What is marketing automation? Tips and examples for B2C brands
Marketing automation is technology that automatically manages marketing across email, text messaging, WhatsApp, mobile push notifications, and more. Instead of manually sending messages or updating lists, marketing automation uses customer data that updates in real time to trigger timely, deeply personalized communications.
A unified customer database is at the heart of marketing automation. It captures every customer interaction, from email opens to support tickets, in a single source of truth. This includes website behavior, purchase history, support interactions, loyalty program status, and even in-store purchases.
Marketing automation platforms then pull from this data, empowering marketers to model customer behavior using predictive analytics, anticipate what customers will do or need next, and keep up with customer needs and activities in real time.
How is marketing automation different from traditional marketing?
Traditional marketing strategies allow you to schedule and send bulk campaigns. But the process is more manual and tends to focus on individual channels.
Marketing automation goes much further. It’s about orchestrating deeper personalized experiences based on customer behavior, preferences, and past interactions.AI makes marketing automation even smarter, and has for years. But now, it’s more obvious how AI improves these capabilities. Ascend2 research found that marketers report that some of the most effective uses of AI in marketing automation include targeting audiences, content creation, and personalization.
| Marketing automation | Traditional marketing |
| Automated messages and behavior-based journeys | One-off campaigns |
| Dynamic, real-time audience updates | Manual list management |
| Deep personalization across marketing channels | Limited personalization |
| Integrated cross-channel communication | Focused on individual channels |
| Unified data with AI-driven insights | Siloed tools and fragmented data |
Why does marketing automation matter?
According to Klaviyo’s 2025 Future of Consumer Marketing Report, 66% of consumers expect B2C brands to make them feel valued and understood. To pull this off manually for 10 subscribers would be a challenge. If you’re trying to reach thousands or even millions, it becomes impossible.
Klaviyo’s 2025 State of B2C Marketing Report, meanwhile, found that 73% of B2C marketers report rising customer acquisition costs (CACs), and the No. 1 marketing priority is maximizing marketing ROI and efficiency.
Marketing automation helps address both sides of that equation. It increases team efficiency, helps you better understand your customers and prospects, and improves relationships by surfacing more relevant content for your audience, right when they’re most likely to act on it, in turn driving more revenue.
Here’s where marketing automation has the most impact for B2C brands today:
It enables personalization at scale with unified data
Our Future of Consumer Marketing Report found that 74% of consumers expect more personalized experiences from brands. To build credibility with customers, your marketing needs to be relevant.
Access to real-time customer information means you can get really specific about who receives which messages, what’s in those messages, and when they go out. You might create a loyalty automation just for VIPs who made a purchase in the last 30 days, or a post-purchase flow for customers who left 5-star reviews and live near one of your brick-and-mortar stores.
These targeted automations feel more personal because they are. They’re based on real customer behaviors and preferences that change all the time.
It’s central to retention and engagement strategies across the customer journey
As acquisition and operating costs grow, many brands are placing more emphasis on retention and customer loyalty. According to Chargebee’s State of Subscriptions and Revenue Growth Report, 86% of marketing leaders agree that customer retention is equally as important as (or even more important than) new customer acquisition.
Marketing automation supports retention by making sure no customer falls through the cracks, and helping build better customer journeys. The Ascend2 research shows that 89% of marketers agree that marketing automation makes it easy for them to build effective customer journeys.
For example, when a customer hasn’t purchased in 60 days, a win-back flow can automatically send a discount on their favorite product category or early access to a new collection. Automated touchpoints like these keep customers engaged with your brand over time. When customers consistently get helpful, timely messages, they’re more likely to stick with you in the long run.
It saves time and resources
“Especially for brands with a large client base, you would need an incredibly large marketing team to be able to provide the level of customization and personalization at the same number of touchpoints if it wasn’t automated,” points out Lindsey Murray, former VP of performance marketing at leading digital customer experience company Blue Acorn iCi.
