How to Use Klaviyo Email Marketing to Grow Your Handmade Business: My Experience and Key KPIs to Track
When it comes to growing a handmade business, email marketing is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. With the right platform, like Klaviyo, you can connect with your customers on a deeper level, drive more sales, and create a sustainable revenue stream. I’ve used Klaviyo extensively for my own business and have seen incredible results, with email flows and campaigns driving a significant portion of my overall revenue. In this post, I’ll share some practical tips based on my experience, key performance indicators (KPIs) you should track, and what you can expect in terms of growth.
Why I Chose Klaviyo for My Handmade Business
Klaviyo stood out to me because it’s specifically designed for e-commerce and product-based businesses. The platform’s robust segmentation, automation, and tracking capabilities have allowed me to create highly targeted, personalized email campaigns that speak directly to my customers. It wasn’t just about sending pretty emails; it was about sending the right emails to the right people at the right time.
After setting up my Klaviyo account, I focused on building flows that would automatically nurture my audience. Things like welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups quickly became my bread and butter. Over time, I optimized these flows based on the data Klaviyo provided, and I saw email revenue grow to over 25% of my total revenue—which is exactly where you want to be!
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Monitor
To grow your handmade business with Klaviyo, it’s essential to track the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These metrics help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room for improvement.
Open Rate The open rate measures how many people opened your email out of those who received it. It’s a good indicator of how engaging your subject lines are and how well you’re capturing your audience’s attention. For my business, I aim for an open rate of at least 25%.
Example from My Experience: I found that using personalized subject lines, like “Hey [Name], we’ve got something special for you!”, consistently resulted in a 5% higher open rate compared to generic ones.
How to Track: Klaviyo provides open rate data for every email sent, allowing you to test different subject lines and optimize over time.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) This measures the percentage of people who clicked on a link in your email after opening it. It’s a key indicator of how engaging your content is and how compelling your calls-to-action (CTAs) are. A good CTR benchmark is between 2.5% and 5%.
Example from My Experience: When I included high-quality images of new products with clear, bold CTA buttons like “Shop Now” or “Learn More,” my CTR increased by over 3%.
How to Track: Klaviyo’s analytics dashboard provides detailed click data. You can experiment with different CTAs and layouts to see what drives the most clicks.
Conversion Rate The conversion rate tells you how many subscribers took the desired action (e.g., made a purchase) after clicking through from your email. It directly impacts your bottom line and helps you understand the ROI of your email campaigns.
Example from My Experience: By segmenting my audience based on past purchase behavior and sending tailored product recommendations, my conversion rate jumped from 1% to nearly 3%.
How to Track: Set up conversion tracking in Klaviyo to see exactly how many sales come from each campaign.
Bounce Rate This refers to the percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered to a recipient’s inbox. A high bounce rate can hurt your sender reputation.
Example from My Experience: I use Klaviyo’s list-cleaning tools to remove inactive or invalid emails regularly. Keeping my bounce rate under 1% has helped maintain my deliverability rates.
How to Track: Klaviyo reports both soft and hard bounces, so you can address any issues promptly.
Unsubscribe Rate If too many people are unsubscribing from your emails, it could indicate that you’re not delivering the content they want or that you’re sending too frequently.
Example from My Experience: I saw a spike in unsubscribes when I sent weekly promotional emails. I switched to bi-weekly emails that balanced promotions with valuable content (like DIY tips, behind-the-scenes stories or informative blog posts), and my unsubscribe rate dropped back to under 0.5%.
How to Track: Klaviyo provides unsubscribe rate data for each campaign. Aim for an unsubscribe rate below 0.5%.
Revenue per Recipient (RPR) RPR shows the average revenue generated per recipient of a specific email campaign. This metric helps you understand the financial impact of your emails.
Example from My Experience: I focused on optimizing my abandoned cart flow, adding personalized product recommendations and a limited-time discount. This strategy increased my RPR by 30% over time.
How to Track: Klaviyo’s campaign analytics provide RPR data, which helps you identify high-performing campaigns and replicate their success.
Revenue per Subscriber This metric helps you understand the average value each subscriber brings to your business. It's calculated by dividing total email revenue by the total number of subscribers.
Example from My Experience: I worked on growing my email list with quality leads by using a pop-up that offered a 15% discount on first purchases. After three months, my revenue per subscriber grew from $2.50 to $3.25, indicating a more engaged and valuable audience.
