Ecommerce messaging channels change with the way consumers and businesses interact online. And individual consumers have their own messaging tastes and preferences. Some like email. Others appreciate SMS. And then there’s WhatsApp: one of the most widely used direct messaging channels, globally.

We asked several of messaging subject matter experts what they think the next big thing is when it comes to ecommerce communication strategies.

Orsi Szentes - GoodKarma Agency

Hi Orsi! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name’s Orsi Szentes, and I’m cofounder of GoodKarma, the agency that builds and grows future-proof brands.

We mostly work with brands in the fashion, beauty, lifestyle and FMCG sectors. What makes us different from other agencies is the ability to walk the fine line between optimising for brand experience and performance, something that’s essential for our types of clients. 

My background is growth hacking, with a specialty in ecommerce and email marketing. 

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

What makes these strategies so effective is the opportunity to build a closer relationship and more emotional bond with the customer. 

Unless you are literally having a phone call with them, nothing will feel more personal than reaching them where they also talk to friends and family.

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?

I hope it doesn’t get abused too much and loses its potential. I think channels like WhatsApp or Messenger can be an integral part of a brand’s communication strategy, but it’s not for every brand and not for every consumer.

The best brands will understand their customers enough to know if it’s right for them. The most important thing is to offer value to the consumers - like on all channels - but especially on these more private ones. 

You have to earn their trust to connect with them, so don’t abuse it by spamming them with irrelevant messages.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

Stieglitz! Building a one-on-one relationship with their customers is very important to Stieglitz, since they are a very personal brand at their core. 

They were curious to find out if a channel like Messenger or WhatsApp could be a viable solution to them alongside email marketing. 

I helped set up both their Klaviyo and WhatsApp marketing setups. This hybrid approach has been working wonders for them, so far!

Omar Lovert - Polaris Growth

Hi Omar! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name is Omar Lovert, I’m the owner of Polaris Growth. We help ecommerce businesses that want to win the ecommerce game on quality and value.

We create growth levers using email marketing / marketing automation and conversion rate optimization (CRO) to increase the impact we’re making. This creates a compound interest!

For those brands that are mature enough we help them with Customer Value optimization (CVO). This is a collaboration where we optimise the funnel and improve both the value of the customers (CLV) but more importantly the value for the customers. Acquiring, onboarding and retaining better, happier customers in the long end.

As for myself, I’ve been in web development since 1998, in email since 2008 (even had my own ESP back then), did a lot of CRO after this and have been turning Klaviyo inside out since 2017. I’ve even been called the Klaviyo OG of the Netherlands :-)

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

Other than having direct live in-person conversations with your customers, these channels (email / SMS / WhatsApp) are the closest you’ll get at directly communicating with your customers. This makes them insanely direct channels.

Even though these 3 channels all have their own use cases, they’re one of the most direct paths to your customers.

Combining this with the right data, correct segmentations and the right triggers allows you to be extremely relevant so you can have personal communication with your customers at scale. Right messages to the right people at the right moments through the right channel.

One thing to keep in mind is that unlike email, SMS and WhatsApp have costs, so that’s something to keep in mind when you want to use these channels.

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years? 

My worst nightmare is that we might need WhatsApp spam blockers in the future, where in the wrong hands this turns into people getting bombarded with ads and promos. Which apparently is already happening in parts of the world.

But for the ones that do adhere to good communication practices, I see this as a big opportunity to be extra relevant to your customers. By thinking of ways to make it easier for your (potential) customers to accomplish something i.e. getting an alert when a product you’ve liked goes on sale or for direct communication to keep them up to date on order updates.

WhatsApp, in a way, is even more conversational than SMS and email so there is a big opportunity to get creative here.

Lastly, as I mention below the cost for marketing is rising so having direct communication paths to your own customers and audience is extremely valuable and will allow you to directly reach out to the right people. This reduces costs.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

Besides the standard setups, abandoned carts, browse abandonment, back in stock and welcome flows etc I think our favourite flows are workflows where we combined multiple tools together. Think Zapier, Calendly and Typeform to automate the work of our customer and at the same time provide a better, faster service to their customers.

But to be honest, the workflows we create follow a strategy. Workflows are a way to accomplish something you’ve set as a goal, so I’d prefer to instead share the most important strategy we’re implementing for our customers that want to win on quality and value: Customer Value Optimization (CVO).

