How to add, update, or delete SMS custom keywords

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Learn how to create, change, and remove custom, subscribe keywords in Klaviyo. 

Custom mobile keywords allow you to better control how you communicate with customers, helping you grow your business while staying true to your brand. Klaviyo allows you to create, change, and remove subscribe keywords for free.

Before you begin

Before learning how to add custom keywords, it is important to know what kind of words can be used. When creating keywords in Klaviyo, follow these guidelines: 

  • Do not use words related to sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, or tobacco (SHAFT)
  • Use alphanumeric characters (A–Z and 0–9); do not use any other special symbols
  • Keep keywords between 3 and 20 characters
  • Avoid common words that could be used in a normal text conversation, such as “the,” "that," "are," "can," "here," "about," or “and,” which may erroneously subscribe someone who didn’t intend to subscribe

Note that keywords are not case-sensitive. If you input the keyword as “SHOES,” Klaviyo will accept “shoes,” “Shoes,” etc.

You can add up to a max of 500 subscribe keywords.

Add a custom subscribe keyword

  1. Click your organization name in the lower left corner.
  2. Navigate to Settings > SMS.
  3. Find the Subscribe Keywords section.
    Subscribe keyword section in the SMS settings page
  4. Click Add Subscribe Keyword.
  5. In the resulting modal, input your keyword.
    Modal where can add in your custom subscribe keyword
  6. Choose the list that subscribers who use the keyword should be added to.
  7. Click Save.

After adding a keyword, you can use it to trigger a welcome series or build a flow to update the profile properties of those who use the keyword.

Update a custom keyword

You cannot edit the default messages for the opt-out (e.g., STOP) or resubscribe (e.g., UNSTOP) keywords. 

  1. Click your organization name in the lower left corner.
  2. Navigate to Settings > SMS.
  3. Scroll to the Subscribe Keywords section.
  4. Find the keyword you want to edit.
  5. On the right, click the Actions icon.
  6. Choose Edit Keyword.
  7. In the resulting modal, you change the keyword's:
    1. Status (i.e., live or draft)
    2. Name
    3. List
      Editing an existing custom keyword in Klaviyo
    4. Click Save when you finish making edits.

Delete a custom keyword

  1. Click your organization name in the lower left corner.
  2. Navigate to Settings > SMS.
  3. Find the Subscribe Keywords section.
  4. Locate the keyword you want to delete.
  5. Select the Actions dropdown and Delete.
  6. In the modal that pops up, click Delete to confirm you want to remove the keyword.
    Message to confirm that you want to delete a keyword

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