In the world of marketing, email and SMS can sometimes get overshadowed. They don’t garner likes or tip into virality like social media posts; they don’t appear organically like digital advertising. But importantly, email and SMS can convert those interested in your brand—that is, prospective customers—into actual customers. For that reason alone, they’re an essential part of any marketing plan. There are many more benefits, too, like building your brand through storytelling, staying top of mind for recent customers, and looping lapsed customers back into the fold. And when you do the initial work to set up automated flows based on where a prospective customer is in their purchase process, your email and SMS strategy works seamlessly for you in the background.
In this Q&A, our email and SMS expert Brienne Jepkema offers insight into the essential steps for building a strong foundation for your email and SMS marketing efforts.
What is the most essential first step in setting up email communications?
Brie: Before you dive into actual execution, the initial step is overall account setup. This involves applying your branding to your account and then verifying your account to ensure it’s viewed as a legitimate sender. That’s crucial for deliverability.
Once that initial setup is done, the next step is setting up an email signup form on your website, because you need to collect subscribers to send your emails to! Along with the form, you’ll want to craft a welcome email that will be automatically sent to new subscribers.
Getting into the granular details, which setup pieces are most critical for deliverability?
Brie: You need to check your email settings, like DMARC, to verify your standing. If you’re also using SMS, remember that it can take a few days to get approved for a number, so factor that into your timeline. The goal is to check everything off in your account to ensure you are the most “approved” sender you can be.
Back to the welcome email—after that’s set up, what other communication flows should be part of your baseline strategy?
Brie: I recommend the “abandoned trio.” These flows target customers at different stages of their interaction: browse abandonment (the lowest level of interaction), followed by abandoned cart, and finally abandoned checkout (the highest level of interaction). It’s essential to meet people wherever they drop off.
How does SMS fit into an email marketing plan?
Brie: It’s best practice to build email and SMS side-by-side. Getting someone’s phone number is of even higher value than an email address, because it’s a more direct and timely touchpoint. Because of its value, I recommend offering a better incentive for SMS sign-ups (like 20% off) compared to email (10-15%).
Should businesses worry about “over-communicating” with their customers?
Brie: There is a happy medium! Many companies worry too much about sending too many emails, but I often recommend a few emails a week. Inboxes are crowded, and customers don’t see every piece of communication you send. If you are sending two to three emails a week with meaningful content, you don’t need to worry. I even recommend sending the same high-value content more than once—just vary your subject lines and preview text.
What metrics are most important to measure?
Brie: It’s a full-picture thing. You can’t take any single data point as the end-all-be-all. For instance, with SMS, spam filters and privacy features can sometimes make delivery numbers unreliable. Instead, track the sales directly attributed to your email and SMS efforts and watch how that revenue grows over time to gauge your return on investment.
Where should you focus your creative energy in an email?
Brie: It’s holistic. The design and hierarchy of your email are vital—you want it to reflect your brand and ensure it looks professional. While the subject line is critical to getting that initial click, don’t neglect secondary messaging. Use that space to educate customers on your brand, share benefits, or provide reasons to buy.
Why is Klaviyo considered an industry leader?
Brie: From a user experience perspective, it’s my favorite. It scales well, handling both small and large companies without becoming overly complicated. It provides specific, detailed tools, yet remains accessible. Plus, the pay structure allows you to grow your costs alongside your list size.
Are there any new trends or innovations you’re excited about?
Brie: SMS capabilities are continually growing. We can now create dynamic, personalized product feeds for SMS, similar to what we’ve done in email for years. This allows you to show specific products to a customer based on their recent browsing behavior, even in a text message.
What’s your parting message to anyone setting up email for the first time?
Brie: I always emphasize that email must be part of a broader marketing strategy. Expanding on my point earlier of setting up an email subscription form on your website: if you don’t have ways to bring customers into your brand and get them on your email list, you’ll be creating these beautiful, impactful emails…for a very small audience. You’ll always get the biggest return on your time investment by sending emails and SMS messages to a robust audience that has found you through your website, through social media, and through digital advertising. So yes, focus on your email strategy, but also focus on growing your audience!
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise, Brie! If you’re looking for an expert to help guide your email and SMS strategy or take it to the next level—and who can leverage a deep bench of marketing experts to help you grow your subscriber base—we’re here and ready to help.