How to add SMS to an email campaign

You will learn

Learn how to implement multichannel marketing by adding an SMS message to an email campaign. This process allows you to quickly and easily create an SMS message that complements your email, and provides clear conversion attribution across channels. 

Best practices for sending SMS and email campaigns

In general, there are a few best practices when using SMS and email together for a campaign: 

• In most cases, send the SMS about 4 hours before your email campaign, as SMS subscribers tend to be VIPs and frequent buyers. However, there are exceptions, such as if:

  • There is not enough time for the SMS campaign to send 4 hours before the email. 

  • The SMS will send during quiet hours (e.g., before 9 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in a recipient’s local time zone)

  • You are intentionally prioritizing sending email before SMS to save on credits.  

• For the email, follow up with anyone who either:
  • Is not an SMS subscriber.
  • Has not purchased. 

Create and send an email campaign 

To start, create an email campaign as you normally would, then schedule it to send. Learn how to create and send an email campaign. 

Add SMS to your email campaign

1. Click Add SMS.
   
2. In the Review recipients before editing SMS modal, add your SMS list.
   
3. Click Accept.
4. Review the auto-generated SMS message and adjust as desired.
5. Make sure the message includes a link that is appropriate for the offer you are sending (e.g., if you’re promoting a sale, include a URL to your sale page).
6. Click Save and continue to review.
7. Review the SMS campaign settings.
8. Click Schedule or Send.
9. Adjust the scheduled send time if desired.
10. Click Schedule.

Analyze your campaign results 

Once your email and SMS campaign has sent, review your results. Multichannel campaigns (i.e., emails campaigns with an added SMS message) are labeled Multichannel in the Campaigns tab. Multichannel campaigns allow you to see conversions for each channel side-by-side, so you can better understand your campaign's impact. You have access to the same data from a multichannel campaign as is available for 2 separate campaigns, but multichannel campaign reporting more clearly delineates the overall impact of your campaign across channels. 

1. Navigate to the Campaigns tab in Klaviyo. 
2. Click the email or SMS campaign you sent.
3. In the Overview tab, review key metrics like revenue, conversions, and deliveries by channel.
   

Additional resources 

• SMS best practices
• Understanding when to prioritize an email, SMS, or mobile push
• Guide to collecting SMS consent