How to Track: This metric is is a built-in feature on your Klaviyo dashboard and shown on your log in screen, front and center. It uses your total revenue from emails divided by the number of subscribers, or for a more detailed approach, you can use Klaviyo’s analytics to drill this number down to a specific campaign or flow. It's important because if you get .08 per subscriber and you have 5000
Why It Matters: Let’s say your revenue per subscriber is $0.08 and you have 5,000 subscribers on your list. If you send just one campaign per month, you’ll generate $400 in revenue from your emails. Now, imagine if you increased this to one email per week—you could boost your revenue to $1,600 per month! This simple tweak in frequency could multiply your email income by four times, showing the power of consistent, well-planned email marketing. Don't leave money on the table—make sure you're maximizing this valuable metric.
What to Expect: A Minimum of 25% Revenue from Email Flows and Campaigns
For handmade businesses using Klaviyo effectively, it’s realistic to aim for at least 25% of your total revenue to come from your email flows and campaigns. This includes both automated flows (like welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups) and regular campaign emails (like newsletters, product launches, and promotions).
In my experience, reaching this target involves several key strategies:
Regular Testing and Optimization: Constantly testing different subject lines, CTAs, and email content to see what resonates most with your audience. This isn’t a one-time task—it’s an ongoing process. What worked last month might not work next month, so it’s important to stay adaptable and data-driven.
A/B Testing: One of the most effective ways to optimize your email marketing strategy is through A/B testing. Klaviyo makes it easy to test different versions of your emails—whether it’s the subject line, email copy, images, or CTAs—to determine which one performs better. For example, you might test two subject lines: one with a sense of urgency ("Last Chance to Shop Our New Collection!") versus one that’s more friendly and casual ("Hey [Name], Have You Seen Our New Collection?"). By analyzing the results, you can refine your strategy to increase open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Over time, these small changes can significantly impact your revenue.
Effective Segmentation: Using Klaviyo’s segmentation tools to tailor emails based on customer behavior, purchase history, and preferences. Instead of blasting your entire list with the same content, you can create highly personalized emails that speak directly to different segments of your audience. For instance, you might create a segment for “VIP customers” who’ve spent over $500 and send them exclusive offers, or a segment for “new subscribers” and nurture them with a welcome series.
Automation: Setting up key flows to automatically engage and nurture your subscribers at the right times, without needing manual intervention. Automated flows like abandoned cart reminders or post-purchase follow-ups are especially powerful because they target customers when they’re most likely to convert—whether they’ve just expressed interest in a product or recently made a purchase.
The Power of A/B Testing in Email Marketing
A/B testing allows you to experiment with different elements of your emails to see what drives the best results. Here’s a breakdown of how to implement A/B testing effectively in your Klaviyo strategy:
Start Simple: Begin by testing one element at a time, such as the subject line. Once you gather enough data on what works, you can move on to testing other components like the email copy, images, or the call-to-action button.
Define Clear Goals: Before you start any A/B test, know what you’re looking to improve—be it open rates, click-through rates, or conversions. This helps you measure the success of the test more accurately.
Use the Winning Version: After running the A/B test for a sufficient period and gathering enough data, Klaviyo will indicate which version performed better. Use this winning version for future campaigns, or continue testing different variations to keep optimizing.
Test Regularly: Don’t just run a test once and call it a day. Customer behavior evolves, and what works today might not work tomorrow. Regular A/B testing helps you stay ahead and keep your emails relevant and engaging.
By combining regular testing and optimization, A/B testing, effective segmentation, and automation, you can create a powerful email marketing strategy that not only boosts engagement but also significantly contributes to your revenue. With Klaviyo’s robust tools, you’re equipped to drive growth and maximize the potential of your handmade business.
Overwhelmed? If you're looking for more detailed guidance on how to set up effective Klaviyo flows, create engaging content, and optimize for conversions, check out our Klaviyo Email Marketing Crash Course. It's packed with everything you need, including the correct way to set up automation (flows), design templates and all the verbiage needed to get started correctly-- quickly. This course is designed to help you maximize your revenue from email marketing by setting up Klaviyo strategically from the get-go.
Final Thoughts On Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a powerful platform that, when used correctly, can significantly boost your handmade business’s revenue. By focusing on the right KPIs, continuously optimizing your strategy, and leveraging the power of automation, you can create a dynamic email marketing strategy that drives sales and builds long-term customer relationships.
Question for You
What KPIs do you find most challenging to improve in your email marketing strategy? Share in the comments and let’s help each other out. Ready to elevate your email marketing strategy? Discover how to effectively use Klaviyo to boost your handmade business in this post and learn the secrets to crafting killer email subject lines in this guide.
Comments