How to Use Klaviyo for Email and SMS Marketing for Your Store
A practical guide to connecting your store, writing your first campaign with Composer, and understanding the real pricing before your contact count or SMS bill surprises you.
Beginner7 min read
What you'll be able to do by the end
- Understand that Klaviyo isn't a general writing tool but a full email and SMS platform for your store, with its AI (Composer) working inside the same system that sends, tracks, and segments your audience
- Know that pricing is based on total active contacts, not usage — even people you never message cost money while they stay on your list, so cleaning it regularly saves real money
- Budget SMS costs separately from your email plan from day one — it's an extra expense that's easy to forget when estimating
- Use the free plan (250 active contacts and 500 email sends per month) to try the whole tool before paying anything
- Connect your store (Shopify or otherwise) as the first step — Klaviyo's real power only appears once it sees actual purchase data
Before you start
- An actual online store (Shopify or similar), or at least a customer base you message regularly
- Willingness to learn segmentation and automation basics — the learning curve is steeper than a simple email tool
Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing platform built primarily for ecommerce stores. What separates it from an ordinary marketing email tool is that its AI — Composer — lives inside the same system that sends your campaigns, tracks their results, and segments your audience based on real purchase behaviour, rather than being a separate tool that exports copy for you to paste elsewhere.
This tutorial covers practical use: from wiring your store’s purchase data into it, through writing your first campaign with Composer, to the point most people miss when trying it — pricing depends on total active contacts rather than how much you send, and SMS arrives as a separate bill on top of the email plan.
If you have a real store and need an email/SMS system that reacts to how customers actually behave, Klaviyo is worth trialling on its free plan. No store and no regular customer base? Save your time and find something simpler.
The steps
The steps below run from the fit decision through ongoing monitoring to keep money in your pocket. If you’re confident the tool fits, jump straight to connecting the store.
Steps
Step 1: Decide whether Klaviyo fits you at all before signing up
First things first: do you have a real online store or a customer base you actually message? If not, Klaviyo isn't worth your time — its entire power rests on connecting real purchase data to campaigns and automation, and without that data a simpler, cheaper email tool will serve you. And if you're looking for a tool to write general marketing copy for any channel, that's not Klaviyo's role — it is specifically an integrated email/SMS platform for stores.
Note: On the fence? Sign up on the free plan first — no financial commitment, and you can test the store connection and Composer before deciding.
Step 2: Sign up on the free plan and connect your online store
Create an account at `klaviyo.com` and start directly on the free plan (up to 250 active contacts and 500 email sends per month, with a drag-and-drop editor, basic segmentation, and standard reports). Then connect your store — Shopify or another platform — so Klaviyo can see actual purchase data: who bought, who abandoned their cart, who hasn't purchased in a while. Without this connection the tool loses most of its value and becomes just an ordinary email sender.
Note: The store connection is the real difference between Klaviyo and any generic marketing email tool — don't postpone it.
Step 3: Use Composer to write your first campaign, or start from a template
Instead of starting from a blank page, write a short description of your campaign and let Composer produce a complete draft — copy plus suggested design — aligned with your brand identity. Or start from a ready template and edit it. The key point: generation happens inside the same system that later sends the campaign and tracks its results, not a separate tool exporting text you copy elsewhere.
Note: Review every draft Composer produces before sending — it's a starting point, not publish-ready text.
Step 4: Enable predictive segmentation instead of static manual lists
Rather than building lists on manual rules ('everyone who bought in the last month'), turn on predictive segmentation, which forecasts who will buy and who will churn based on actual behaviour rather than static rules you write. It gets messages to the right people without rebuilding lists manually every few weeks, and works across both email and SMS automation — including abandoned-cart follow-ups.
Note: Trial predictive segmentation on one campaign first and compare it against an ordinary manual list before adopting it everywhere.
Step 5: Watch the free-plan limits and clean your list regularly
Track your active-contact count and send volume against the free limits (250 contacts, 500 sends), and upgrade only when you genuinely need to — the email plan starts around $20/month at 500 contacts and climbs with list size (around $100 at 5,000, say), while SMS is billed separately on top according to usage. The critical point: pricing keys off total active contacts, not how much you send, so even cold subscribers who haven't opened your emails in months cost money while they remain listed. Actually delete cold contacts instead of just leaving them — it genuinely cuts your monthly bill.
Note: Set a monthly reminder to review the list and remove completely inactive contacts — a small habit that compounds into real savings.
Common mistakes — and how to avoid them
MistakeAssuming Klaviyo is a general writing tool like Jasper and using it for any marketing copy across any channel.
Do this insteadUse it strictly as an integrated email/SMS platform for a real store — if you need general marketing copy for multiple channels, Jasper fits better.
MistakeAssuming price scales with what you send, then getting a bill higher than expected.
Do this insteadUnderstand from day one that pricing depends on total active contacts, even if you never message most of them.
MistakeBudgeting only for the email plan and forgetting SMS.
Do this insteadCount SMS as a separate line item from your very first estimate — it's billed by usage on top of the email plan, not within it.
MistakeLeaving cold contacts on your list because you never message them anyway, so no harm done.
Do this insteadClean your list by actually deleting cold contacts regularly — keeping them inflates your bill whether or not you ever message them.
❓ Frequently asked questions
What exactly is the difference between Klaviyo and Jasper?
Jasper writes general marketing copy you can use anywhere. Klaviyo is an integrated email/SMS platform — its AI (Composer) writes the campaign inside the same system that sends it, tracks results, and segments the audience. Want general writing? Jasper. Want a full email/SMS system for your store? Klaviyo.
Is there a permanent free plan?
Yes — up to 250 active contacts and 500 email sends per month, with a drag-and-drop editor, basic segmentation, and standard reports. Beyond that you upgrade; the email plan starts around $20/month at 500 contacts.
Is it worth it without an online store?
Usually no. Klaviyo runs without a store, but its real power shows only with one connected (Shopify, say), feeding segmentation and automation with genuine purchase data. Without that link, a simpler and cheaper email tool serves you fine.