Since advertising is becoming more expensive each cycle, competition keeps increasing, spending habits change constantly, it’s now, more than ever, important to focus on getting more “best” customers, customers that have the best lifetime value for your business, making sure they get the right experience and retaining them.

So our favourite approach is doing the research to get in-depth knowledge about our client’s “best” customers so we can add the right messaging & automations in order for our customers to be extremely relevant to their customer needs.

Increasing the value for your customers will in turn increase the value of your customers.

Rammin Azampanah - Freelance Email Marketing Expert

Hi Rammin! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name is Rammin, an Amsterdam-based freelance Klaviyo expert. Over the past few years, I’ve helped brands grow - mainly with implementing email marketing strategies. I do completely new set-ups or the optimization of existing ones. I’ve been building and testing enough to know what might work and why. 

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

Essentially, it’s all about delivering a good experience throughout the whole journey. And email happens to be perfect for that. 

Whether it’s a new subscriber needing an extra push towards that first conversion, a customer with a delayed order, or a superfan you simply want to thank. A perfectly timed, personalised message always works. 

And besides that, acquiring new customers will probably never get cheaper, and the first conversion will probably never be profitable. So you better put some effort into delivering that good experience to everybody who crosses your path. 

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?

WhatsApp has billions of users and is therefore very hard to ignore. 

Whether it’s notifying your VIPs about new drops or promotions, or helping out with a specific order. Frictionless and smooth experiences always win. 

But it’s very important to handle your WhatsApp opt-ins with care. They can be perceived as intrusive; so it’s crucial to manage expectations about what you’re sending and when you’re sending it. I guess nobody likes an abandoned cart text on a Friday night. 

But then again, just test what works ;)

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

Like mentioned earlier, the first conversion probably isn’t profitable. That’s why it’s crucial to drive repeat orders in the first couple of months. 

You can do that by hyperfocusing on the post-purchase experience.

If your perceived value, volume or margins are high enough you can try SKU-specific post-purchase flows with education, surveys and cross-/ upsell opportunities. 

Also, try adding more touchpoints to collect data and use that to be more relevant in the future. 

But of course, in the end, it’s all about understanding your customers and what problems they’re trying to solve. Deep-dive into your (RFM) segments, try talking your best and lapsing customers and see what you can learn from them.

Milica (Mili) Paligoric - Underground Ecom

Hi Milica! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name’s Milica Paligoric, and I’m an ecommerce email marketing consultant, specialising in key account management, strategic email marketing consultancy, customer journey development, engagement & brand development, and finding new revenue opportunities. 

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

With a growing uncertainty in the business environment, email has survived it all and is here to stay. It is a stable channel that allows direct and willingful communication with a subscriber (contrary to Facebook and Instagram ads). 

Also, powerful tools like Klaviyo allow hyper-personalization that is improving as the technology improves. 

Email, SMS & WhatsApp can be extremely powerful if used in the right way and the strategy set fits the brand. It takes time to execute a full setup for these, but once done - the complete setup can work the magic. 

Alternatively, if not set up right, brands can miss out on a huge opportunity in making a profit from these channels. 

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?

I can expect new features that are going to improve and bring WhatsApp marketing to higher conversions, but I don’t see it becoming a number 1 channel in ecommerce nor becoming close to being one. 

WhatsApp, like SMS, will always have a loyal subscriber base that is going to have good conversion rates. And with more features I expect conversion rates will improve even more. 

I see it as a channel that is (going to be) a great addition to the ecommerce marketing mix, even a necessity, like SMS is right now.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

Any personalised Klaviyo workflow I’d consider a favourite. 

For example: post-purchase specific email series or browse abandonment specific email series. These ‘specific’ series give us the opportunity to explain the products more in depth and get more personal with our audience. 

For pre-purchase journeys, personalised flows give us a chance to really personalise that offer (good for the margins) and possibly be more direct in product description - rather than generalising the communication, especially interesting for high ticket products.

For post-purchase journeys, personalised flows are great if there is something specific about your product that you are selling, for example - they might need instructions.

SMS flows - event specific flows are a must for key ecommerce events. Get creative with pop ups and journeys, especially on those days when you drive more traffic on site.

