Do more with flows using the webhook action
Recall the concept of a flow in Klaviyo: a flow is a series of actions set in motion by a trigger. The trigger can be someone joining a list, joining a segment, triggered on a metric (such as placing an order or viewing a product), the price of a product dropping, or a specific date on a profile. Most Klaviyo users use flows to automate email, SMS, and push notifications based on triggers, but you can expand flow functionality way beyond message automation using webhooks.
Understand the functions and limitations of webhooks
Instead of using a flow to send messages, a flow webhook action allows you to pass data to third-party applications. This data can be related to the user who triggered the event, or to the properties of the event itself. If you are trying to set a process in motion within an external tool based on events in Klaviyo, webhooks could be a good solution. They unlock possibilities such as sending direct mail to users when someone places their first order, or automatically updating other systems based on events in Klaviyo.
Functions of webhooks
- Webhooks send data from Klaviyo to a third-party source.
- You can use a Klaviyo API endpoint as the destination URL in a flow webhook to allow your webhook to manipulate or transform data that ultimately ends up back in Klaviyo.
- Webhook payloads can use Django logic.
Limitations of webhooks
- Webhooks only send data one-way. They send data out of Klaviyo to a third-party, but Klaviyo cannot absorb data through webhooks coming from a third party.
- In order to use the webhook flow action, you have to enable multi-factor authentication in your Klaviyo account. This requires you to have a Manager, Admin, or Owner user type role.
- Webhooks can only be used with metrics that can trigger flows. If a metric cannot trigger a flow, you cannot use a webhook with it. To see which metrics are available to trigger a flow in your account, navigate to the flow builder in the UI, create a new flow from scratch, and look at the list of available trigger metrics.
Metrics that cannot be used to trigger flows (therefore cannot trigger flow-based webhooks) include:
- Bounced email
- Clicked email
- Clicked SMS
- Dropped email
- Failed to deliver SMS
- Failed to deliver automated response SMS
- Merged profile
- Marked email as spam
- Opened email
- Received email
- Received automated response SMS
- Received SMS
- Unsubscribed
- Unsubscribed from list
- Unsubscribed from SMS marketing
Explore potential use cases for webhooks
Looking to put webhooks to practical use? Explore some detailed solution recipes published by our own Solution Architecture team:
- Use Klaviyo flow webhooks to Automate suppressions using segments and Klaviyo’s APIs
- Using Klaviyo’s webhook action to send Slack notifications
- Use webhooks in flows to create more fine-grained segments
- Use webhooks in flows to send additional event and profile data into Klaviyo
Ready to try it yourself? Follow this guide for instructions on how to add a webhook action to a flow.