How to create an SMS welcome flow

A flow is an automated series of actions or messages that sends after someone performs a specific action. For an SMS welcome flow (also called a welcome series), this means that after someone consents to SMS, they’ll automatically get messages welcoming them into your SMS program

In a welcome flow, SMS messages offer you a way to make a more immediate impact on new subscribers. 

On average, most text messages (~98%) are looked at within 90 seconds. In comparison, only 20% of emails are viewed, and it typically takes between 90 minutes and 3 hours for customers to view said emails. 

The shorter time frame means you can reach SMS subscribers when their interest in your business is at its peak. It is a great chance to encourage them to move further down the funnel — driving them from being a subscriber to a customer.

You must have turned on SMS in Klaviyo before you can add SMS messages in your flows. Otherwise, you’ll be prompted to set up SMS while you’re trying to build your flow. 

When someone signs up for text messages, they are really giving you a direct line of communication. You’ll be able to reach them at any time almost instantly.

Due to how personal SMS is as a channel, it’s a best practice to reward anyone who subscribes to SMS. If you have not already created a coupon and want to know how to do so, click the name of your ecommerce platform from the list below: 

• BigCommerce
• Magento 1
• Magento 2
• Shopify
• WooCommerce

Virtual contact cards allow recipients to save your contact information. This way, they’ll know when messages are coming from your brand and will recognize your SMS sending number. 

These contact cards are particularly useful in welcome flows, as that’s the first text message someone will receive from your brand. 

Note that these cards automatically turn your text into an MMS, and will count as more credits than an SMS. Further, because MMS is not available in the UK or Australia, virtual contact cards can only be sent to US and Canadian subscribers. 

Before you can use virtual contact cards, you must turn on this option in your SMS settings page.

1. Click Flows.
2. Click Create Flow in the upper right-hand corner.
3. Click Create From Scratch.
4. Name the flow (e.g., SMS-only welcome).
   
5. Click Create Flow.
6. Choose Metric as the trigger type.
7. Click into the flow trigger dropdown. 
8. Select Subscribed to SMS Marketing.
   
9. Click Flow Filters.
10. Click Add a Flow Filter.
11. From the dropdown, select Has not been in this flow.
12. Leave the second dropdown as: at any time.
    
13. Click Save to save the flow filter.
14. Click Done to save the trigger setup.
15. Drag an SMS message directly after the trigger.
16. Click Edit in the details sidebar.
17. Add your content.
    • It’s best if the message is short and to the point.
      • Example: Thanks for signing up! Enjoy 15% off your next purchase with code {% coupon_code 'COUPON NAME' %} {{ organization.url }}
        
18. Click Save Content.
19. Optional: add a virtual contact card.
    • Notes: 
      • A virtual contact card turns the message into an MMS and counts as more credits in your billing plan.
      • MMS, and thus, virtual contact cards, are only available in the US and Canada.
    • Instructions
      1. Add a conditional split after the first SMS and set the condition to: 
         Properties about someone > Country equals United States
         Or
         Properties about someone > Country equals Canada
         
      2. Add a time delay on the YES path after the split. 
      3. Set the time delay for 10 minutes.
      4. Add an SMS after the time delay.
      5. Click Edit.
      6. Add in a message to subscribers asking them to save your contact information.
         1. Example: "Make sure to save our contact card to be notified about our latest deals!"
      7. Click the Add Media button (an image icon).
         
      8. Select the Virtual Contact Card option.
      9. Click the Add Contact Card button to add the card to the SMS message.
20. Click Save Content.
    
21. Click Review and Turn On. 

If you know someone has been on your email list for a certain amount of time but has never made a purchase, you may want to offer them a discount (or greater discount) in the second or third message of your SMS welcome series. 

Keep in mind that you will need to create a new coupon code to include in the message with the higher discount.

Splitting your flow based on purchase history is a great way to offer more targeted calls to action (CTAs). For example, if you know that someone has already bought from a certain collection, you can show them a CTA related to a different collection. 

You can leverage any information you learned about a subscriber when they initially signed up or through any subsequent emails they may have received.

For example, let's say that in the first email of your email welcome series, you ask customers to select which category of products they're most interested in. You can then use this information to inform the CTA in your SMS welcome series.

It's important to have a default branch in case a subscriber has never indicated an interest in any of the options. In the example above, we're showing our best sellers to those who have never explicitly told us the types of items they're interested in.