Hugo Nicole - Freelance Email Marketing Expert

Hi Hugo! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

I’m Hugo, a 32 year old French guy and expert in email marketing for ecommerce brands.

I’ve been working in marketing and business development for 8 years now, and I’ve been freelancing as an email marketing specialist for about 2 years.

I spend most of my days reading articles about email marketing and auditing Klaviyo accounts to understand what makes a good email strategy and how to improve what’s already set up in my client’s account.

I've helped dozens of brands improve their deliverability, increase their turnover and develop their brand awareness with email marketing.

I know email marketing is an incredible channel for both acquisition and retention and I am dedicated to helping brands make the most of it!

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

Email / SMS / WhatsApp are incredible ways to reach out to your target and maintain close relationships with them without depending on any algorithm.

You own your audience 100% and you can message them as much as you want at unbeatable cost compared to paid ads.

This is almost like free advertising for your business.

As long as you maintain a healthy way to communicate with your audience, you can reach out to them as much as you want, about whatever topic you want. No one will filter you!

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?

If WhatsApp marketing follows the SMS trend, this is going to become big and an important priority for brands.

There will be an important challenge for brands to send quality content over those channels if they want to succeed, but there is incredible potential for revenue there.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

I love the winback flow because it’s basically pure conversion when you succeed to convince an old customer to come back to your brand.

It’s basically like seducing your ex 😂

Jesse Kroon - Ecommerce Accelerator

Hi Jesse! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name is Jesse Kroon, I’m the co-founder of Ecommerce Accelerator. We help Shopify stores increase revenue and customer retention via Klaviyo.

In the past 3,5 years we have set up dozens of customer journeys via email automation for a diverse portfolio of ecommerce brands, ranging from supplements to fashion, jewellery, electronics, sportswear and more. 

This includes the technical setup and the entire communication / messaging strategy.

We also have a Klaviyo online coaching program for Shopify stores in which we teach them how to set up the most important Klaviyo email flows and how to communicate efficiently and effectively during each step in the customer journey. 

Via this program, we enable founders and in house marketers to use the knowledge they have about their customers and market to create a well balanced customer journey via email.

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

Let’s start with email…

First of all, advertising costs are rising and the cost of acquiring new customers keeps increasing. For most ecommerce brands, it’s not uncommon that around 98% of people leave their online store without buying. 

But these people can still convert at a later point in time–maybe they just need more touch points with your brand before they decide to buy. Using ads to create those touch points is expensive, increases cost of acquisition and reduces your profit margins.

By capturing these people on your email list before they leave your store, you now have a much more cost-efficient way to create touch points with these people to convert them into a paying customer.

Secondly, by convincing your customers to come back and buy again via email as well, you can grow your revenue and profits from the customers you already have without having to spend money on ads, which makes repeat purchases more profitable for the business.

Third, by using shopping data from your ecommerce platform, it’s very easy to create a personalised experience for each lead and customer via email, boosting engagement such as email open/click/order rates significantly.

The great thing is, you can automate all of this using Klaviyo flows. You can basically set up a system that converts traffic into leads, leads into first-time buyers, and first-time buyers into loyal customers that keep coming back. 

This system runs in the background, 24/7, 365 days a year, and can handle scale with ease. And by focussing on creating a pleasant customer experience for your users, they will actually look forward to opening your emails.

Now for SMS and WhatsApp…

Just like with email they are cost-efficient channels and a direct line of communication with your leads and customers, which is great. WhatsApp is where people hang out naturally during their day for at least 15 to 30 minutes when they communicate with friends and family, so it’s a valuable place to be as a brand.

SMS and WhatsApp are a great way for your customers to stay up to date on what’s happening around your brand. It’s especially valuable for info that’s time sensitive, like back in stock notifications, or info that you really don’t want to mis, like new drops or special deals.

Besides that, both channels are a great way to extend the relationship that you have already built with your existing customers, especially if you manage to find the right frequency and balance between promotional and information based messages.

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?  

I think WhatsApp will definitely become an important channel for updates/notifications that customers want to make sure they don’t miss. 

For example, back in stock notifications for products that they want to order, info on upcoming drops/deals and order tracking/delivery updates. I think Whatsapp will also become an important channel for customer support and generating reviews and user generated content.

