Email + WhatsApp: Why to combine them and how to get started [Klaviyo focus]

Did you know that by uniting email and WhatsApp, you can increase your customer lifetime value (CLV) by 25%? Here's why a WhatsApp x CRM integration is a good idea (with charles ??) and how it works.

Last year, email and WhatsApp joined forces in a new way.

The charles WhatsApp platform integrated with Klaviyo, the marketing software giant – that caused a stir by going public.

We announced the new WhatsApp Klaviyo integration in a joint booth with Klaviyo at DMEXCO - Digital Marketing Expo & Conference , at the same time as the IPO news hit the headlines:

Times, like WhatsApp and email, change

A few years ago, after the arrival of WhatsApp as a marketing channel for businesses, WhatsApp was hailed as the saviour of CRM. A younger, faster, more personal cousin to email, with better open rates, click-through and revenue results. (See our post on top 5 WhatsApp KPIs here .)

So much so that WhatsApp was tipped to replace email (by us too at the time tbh).?

It's become clear though that rather than fighting against each other, email and WhatsApp needed to stick together.

Both have great features that brands need. And together they make a great team:

?? Email

• Most used medium
• Large audiences
• Low costs
• Years of customer data

?? WhatsApp

• Highly personalized
• Higher opening rates
• Ingrained in daily habits
• Interactive formats (for more data gathering)

Integrating email and WhatsApp makes business sense too. We've found that brands who have both email and WhatsApp numbers see up to 25% customer lifetime value (CLV) uplift for those customers.

We can say with certainty that email is not dead. It just needs WhatsApp at its side to keep it fresh.

And so, charles and Klaviyo got together

After months of beta testing with our customers, in September 2023, we announced the integration of WhatsApp with Klaviyo through the charles platform – Europe's leading WhatsApp marketing platform.

This integration is now available to all brands.?

In fact, many of our customers had been requesting this integration. A clear sign that WhatsApp and email belong together.?

?? We announced our Klaviyo partnership at a joint booth at this year's DMEXCO event with Hannah Geisen and Tim K?lberer from WORMLAND , one of the first to test the Klaviyo x charles integration.

What does the WhatsApp x Klaviyo integration bring businesses?

Traditionally, WhatsApp and email marketing solutions have been separate –?even competing against each other.

This has led to complexity in CRM and marketing teams and has also meant that marketing teams haven’t been able to get the most from their data.

With customer information confined to different channels, brands have had fewer opportunities to personalize content and send truly relevant marketing campaigns to finely targeted audiences, in a channel they prefer.

And that's if a company has WhatsApp in the first place, which many still don't.?

The charles x Klaviyo integration unites a company’s customer data and enables CRM teams to improve personalization and offer more seamless customer experiences across channels – to grow loyalty and boost channel ROI.?

It also enables new ways to solve old problems, like abandoned carts. Now, it's easy to send a quick WhatsApp message, which is more likely to be read and responded to.

A quick summary of benefits:

Also:

• Power your WhatsApp campaigns with Klaviyo’s segmentation: use Klaviyo Lists and Segments in charles
• Add a WhatsApp touchpoint to your marketing flows: trigger a Journeys flow via Klaviyo Flows

• Collect WhatsApp subscribers via other channels: collect and harmonize opt-ins across channels, without cannibalization

WhatsApp and Klaviyo could actually mean less marketing for customers

Bringing email and WhatsApp together is not just about generating revenue (although that's important – See "How to make money from WhatsApp ?? ").

And it's not about sending more, more, more marketing.

It’s about how customers feel about and interact with the brands they love.

By bringing email and WhatsApp together, brands can send more relevant, creative, interactive – and less annoying – marketing communications.

Rather than increasing the amount of marketing brands send, this integration reduces it – because they can send much more relevant, higher converting messages to smaller audiencesAnd it brings the power of WhatsApp to Klaviyo users

Klaviyo users may have seen the hype around WhatsApp marketing but may not have known where to start.

The charles integration brings WhatsApp instantly to marketing teams whose email strategies are powered by Klaviyo – adding:

1. Rich interaction of WhatsApp (quick replies, lists), opening up a new world for individual campaigns?
2. The possibility to offer WhatsApp to people who don't open email or prefer to use WhatsApp
3. A channel with open rates of up to 90%?

The charles WhatsApp solution (based on the WhatsApp Business Platform /API) offers innovative interactive functionality so customers can answer questions by tapping buttons in WhatsApp messages – like “What do you want to hear from us?” and “What styles are you interested in?”

Use cases of WhatsApp and Klaviyo integration (with charles)?

Here are just some ways you can use the Klaviyo integration.

