Klaviyo Email Marketing: Flows versus Campaigns

If you want to successfully navigate the world of Klaviyo email marketing, it’s important to distinguish between flows and campaigns. These two types of emails are Klaviyo’s bread and butter - but what’s the difference between them?

Read on to discover the key aspects of each and how they work together to create a successful Klaviyo email marketing strategy.

Klaviyo Email Marketing Campaigns

An email campaign is a one-time send to a pre-determined target group of contacts. Campaigns must be manually scheduled to send at a fixed point in time. However, they can either be created and sent immediately, or they can be scheduled to send at a later time.

When are these kinds of emails used? Think regular newsletters, new product launches, or sale announcements. Any kind of one-time information you want to share with your email list will be conveyed through a campaign. It’s that simple!

Klaviyo Email Marketing Flows

Email flows trigger a message, or series of messages, based on when someone joins a list, is added to a segment, or takes any other action on your website - such as making a purchase or abandoning a cart.

Flows can be built to send timely emails, or they can simply apply certain actions, like updating a specific field on a profile. These are usually a series of messages that are constantly running in the background, hitting your customers at the right time with the right message. Two examples of high revenue-generating flows are the welcome series and the abandoned cart.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular flows in a little more detail…

1. Welcome series flow: this flow is triggered when a new person signs up to your mailing list. It introduces them to your brand and converts them into first-time customers.
2. Abandoned cart flow: this flow is triggered when someone has added something to their cart, but has not completed the purchase within a set time frame. It’s customisable based on the items in the person’s cart and whether they're already a customer.
3. Post-purchase flow: this flow is triggered after a customer makes a purchase from your website. It shows appreciation for the customer and lets them know about related products they might be interested in.
4. Winback flow: this flow is triggered when a customer has previously made a purchase, but has not come back to buy again. It’s customisable based on the products they've purchased and how many purchases they've made.

Campaigns vs. Flows: Which Is More Important?

The answer to this question is both. Campaigns and flows work together to create a successful Klaviyo email marketing strategy. Campaigns are best optimised to target your existing customers and incentivise them to keep making purchases, while flows are able to secure purchases from customers who might have never purchased from your brand before or who need some persuasion to purchase again.

To summarise…

• Campaigns are sent to a target list that you build in advance; flows send automated messages based on certain triggers and filters.
• Campaigns are manually created and scheduled; flows are triggered every time a certain behaviour occurs.
• An example of a campaign would be monthly emails for a newsletter list; an example of a flow would be an automated email that sends to new subscribers after they sign up.
• Both campaigns and flows should be set up on your Klaviyo email marketing account to optimise conversion rates.

We know advertising through email can be tricky. Not sure how to get your Klaviyo account set up? Or maybe you just need a little help getting your company email marketing strategy as good as it can be? Get in touch with dmt to find out more about our Klaviyo email marketing service and to get all the best email marketing advice.

Plus, find out what we can offer your brand in terms of paid social, PPC, website development, and more!