Besides that, I think personalised product recommendations based on previous purchase/browse behaviour will become more popular, with the option to purchase directly via the chat.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

A post-purchase bounce back email flow that we implemented for a supplement brand, which converted 18,3% of new customers into repeat customers within 2 hours after their initial purchase. Completely automated.

This was a great win for the brand, increasing customer lifetime value extremely fast, but also for the customer because the offer we made in the email flow increased the value they got out of their initial purchase. Win-win!

Ivana Radojevic - Stream Commerce

Hi Ivana! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

My name is Ivana Radojevic, and I have been in the ecommerce space for 8 years now and have worked with hundreds of Shopify merchants in North America, Europe, and Australia, ranging from small mom-and-pop shops to enterprise level Shopify Plus merchants.

I am a big believer in building long-lasting relationships with customers through email and SMS; sending content and messages that are relevant to them and will deepen the customer x brand relationship rather than blasting everyone with the same message and seeing who bites.

For me, email / SMS marketing lies at the intersection of strategy and creativity. I get to flex my creative muscles in thinking of engaging copy and content to send to customers, but also take the 30,000 feet view to see how email / SMS fits into the broader sales and marketing strategy of a brand.

And don’t get me started on the incredible amount of data you can interpret from platforms like Klaviyo – this is a marketer’s dream! 

I always say that, in ecommerce, there is no guessing. Your data will tell the story. It will tell you what works and what doesn’t. That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

I can’t speak to WhatsApp marketing; however, email and SMS are incredibly powerful tools to leverage when communicating with customers. 

SMS arguably even more than email because it’s a more intimate way to communicate with your customers. You’re quite literally sliding into their DMs.

In my opinion, brands that AREN’T using email and SMS are missing a big opportunity to build deeper relationships with their customers, not to mention that they’re leaving money on the table.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not just about making money.

Yes, as a business you want to increase your bottom line.

But it also feels really, really good to get a reply from a customer who had a great experience while purchasing from your brand and wanted to let you know, just because.

That’s the power of email / SMS.

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?  

I don’t currently use WhatsApp marketing, but would be interested in seeing how it develops in the future, if the recent success of SMS is of any indication.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

Oh boy, this is a loaded question. Are we supposed to play favourites? 

I would say that I have the most fun creating welcome flows because this is such a crucial first impression for a brand. It’s really important to get this flow right. The welcome flow also typically generates some of the highest revenue out of any flow. 

The sunset flow (or “breakup flow” as it’s also commonly referred to) is another favourite of mine. Brands can have a lot of fun with this one: 

1. Because it helps brands keep a nice, clean list of engaged profiles, which helps with deliverability, and… 

2. Because you can have some fun with the copy and content. Have you ever been broken up with by a brand? I have. And it stung. I ended up re-subscribing.
   
   

From an SMS standpoint, I’m a sucker for a Happy Birthday message (who doesn’t want to feel special and remembered on their birthday?), and back in stock or price drop notifications. These types of messages tend to perform really well.

Luc de Bruin - Freelance Email Marketing Expert

Hi Luc! Who are you and what makes you an ecommerce messaging expert?

I’m Luc de Bruin, and I work as a Klaviyo freelancer. I’ve helped brands manage, set up and scale their retention programs. 

 I don’t think the retention set up has to be super complex to have a well functioning one.

But as a bare minimum it has to be well thought-out, well managed and part of the whole strategy (so yes, also in-line with acquisition). This often comes with a bit of a mindset shift, loads of testing and some hard work ;)

What makes email / SMS / WhatsApp marketing such powerful ecommerce marketing strategies?

It’s a form of permission marketing where the user/person gives permission to send them personalised messages in their personal space.

How do you see WhatsApp marketing for ecommerce evolving in the coming years?

Driving conversations with brands in a semi-automatic way. It will help with more personalised communication and will give brands more ‘feel’. It differs from customer support as people expect promotional offers from brands they’ve signed up for.

Do you have a personal favourite Klaviyo / SMS / WhatsApp setup you did this year? Any favourite workflows?

One of the absolute best things some brands can do is to work with a quiz flow. (not for all brands though) The amount of data you receive and can personalise with is just astonishing to me.

Next to that I see so many brands not extracting all of the value out of the pre-purchase phase, they miss critical flows such as site-, browse-, cart-, and checkout abandonment flows.

Need help with your Klaviyo, WhatsApp or SMS marketing? 

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