Organize your audience with lists and segments
The better you organize your audience, the easier it is to send messages that feel relevant to each customer. Lists and segments help you group profiles based on how they joined your audience or what they have in common, so you can target the right people with the right message.
Explore the tabs below to learn when to use lists and when to use segments.
Lists & segments
Lists
Lists are:
- Groups of profiles bucketed under an identifiable label.
- Static, meaning membership doesn’t automatically change based on profile conditions. People can be added through forms, imports, integrations, subscribe keywords, or manual updates.
- Commonly used to store contacts in one place and trigger your welcome series flow.
Example:
Let’s say you’re planning a wedding. You will create one main list that includes everyone you plan to invite.
Segments
Segments are:
- Groups of people defined by a shared set of conditions (e.g., what they’ve done and properties about them).
- Dynamic, meaning they grow and shrink automatically as profiles meet the conditions to be added or removed.
- Commonly used to send personalized campaigns and start segment-triggered flows (like a VIP or sunset flow).
Example:
Before and after the wedding, you keep track of the people you need to thank for giving a wedding gift. This group grows as you receive additional gifts leading up to the wedding, and shrinks as you send thank you notes afterward.
You may refine these groups based on qualities about the wedding attendees: bridesmaids, groomsmen, family, friends, adults, children, etc. since you'll speak to each differently.
Maintain a primary list for each marketing channel, such as one list for email subscribers and one for text message subscribers.
Keep in mind that list membership does not replace channel consent. Before sending texts, confirm that each profile has explicitly opted in to receive text messages.
Sending texts to email subscribers who have not provided explicit consent to receive them could result in fines for your business. Keeping your email and text lists separate can help you organize subscribers by channel and reduce the risk of messaging profiles without the appropriate consent.
Lastly, trigger text message welcome flows based on text message consent rather than list membership to ensure only opted-in profiles receive messages.
Activity: Lists or segments?
In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to grow your text message audience, including how to import existing subscribers into Klaviyo while preserving their consent information.
But first, test your understanding of the differences between lists and segments. Sort each statement into the correct category. Decide which
Now, let’s move on to bringing new and existing text subscribers into your Klaviyo account. Click Next to continue.