Emails for Mobile

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  It’s estimated that 50-60% of email opens now come from mobile devices in 2024 according to AudiencePoint. If your emails are not optimised for mobile, they may not display correctly, resulting in a poor user experience. This can lead to lower engagement, with potential customers quickly deleting your message or even unsubscribing. Ensuring a smooth mobile experience is crucial as 80% of users will delete an email if it doesn’t look good on their mobile device. This results in lower engagement rates, missed opportunities, and higher bounce rates.

• How to Avoid:
  Always use mobile-friendly templates and ensure that your emails are responsive across devices. Klaviyo offers mobile optimisation tools that allow you to preview how your emails will look on both desktop and mobile. Test your emails on multiple devices before sending them to ensure they look good everywhere.

Source: Klaviyo

Mistake 8: Weak Abandonment Flow Strategy

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Focusing solely on abandoned checkout flows overlooks other valuable opportunities to recover potential sales. Without flows like Added to Cart, Site Abandonment, Search Abandonment, and Collection Abandonment, you're missing key engagement touchpoints and leaving money on the table.

• How to Avoid:
  Set up a comprehensive abandonment strategy using Klaviyo’s full range of abandonment triggers. Don’t just rely on the default checkout trigger. Add flows for site activity, cart additions, and collection views to recover more abandoned interactions. The more triggers you add, the better your chances of converting lost sales.

Mistake 9: Not Leveraging Klaviyo’s AI Tools

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Doing everything manually is time-consuming and inefficient. Failing to use Klaviyo’s AI tools means you’re missing out on automation features that can optimise your campaigns and save time.

• How to Avoid:
  Use Klaviyo’s Smart Send Time AI to optimise when your emails go out, Forms AI to test form variations for higher conversion rates, and Predictive Analytics to forecast customer behaviour and segment your audience accordingly. These tools help automate decision-making and deliver better results with less effort. Click this link to learn more about Klaviyo’s Predictive Analytics.

Source: Klaviyo’s Smart Send AI Tool

Mistake 10: Using Generic Calls to Action (CTAs)

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  CTAs are the final step toward conversion, and if they’re bland, vague, or uninspiring, they fail to drive action. Without a strong CTA, customers may ignore your message, resulting in lower click-through and conversion rates.

• How to Avoid:
  Use action-oriented, specific CTAs that prompt immediate engagement. For example, instead of using “Learn More,” opt for something more direct like “Shop Now” or “Claim Your 20% Off.” Ensure that your CTA stands out visually within the email, using bold fonts or buttons.

Mistake 11: Not Adding SMS as a Channel

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Email is a powerful tool, but adding SMS to your marketing strategy gives you another highly effective channel. With SMS having a 90% read rate in just 3 minutes, not using it means missing out on faster, more direct customer engagement.

• How to Avoid:
  Integrate SMS into your Klaviyo flows. Use SMS for time-sensitive promotions or exclusive offers. Add SMS touchpoints to your abandonment and post-purchase flows for better engagement. This not only diversifies your communication channels but also increases conversion rates.

  Source: Run Gum

Mistake 12: Not Using A/B Testing

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Without testing, you’re left guessing what works and what doesn’t. This can lead to suboptimal subject lines, email content, and CTAs, which ultimately reduces engagement and conversions.

• How to Avoid:
  Leverage Klaviyo’s A/B testing feature to test subject lines, email content, CTAs, and send times. Identify what resonates best with your audience and continuously optimise your campaigns based on data-driven insights. Learn more about Essential A/B Tests to Boost Email Conversions, click this link.

Source: Klaviyo

Mistake 13: Failing to Clean Your Email List

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  An unclean email list leads to lower engagement rates, higher bounce rates, and increased costs since you’re paying to send emails to unengaged or invalid subscribers. This also negatively impacts your deliverability.

• How to Avoid:
  Regularly clean your email list using Klaviyo’s list management tools. Remove subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails in a while and those with invalid email addresses. List cleaning improves deliverability, keeps your sender reputation high, and reduces unnecessary costs.

Mistake 14: Not Taking Advantage of Klaviyo’s Advanced Reporting

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Without analysing your performance data, you’re flying blind. You miss out on key insights that could inform and improve your future campaigns.

• How to Avoid:
  Use Klaviyo’s advanced reporting features to monitor your campaign performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion data. Regularly review these reports to refine your strategy and make data-driven decisions that improve your results. Click this link to learn more about Klaviyo DTC Reporting & Analytics.

Source: Klaviyo

Mistake 15: Not Following Email Compliance Regulations

• Why It’s a Mistake:
  Ignoring email compliance regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, or CASL can lead to legal penalties and harm your brand’s reputation. Non-compliant emails might also get flagged as spam, reducing deliverability rates and causing potential customers to disengage from your brand.

• How to Avoid:
  Use Klaviyo’s consent management tools to ensure your email marketing complies with global regulations. Always collect explicit consent before sending marketing emails, provide clear unsubscribe options in every email, and keep a record of subscriber consent. Regularly audit your email practices to ensure they align with legal requirements, and stay updated on changes in email marketing laws to avoid costly mistakes.

Conclusion

Avoiding these 15 common email marketing mistakes in Klaviyo can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns, from improving engagement and conversions to ensuring compliance and deliverability. 

By leveraging segmentation, personalisation, and automation features, and incorporating SMS, brands can craft highly targeted and impactful messages that resonate with their audience. With these strategies, you can optimise your email marketing and drive more sales, while saving time and effort through Klaviyo’s powerful tools.

Do you want to learn how to avoid these common pitfalls?

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