Frequently asked questions
FAQ
Check out our answers to the most common questions we get about SMS marketing and what you can do in Klaviyo.
SMS marketing is the act of a business sending a text message campaigns, promotions, news, updates and more to customers who have opted in. The term “SMS,” stands for “short message service” and brands use this form of communication to interact with their customers on a more personal level.
SMS marketing enables brands to send bulk automated text messages and scheduled campaigns that build loyalty, drive sales, and engage with their customers in a timely, personal manner.
Yes, SMS marketing or business text message marketing is digital and a part of your owned marketing strategy.
SMS marketing requires a text messaging platform like Klaviyo so that you can automate the process. We have a lot of pre-built templates and flows that can help get your started.
SMS marketing campaigns can be of different types, including but not limited to SMS only discounts where you send coupons by text, have flash sales only for text subscribers and more.
Yes! Klaviyo provides SMS marketing services to online brands with over 10,000 customers currently using email and SMS together to grow their business, including Homage, True Classic Tees, and Proozy.
With Klaviyo, you can only send texts to people who have explicitly opted in and are based in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Australia. If someone hasn’t opted in, you can’t send messages to them.
Statistics increasingly show that many of today’s shoppers are excited to hear from brands they like via text. And if they don’t want to receive texts from you, they don’t have to opt-in and can easily unsubscribe anytime.
There are a number of ways you can collect SMS consent and phone numbers. Targeted multi-step forms and pop-ups, keyword opt-ins, consent at checkout, and even click to text email banners. Klaviyo has all the features needed to grow your subscriber list.
Yes, SMS conversations—or two way text messaging—make it possible for people to respond to your texts. Using Klaviyo as a service, you can respond to your customers both for marketing purposes and for support, answering questions and resolving issues from within Klaviyo or through our help desk integrations like Gorgias and Zendesk.
The most successful customers using SMS tend to send at least 5 targeted campaigns per month, in addition to triggered texts based on shopping and purchase behavior via automated flows.
You can turn on SMS for free and get 150 sending credits/month included with your Klaviyo subscription. Want to send more? We’ll help get you on the right plan.
With every Klaviyo plan, you are allocated a maximum number of SMS credits. You can use your credits toward any combination of SMS and MMS messages (a text message over 160 characters or containing an image or GIF). The number of credits required to send an SMS or MMS message varies depending on the country you are sending the message to.
USA
SMS = 1 credit
MMS = 3 credits
Canada
SMS = 3 credits
MMS = 5 credits
UK
SMS = 5 credits
MMS = N/A
Australia
SMS = 4 credits
MMS = N/A
SMS marketing costs depend on the number of messages sent and the list you have. At Klaviyo, we offer flexible payment plans.
A SMS short code is an abbreviated text messaging number that is 5 or 6 digits in length. These pre-approved numbers enable brands to send SMS and/or MMS messages at a higher speed than toll-free numbers. Vanity short codes are also available which allow for further branding of a short code.
Short codes are perfect for bulk messages and recommended for SMS customers with 30,000 or more subscribers. Once you set-up the short codes available from Klaviyo in the US, Canada, and UK, (for an additional fee) you can send texts to a high volume of senders.
We do. We run regular, free trainings about getting started with SMS as well as a full SMS strategy certification course. We also run regular training sessions on key SMS topics.
Absolutely. Sending texts via Klaviyo means you can use all of the existing data in your Klaviyo account to send targeted, personalized, high impact messages to profiles who have consented to receive texts.
Klaviyo has built in tools and best practices to help your compliance, but rules do vary from location to location. Learn what you need to know in this guide.
Of course. We don’t force you into any long term contracts or commitments, so you can make the best decisions for your own business at any time.
We continually monitor our SMS delivery rate, working closely with our sending partners and carriers to ensure we are doing everything possible to get your texts into your customer’s inbox. On average, we deliver 95% of texts sent.
When choosing a business text messaging service, there are a number of specific features that are essential for success. To that end, you can read about all of our SMS-specific features.
Klaviyo SMS also builds on the core functionality of the Klaviyo marketing automation platform.
Most of our 300+ integrations are built to power everything you send out of Klaviyo—whether that’s email, SMS, or other channels. Here is a list of some of our top integrations for SMS marketing.