Sean Donahue, former director of lifecycle marketing at nationally recognized digital marketing agency Power Digital, agrees that marketing automation is a way for marketers to create “meaningful experiences” without needing to have “hands on a keyboard all day long, building emails and getting them out.”
Instead, “we can initially build it, set it, and forget it,” he explains. “We can find these core different areas in the customer journey, set up the automations so they’re sending at all different times around the clock, and then make it so that we don’t need to be manually punching all this in on a constant basis.”
Compared to manual marketing efforts, “marketing automation for us is just efficiency,” says Heather Browne, director of performance marketing at Blue Acorn iCi. “Especially when we’re working with these larger brands with large portfolios and large subscriber lists, we want to make sure we hit those touchpoints with as little human error involved as possible.”
And because it frees up your team from investing time and effort into monotonous, repetitive tasks, marketing automation also contributes to employee productivity and retention. “It really allows you to have a lean team,” Murray points out. “You get to actually spend your time digging into data and working on campaigns that require more human input and creativity.”
It boosts revenue
Marketing automation directly impacts revenue, and it’s easy to track with the right tools. That makes it easier to get buy-in from leadership for more investment.
Here are the kind of results you can expect, according to Klaviyo’s 2026 marketing benchmarks:
- Automated emails and text messages generate, on average, 2.1% and 1.9% placed order rates, respectively. The top 10% automated emails and text messages, meanwhile, see 4.3% and 3.9% placed order rates, respectively.
- Email and text message flows generate $3.56 and $2.54 in average revenue per recipient (RPR), respectively. The top 10% email and text message flows drive $7.79 and $5.26 in RPR, respectively.
- Abandoned cart flows specifically are the most effective: the top 10% of these types of email flows generate $13.70 in RPR, while the top 10% of these types of text messages generate $8.69.
As Murray puts it, “it’s ongoing revenue. You put in the effort up front, and then outside of some updates here and there, it really works on its own.”
What are some examples of how real brands use marketing automation?
Here are a few high-impact marketing automations tailored to each stage of the customer lifecycle, with real-life benchmarks and examples to give you a sense of what it all looks like in practice:
Welcome flows that build loyalty from the start
When someone signs up for your email or SMS list—whether from a landing page on your website, a pop-up form, consent at check-out, or an in-store visit—a welcome flow confirms their sign-up with a message on the specific channel they opted into. It might introduce your brand with a note from your founder, and it should include the incentive you offered customers in exchange for signing up for marketing.
Average welcome flow performance, according to our latest benchmarks report:
- Email click rate: 6.5%
- Text message click rate: 10%
- Email RPR: $5.75
- Text message RPR: $3.33
Marketing automation example: Tinned seafood brand Fishwife had an influx of diverse new subscribers following their Shark Tank appearance. They wanted to make sure audiences from different sources got the right context to get to know the brand. After refreshing their welcome flow to include a note from their founder, product education, and welcome discount messaging, Fishwife’s revenue from flows jumped 35% YoY.
Browse abandonment flows that bring window shoppers back
If a visitor views products without adding them to their cart, a browse abandonment flow reminds them to come back and keep shopping. It might showcase the specific items they were looking at alongside customer testimonials, or alert them if inventory is limited.
Average browse abandonment flow performance, according to our latest benchmarks report:
- Email click rate: 5.6%
- Text message click rate: 8.6%
- Email RPR: $2.08
- Text message RPR: $1.04
Marketing automation example: After sportswear brand Montirex doubled the size of their subscriber base, they discovered around 40% of their audience had opted in to receive text messages.
To accommodate this large portion of their audience, Montirex now uses text messages in their browse abandonment flow by sending a quick text to subscribers 30 minutes after they exit the website. This flow achieves an average click rate of 32%, meaning nearly a third of subscribers revisit the store as a result of receiving the message.
Abandoned cart flows that convert shoppers who are on the fence
Shoppers often add items to their cart but leave your site without completing the purchase. When this happens, an abandoned cart flow reminds them of the items they left behind. An abandoned cart flow might include additional recommendations based on the product pages someone has viewed, or someone’s loyalty points balance to encourage them to use their rewards for their purchase.
