Build your first campaign
A campaign is a one-time email sent manually to a selected audience at a specific moment, such as during a seasonal sale, product launch, or promotional offer.
Unlike flows, which trigger automatically based on customer behavior, campaigns put you in the driver's seat. Here’s how:
- You customize what the message says.
- You choose who receives the message.
- You schedule when it goes out.
Building a great campaign comes down to those 3 essential components you control: the who, what, and when for each send. Explore each one by clicking into the gallery below.
Build your email content
It’s time to build your email content, including the layout, copy, images, and links to your site.
Klaviyo builds a first draft for you, streamlining the process as much as possible. That said, you have control to adjust the design and content within.
As a best practice, you should:
- Write a succinct, eye-catching subject line and preview text.
- Have 1 clear call-to-action front and center as a button with actionable language (e.g., Shop now, Get started, Learn more, etc.)
- Ensure the link you share relates directly to your content.
- Keep your header components simple and on-brand.
- Always preview your message, including on mobile.
Target a specific audience
Next, decide who you are targeting. For instance, you can select a list to reach all consented subscribers or choose a segment (i.e., a group of profiles that share specific characteristics, such as engagement level).
Klaviyo will automatically recommend the best segment for you to target based on your typical sending patterns. We highly recommend that you follow this guidance to ensure good email deliverability and performance.
For more information about the audience groups in Klaviyo Essentials, review the flashcards in the section below.
Schedule your email
Your final step is to determine when your campaign should send to your designated audience. Choose this based on when the message will be most relevant to your audience.
You can either:
- Send it now.
- Let Klaviyo send it at a recommended time within the next 24 hours.
- Schedule it for a specific day and time in the future.
Scheduled sends will appear in List View, where you can monitor when they’ll send and performance after recipients receive and engage with the content.
What audiences can receive your campaigns?
Before you hit send, it helps to understand the three types of audiences in Klaviyo. Flip each card below to learn more.
Each profile represents 1 person. They are the individual subscribers who are part of your account, say, because they just filled out your sign-up form.
Think of profiles as potential customers walking through your door.
Each account has 1 email list containing all profiles that submitted your sign-up form. This is your broad, top-level group of subscribers who’ve opted in to email marketing.
Think of a list as a subscriber's home in your account.
A segment is a group of profiles that share common characteristics, such as those most or least engaged. Your account comes pre-populated with multiple segments based on your sending cadence.
Think of segments as rooms within a home that customers spend time in.
Each profile represents 1 person. They are the individual subscribers who are part of your account, say, because they just filled out your sign-up form.
Think of profiles as potential customers walking through your door.
Each account has 1 email list containing all profiles that submitted your sign-up form. This is your broad, top-level group of subscribers who’ve opted in to email marketing.
Think of a list as a subscriber's home in your account.
A segment is a group of profiles that share common characteristics, such as those most or least engaged. Your account comes pre-populated with multiple segments based on your sending cadence.
Think of segments as rooms within a home that customers spend time in.
Follow steps to build your campaign
Ready to send? Follow the steps below to build and launch your first campaign.
Click Create in the upper right corner of your screen. This is where you start any new content, but in this case, you’ll select Message.
First, select a topic that aligns with your email’s goal. You can choose either: product, informational, sale, or business update. Klaviyo uses this to generate a message for you to use or build upon.
Klaviyo’s pre-built template offers a variety of layouts to choose from, so you have more control over the design. Review your options and select the one that best aligns with your brand. Then, edit the content as needed to match your voice, imagery, and offer. Click directly into the email elements to edit, adding further context, an eye-catching subject line, and preview text before choosing to use the email.
Now it’s time to choose who to send to. Klaviyo will recommend a set of segments based on how often you send. Select the option that best fits your typical sending cadence. Otherwise, you can review all lists and segments and choose your own there. You can even choose to exclude certain segments or automate this message, in which case it will become an automated flow in Klaviyo Essentials instead.
You can send the message now, tomorrow at the next best time, or on a future date. Smart Sending is enabled to prevent you from accidentally over-messaging anyone, so we highly recommend keeping this on. You likewise have the option to select recipients at send time or add a follow-up message if your campaign benefits from a reminder or additional content after the initial send. Once ready, send or schedule your message!
What’s next?
At this point, you have your marketing strategy established and are ready to drive revenue with intentional marketing. Great work!
Continue on to learn more about your options as your brand grows alongside your marketing strategy.