• Use Klaviyo Lists and Segments like your Active subscribers (30/60/90) segment to send WhatsApp campaigns
• Create a 2-step pop-up on your thank you page to collect both email and WhatsApp opt-ins
• Add WhatsApp to your abandoned cart flow by triggering a Journeys flow in charles
• Use WhatsApp for back-in-stock notifications to create a sense of exclusivity or FOMO

How to integrate WhatsApp and Klaviyo

Here's how to integrate Klaviyo with WhatsApp:

1. Choose a WhatsApp marketing platform that integrates with Klaviyo

As a mid- to large-sized business, you'll need to use the WhatsApp Business API through a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider like charles . (Smaller businesses can use the free WhatsApp Business app , but won't be able to benefit from integrations.)

Here's some help with choosing the right WhatsApp BSP for you .

Connect the Klaviyo app to your WhatsApp marketing platform

This is how this works in charles:

1. Log into your Klaviyo account and go to Settings. Under the Account tab, select API keys:
2. Select Create Private API key. You’ll be directed to the next page:

3. Define a name for the Private API Key (minimum 3 characters)

4. ??Give the following API Scopes Full Access; 1) List 2) Profiles 3) Segments

6. Select Create

7. In charles go to Settings > Available apps

8. Find Klaviyo and select Connect: a pop-up will appear

9. Copy the Name and Private API Key you’ve just created

10. Select Submit

You should now find Klaviyo in the Connected apps section.

3. Import Klaviyo customer profiles to WhatsApp

This is how this works in the charles platform: charles will import the following profile data: First name, Last name, Email, Phone number

1. Once you’ve connected the Klaviyo app in charles, select Settings. A popup will appear
2. Go to the Configuration tab. You will see:

Configuration

• Import only contacts with a valid phone number: This will only import Klaviyo profiles that have a valid phone number. When this is toggled off, charles will import all profiles – including those without a phone number
• Sync CRM data on daily basis automatically: Automatically import and sync profiles in Lists/Segments on a daily basis.

3. We recommend toggling Import only contacts with a valid phone number on

4. Under Actions, click Sync channel users to start importing profiles from Klaviyo

4. Sync WhatsApp opt-in status to Klaviyo profiles

It's important that you stitch WhatsApp and email contacts together. The last thing you want to do is annoy customers by sending them too many notifications – and, worse, the same one twice.

So next you need to sync opt-in status to make sure you have the right permissions. Also a GDPR requirement.

This is how it works in the charles Klaviyo integration:

• As charles imports Klaviyo profiles, we’ll check for matching phone numbers.
• If we find a matching phone number in charles that also has a WhatsApp opt-in we’ll patch the latest opt-in status and last updated time to the Klaviyo profile under Custom properties.

?

You can use these new custom properties in the following places in Klaviyo:

1. Segments

When creating segments in Klaviyo, you can use charles_opt_in_status to filter contacts with a positive opt-in status to ensure your WhatsApp campaigns are GDPR-compliant.

2. Flows

When creating Flows on Klaviyo, you can use charles_opt_in_status with a “Conditional split” to only funnel contacts with a positive opt-in status to charles.?

How to invite email subscribers to opt in for WhatsApp

If you don't have a WhatsApp number yet for someone, you can send an email to your Klaviyo contacts inviting them to sign up.

We recommend doing this with a discount, exclusive access or offer. To send them an email:

In Klaviyo:

1. Go to Audience > Lists & Segments
2. Create List / Segment
3. Select Segment
4. Give your Segment a name
5. Under Definition, select Properties about someone
6. The Dimension should be charles_opt_in_status is not set:

7. Select Create Segment

8. Use this list to send a WhatsApp campaign encouraging these contacts to opt-in for WhatsApp

How do you stay GDPR compliant?

Your WhatsApp BSP (hopefully us ??) should be able to help you stay GDPR compliant.

Part of this is to create a double-opt-in flow, where you ask for permission twice to send WhatsApp communication.

This can easily be set up to be automated in charles Journeys , and permissions collected as tags.

We're GDPR experts in WhatsApp and can always advise you on how to comply. For now, see more about WhatsApp and GDPR here .

WhatsApp and Klaviyo in action: watch the WORMLAND x charles x Klaviyo DMEXCO masterclass

We're excited to see what WhatsApp and Klaviyo can do next

While email remains a powerful channel for consumer brands, many now want to add the closer, personal touch WhatsApp to their CRM strategies?

With the charles x Klaviyo WhatsApp x email partnership, this has become much easier.?

charles co-founder and co-CEO Andreas Tussing, says:

"The partnership with Klaviyo is hugely exciting for us and cements our place as European leaders in the WhatsApp marketing space."

"We now know that email and WhatsApp are far more powerful together than apart. We’re delighted to be able to enable our clients to build stronger, longer customer relationships, draw from additional data and enjoy more stable revenue generation – while Klaviyo clients gain WhatsApp as a new channel.

As always, it's our customers who remain at the heart of pioneering WhatsApp marketing.

We will be working closely with them to evolve the Klaviyo WhatsApp integration and will report back on new features and possibilities.?

Want to integrate WhatsApp with Klaviyo?

charles is an Official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider and Meta Partner that's ready to help you do this. Talk to us now to get started or ask questions about how it would work. We can also show you many more use cases of how Klaviyo and WhatsApp work together to generate more revenue.?