Average abandoned cart flow performance, according to our latest benchmarks report::
- Email click rate: 6%
- Text message click rate: 10.3%
- Email RPR: $6.77
- Text message RPR: $4.48
Marketing automation example: Natural home fragrance brand Happy Wax is A/B testing dynamic review quote blocks in their abandoned cart flows. These blocks use AI to select and highlight the review quote most relevant to each customer, like a testimonial about the SKU they just abandoned. So far, flows with review blocks are driving more clicks and RPR.
Post-purchase flows that keep shoppers in the loop
After a sale, a post-purchase flow keeps the conversation going. While post-purchase flows include transactional messages, like order confirmations and shipping updates, they might also be more educational or informative in nature, like how-to guides. (Post-purchase automations also technically include review requests. More on those next.)
Average post-purchase flow performance, according to our latest benchmarks:
- Email click rate: 5.1%
- Email RPR: $1.80
Marketing automation example: When the manufacturers at Manly Bands, a jewelry brand, scan a ring at a new stage of production, it automatically updates in their CRM. These status changes trigger update emails that give customers insight into the 3- to 5-week production process, which can provide valuable peace of mind during wedding planning.
Review request flows that help showcase real shopper experiences
Once a recent purchaser has had a chance to use and find value from what they bought, a review request flow asks them to review a product from their order. To encourage customers to leave a review, these flows might offer customers an incentive, like a discount or extra loyalty points.
Marketing automation example: Coffee brand Compass Coffee struggled with a reviews system that could only reward reviewers with hard-to-redeem points, rather than a straightforward discount code. Plus, their previous review request flow went out a fixed number of days after an order was placed. Compass Coffee wasn’t able to adjust the experience for delayed or lost orders.
They now customize the trigger for their review request flow so it only goes out after an order is delivered, and customers receive a discount code only if their review includes a photo. In a single quarter, Compass Coffee saw 10% growth in total reviews.
Win-back flows that retain at-risk customers
When a subscriber or customer stops engaging with your messages or buying from you over a certain time period (it could be 30 days, could be 6 months—whatever makes sense for your business model), it’s time for a win-back flow, which motivates dormant subscribers to interact with your business again. Your win-back flow might accomplish this with “Last chance”-type urgency, or by acknowledging the time lapse with a “we miss you” discount.
Win-back flow benchmarks:
- Email click rate: 2.8%
- Email RPR: $0.82
Marketing automation example: Texas arcade bar chain Cidercade used to target customers who hadn’t visited in 6 months with win-back campaigns and promo codes—then hear from employees that regulars were redeeming the code.
Now, Cidercade’s win-back flows trigger when a customer doesn’t visit for a few weeks. One guarantees free admission if the customer beats a staff member at rock, paper, scissors. Two months after relaunching the win-back flow, Cidercade’s automation revenue jumped 221% period-over-period.
Loyalty and reward flows that remind shoppers why they love you
Loyalty and reward flows trigger after customers make purchases. They show people they can earn rewards the more they shop with your store. These flows might include information on how to earn points, discounts, or other perks customers can redeem later.
Example: Happy V is a subscription-based vaginal, gut, and menopausal health brand. They send 7 loyalty-triggered flows—several of which are in their top 10 most revenue-driving automations. They also send quarterly campaigns to the segment of subscribers with 100+ points, reminding them to redeem.
What are marketing automation best practices?
A successful strategy isn’t just about automating your marketing. It’s about creating connected experiences that feel personal and relevant. Here are 4 best practices with tips for improving your marketing automation program:
Take an omnichannel approach
Omnichannel isn’t negotiable anymore. According to Klaviyo’s 2025 BFCM Forecast, 77% of omnichannel consumers use 3–4 channels when shopping for non-essential products.
AI-powered marketing automation makes it easy to coordinate messages across channels so every touchpoint works together. Here are a few ways to create a good omnichannel experience for customers:
- Trigger a follow-up text if a customer doesn’t open an email, or a follow-up email if they don’t click on a text.
