A Must-Read Klaviyo Usage Guide for Shopify Beginners
We'll introduce the basic usage of Klaviyo, one of the most popular CRM apps on the Shopify App Store. Since we receive many questions about how to use Klaviyo while supporting Shopify growth, we've put together this article to help you get the answers you need.
In this article, we'll cover the following commonly used Klaviyo features:
- Campaigns
- Automated Emails
- Lists & Segments
- Signup Forms
Knowing the basics of these features is more than enough to get started.
This article serves as a digest of Klaviyo's core concepts. For a comprehensive guide covering the full setup process for Klaviyo on Shopify from the ground up, please refer to the article below.
StoreHero leverages its proprietary growth platform to support business growth through granular operations that manual management cannot achieve, as well as large-scale implementation of growth initiatives. If you're struggling to increase sales on Shopify, feel free to reach out. =>Download our free service introduction materials here
Campaigns
Campaigns allow you to send newsletters and email blasts. Here's how to use them.
Select Campaigns.
To create a new email campaign, select Create Campaign.
Set the campaign name and recipient list (and exclusion list). Since sending too many emails with poor open rates can lead to spam classification, configuring your recipient settings carefully is important.
Set the email subject line and preview text, then choose your email creation format. You can choose from plain text, drag & drop, or HTML. The drag & drop format is recommended.
Select a template. You can also choose from templates you've created previously.
Set the elements you want to display in the email using drag & drop. You can also dynamically pull in data from custom properties in Klaviyo to create personalized emails.
You can also configure styles for individual elements. Once you're done, save your work.
After saving, you'll be taken to Review & Send Campaign.
Klaviyo automatically checks your email for any issues. Once everything shows OK, select Schedule & Send.
Choose whether to schedule the send for a specific date and time or send immediately, and you're done.
People sometimes say that emails don't get read these days, but they do — and email is a powerful sales channel.
Simply sending regular emails through campaigns in a consistent, hands-on way can boost your overall sales by around 30%. Make the most of it.
Automated Emails
You can also set up automated emails that are triggered at the right moment — such as after a newsletter signup or a purchase. Here's how to configure them.
Select Flows, then select Create Flow.
Select a Flow template. Templates can be filtered by goal or type. You can also select Create from Scratch to build a completely custom flow.
After selecting a template, set the Flow name and trigger. If you're using a list signup as the trigger, select which list the contact must be added to in order to trigger the flow. Once configured, proceed to Create Flow.
In Create Flow, you can configure the details of the email flow and set up the email content.
Clicking the trigger allows you to configure its details, including applying filters.
Selecting Conditional Split allows you to configure branching logic in detail. For example, you can split based on whether a customer purchased a product, with granular conditions such as "purchased the item in color blue."
Clicking an email step allows you to edit the email content.
The email editing process is the same as for Campaigns.
Selecting Time Delay allows you to set the wait time between one action and the next. You can also choose to send based on the recipient's local timezone.
If you want to add actions beyond the defaults, you can add any action you need from the Actions panel on the left.
Once everything is configured, switch the email delivery status to LIVE and you're done.
When automated emails are set up effectively, they become a powerful tool that continuously generates revenue on autopilot. Make the most of them.
List Management
Managing your acquired lists by purpose makes it easier to send targeted emails — for example, to people who have purchased, those who haven't, or those who bought a specific product. Here's how to manage your lists.
Select Lists & Segments. To create a new list or segment, select Create List / Segment.
Note that you can also view the conditions for each segment in the Lists & Segments overview.
Choose whether you want to create a List or a Segment.
For Lists
First, set the list name.
There are three ways to build a list: via a Klaviyo signup form, a subscribe page, or a file upload.
If you select the signup form option, contacts who submit through a Klaviyo form (described later) will be added to the list.
The subscribe page option creates a dedicated email registration page on the Klaviyo domain, and contacts who sign up through that page will be added to the list.
The file upload option lets you upload contacts from a CSV file and add them to the list.
For Segments
Segments allow you to categorize all registered contacts using any conditions you define.
You can set conditions based on any data stored in Klaviyo — such as customers who purchased a specific product, those who haven't bought anything in over a month, or those aged 40 and above. Conditions can be combined using AND and OR logic.
Email Capture Forms
Here's how to create a form in Klaviyo to collect email addresses.
Select a form template. There are three types: popup, flyout, and embedded.
Set the list that contacts will be added to when they submit the form, then proceed to Create Form.
Just like creating email content, you can add the elements you need to your form using drag & drop. The information submitted through added fields is stored as custom properties, which can be used to segment your emails or for dynamic content within emails.
For embedded forms, a code snippet will be generated for you to place in the desired location on your site.
For popup and flyout forms, you can configure when the form appears — for example, after a certain number of seconds, after a certain number of pages viewed, or after scrolling a certain percentage down the page.
You can also edit the thank-you message. By directing users to your social media accounts after they sign up, you can simultaneously grow your email list and your followers.
Improving Email Deliverability
There are several ways to improve email deliverability, and one of them is setting up email authentication. Here's how to do it.
Go to the Account menu, select Domains and Hosting, then select Get Started.
Set your Root Domain and Sending Domain (subdomain) and proceed.
DNS records will be displayed. Log in to your domain provider's admin panel and add three CNAME records and one TXT record. Then click Verify Records to confirm authentication and you're done.
Klaviyo is a cloud service with an extensive feature set that evolves rapidly, so we recommend regularly checking the official help center to stay up to date.
Executing CRM Operations with StoreHero
StoreHero supports merchants on Shopify who are looking to increase sales through thorough execution of growth initiatives.
For CRM initiatives as well, we leverage StoreHero's growth platform to utilize customer purchase history, attribute data, and product/SKU performance and inventory data — enabling product recommendations and targeted offers via email, LINE, and My Page. This supports continuous business growth through granular operations that manual management cannot achieve, as well as large-scale implementation of initiatives.
We're currently offering free store diagnostic consultations. If you have challenges with CRM or growth initiatives in general, please feel free to reach out. Learn more about our free store diagnostic here
Summary
We've introduced the basic usage of Klaviyo, the go-to CRM app for Shopify.
Building on the usage covered in this article, it's highly effective to segment your customers based on information such as gender, age, and products of interest, and to run A/B tests to find the most impactful messaging. We hope you find it useful!
StoreHero can support you from the ground up in building a store that drives sales. Feel free to reach out. =>View StoreHero's service introduction materials (free)