You will learn
Learn about age-gating in Klaviyo, which may allow alcohol-only brands to use SMS in certain countries. These include most countries where SMS is available, except Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
This information is intended solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. The content provided is general in nature and may not reflect the most up-to-date information. Klaviyo strongly advises consulting with a qualified legal counsel to ensure your compliance with applicable laws and regulations in connection with your use of our services.
The opt-in process with age-gating
For proper age-gating with SMS, 2 things need to happen before someone can opt in:
- Someone enters their age.
- SMS consent is added if that age meets that country’s minimum age requirement.
- 21 in the United States.
- 18 in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Australia, France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
- 16 in Switzerland.
Anyone who is under the legal age for a specific country or doesn’t enter their age cannot become an SMS subscriber. However, they can subscribe to email.
Will an underage profile automatically become an SMS subscriber when they turn the legal age?
No. A person can only consent after they turn 18 or 21 (depending on where they live). Signing up when they’re younger than that age (even if it’s only a day before) doesn’t count.
For instance, if someone in the UK is 17 and tries to subscribe to an alcohol brand, they won’t become an SMS subscriber at that time or automatically when they turn 18. The only way for that individual to subscribe to SMS is to opt in once they are already 18 or older.
If someone fails the age gate, can they try again?
If someone fails an age gate, they’ll receive an error message. However, they can resubmit it (e.g., to fix a typo).
Who is eligible for age-gating with Klaviyo
Age-gating is not available for all industries and countries with Klaviyo:
- It is only allowed for alcohol brands, not any other type of prohibited content.
- It can't be used in Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
Note that all brands using SMS (including brands that currently send alcohol-related SMS) are subject to an approval process by Klaviyo before they can start using the age gating feature.
Is age-gating available for a brand with 2 prohibited categories (alcohol and something else)?
No. Age-gating is for alcohol-only brands. If you’re a brand that falls under 2 or more prohibited content categories, you cannot use Klaviyo for SMS. For instance, a company selling both whisky and cigars cannot use Klaviyo for SMS because cigars are considered tobacco, which is prohibited content.
Note that if you try to use Klaviyo with a non-alcohol category, it may initially appear that you can use age-gating (as you’ll begin to go through the approval process), only to be rejected once your account is fully reviewed.
What happens if I’m an alcohol brand using a toll-free number? Doesn’t that number work for both Canada and the US?
While the same toll-free number is typically used to send messages to both the US and Canada, this is not the case with age-gating.
If your brand requires age-gating, your toll-free number can only send messages to US numbers, while sending to Canadian recipients is disabled.
What happens if I try to collect or import SMS consent in a country where age-gating isn’t available?
In this case, the profile syncs to Klaviyo without SMS consent and shows the Failed SMS Age Gate metric.
For instance, if you import a CSV that contains both US and Canadian numbers, only the US numbers are imported as consented SMS subscribers. Canadian numbers are added as profiles in your account, but you can’t send SMS messages to these individuals.
The same is true for collecting consent, such as with sign-up forms. If you are an alcohol brand, we recommend targeting your SMS opt-in methods to countries where age-gating is available.
Enabling SMS age-gating in Klaviyo
The process for using SMS for alcohol-related brands with Klaviyo is the following:
- Start by going through the setup wizard.
- If you indicate that you want to send SMS in a country where age-gating is available, you’ll automatically be submitted for approval.
- Note that if you only select only a country or countries where age-gating for alcohol is not available, you cannot set up SMS and will not continue in the process.
- Add an age gate to begin using SMS.
Important note for age-gated accounts
Any alcohol brands using Klaviyo for SMS are responsible for making sure you have stored the date of birth for these profiles.
To check that all subscribers have a DOB if you weren't using age-gating, there are several segments you can use, depending on your setup.
Example 1: is consented to SMS but there's no DOB
The following segment is useful if you want to add a birthday to a profile so that you have this info all in one place. For instance, you can target an age-gated form to this segment.
-
Is consented to SMS
AND - *Does not have a DOB on their profile
*Note that for the second condition, you must change the Type to Text.
Example 2: Is consented for SMS and is above the legal age in a country
If you do have a DOB, you can create a segment of everyone who's above the legal age in a specific country.
Note that you should change the date to the current date and subtract either 21 or 18 years.
To make this into age-gated consent, you can:
- Export the segment.
- Change the date field column to Age Gated Date of Birth.
- Re-import this list.
What you can and can’t do as an age-gated account
Once you’re approved by Klaviyo, you’ll be able to start growing your SMS list and importing subscribers. However, there are some differences in doing this as an account that requires age-gating versus one that doesn’t.
Collecting SMS consentCollecting SMS consent
Age-gating is not available with all SMS consent collection methods.
Having an age-gated form when a visitor arrives reduces the likelihood of your number from getting audited or shut off.
Check the table below to see how you can grow your SMS list as an age-gated account.
|
Allowed (with age gate) |
Never allowed |
|
Forms (popups, embeds, etc.) |
Subscribe keywords |
|
Subscribe pages |
Consent at checkout |
|
Tap-to-text forms, pages, and buttons | |
|
API calls |
The steps to creating SMS forms or subscribe pages are almost the same as they are for non-age-gated accounts.
The only differences are that:
- *You must include the age gate field in your form.
- You must target forms to specific countries.
*Note that subscribers must fill out the age gate before consenting to SMS. Thus, you should use a muIti-step form, with the age-gate on the first step and the option to subscribe to SMS as the second step.
Note that the age gate field can not be used to trigger date property flows.
Why can’t I use keywords or consent at checkout?
Unfortunately, Klaviyo does not support age-gating with these opt-in methods due to the way people provide consent. The only way Klaviyo can properly age-gate consent is through the age-gate field.
Can I use the regular date field rather than the age-gate field when collecting SMS consent?
No, you cannot use the normal date field as a replacement for the age gate field.
The normal date input field does not verify that individuals are the legal age. This is because the date for that field is not always a date of birth. While that’s the most common use case, the normal date field can be used for other dates as well, including wedding and due dates.
Importing SMS consent
When importing SMS consent, we strongly recommend including the following columns:
- Age Gated Date of Birth
- SMS Consent Timestamp
While both fields are optional, they are critical for your compliance and records. For example, if you ever need to confirm to a carrier during an audit that someone was of-age when they became an SMS subscriber.
If you don’t include these fields, you are required to attest to Klaviyo that all imported profiles were old enough at the time of providing SMS consent.
Next stepsNext steps
After you set up age-gating in your account and reviewed the dos and don'ts, you can begin using SMS. Note that some information in these resources may not apply to age-gated accounts.
- Check out our getting started with SMS resource
- Learn about creating popups to start building your SMS list.
- See how to set up an SMS welcome flow.