- Use AI to automatically deliver messages when each customer is most likely to engage—whether that’s an email at 10 in the morning or a text at 7 at night.
- Use AI to send messages where each individual customer is most likely to engage with them. When a customer starts engaging on WhatsApp and stops paying attention to emails, for example, their “channel affinity” updates in their profile automatically.
Reshape what’s possible with AI
AI can now help determine when and how to engage your audience with marketing automation, making it easier to create meaningful experiences with less manual work. 98% of marketers report that AI increased both performance and productivity, according to Klaviyo’s recent AI trends report.
AI enhances marketing automation by handling optimization tasks that would have normally needed constant manual adjustments. These AI-driven strategies take marketing automation even further to personalize your outreach:
- AI marketing agents: Instead of building flows from scratch, AI marketing agents build complete, on-brand flows in seconds. AI analyzes your website URL to generate an entire strategy, from your sign-up form to ongoing nurture flows.
- AI-powered product recommendations: AI can help make sure customers see products tailored to their unique interests and purchase history, whether that’s in an email campaign or flow, a product carousel on WhatsApp, their self-serve customer hub, or a conversation with a human or AI customer agent.
- Predictive analytics: AI looks at past purchases and behavior to predict when someone will buy again. For example, send a flow at the exact moment someone’s likely to be running out of the product they love. Or if predictions show a customer has high lifetime value, automatically enroll them in a VIP program with exclusive perks and early access to sales.
Test and refine for continuous improvement
Just because you have marketing automations running doesn’t mean you should forget about them. After setting them up, optimize your flows on an ongoing basis. If they don’t seem to be working, make changes like updating your content or audience targeting.
Here are 3 ways to test and optimize your marketing automations:
- Determine top KPIs. Pay attention to click rates, conversion rates, ROI, deliverability, and unsubscribes. Donahue advises using that data to “figure out where to pivot.”
- A/B test your automations. Compare variables like message frequency, send time, subject lines, images, and more. A/B testing helps you increase, or at least maintain, your engaged customers by constantly checking what specific actions move the needle. If they don’t, then that tells you where to adjust.
- Analyze each step. Tracking overall flow performance doesn’t always tell the whole story. Sometimes, you need to dig into the details of each individual flow step to figure out where you’re falling short. (More detail on that process in our blog on marketing automation KPIs.)
Use customer service data to inform marketing automations, and vice versa
Customer service teams know what’s confusing about your products, what makes customers pause before buying, and what keeps them loyal. Meanwhile, your marketing data is hiding purchase patterns, channel preferences, and engagement history that can transform how service teams interact with customers.
Klaviyo’s 2025 State of B2C Marketing Report reveals that 75% of marketers say customer service makes up more than 10% of their role. Despite this, only 29% of marketing and customer service teams are aligned.
When both teams share a unified view of each customer, including past orders, support tickets, shopping activity, and marketing engagement, they can create better experiences on both sides. Here are just a few examples of what that might look like for marketing automation:
- When a customer asks your service team about a specific product feature, automatically send a flow with helpful content and usage tips.
- Use predicted lifetime value from marketing data to route high-value customers directly to live agents for white-glove service.
- If marketing data shows a customer never opens emails but always clicks text messages, service teams can prioritize texting them when responding to customer service questions.
Build better customer relationships with Klaviyo marketing automation
Unlike standalone marketing tools that need multiple integrations, Klaviyo, the AI-first B2C CRM, was built specifically for marketing automation. Everything from your customer data to flows and AI lives in one platform for personalized marketing at scale.
That means:
- True omnichannel experiences: Coordinate email, text messaging, mobile push, and WhatsApp from one platform. When all channels work together, you can follow up on an unopened email with a text or send a mobile push when someone browses your site, without switching between tools or losing track of the customer journey.
- Easy data syncing: Because Klaviyo’s customer data platform is built directly into the CRM, your flows pull from customer data that’s accurate and timely.
- AI embedded throughout: K:AI (Klaviyo AI) is built into every feature, from product recommendations to send time optimization, so your automations are always getting smarter over time.