A must-read guide for every email marketeer: whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been running campaigns for years. These best practices will help you avoid common mistakes and achieve stronger results with your email marketing efforts.

05: Not segmenting your audience (or not doing it enough)

Relevance drives engagement, and relevance starts with segmentation. Without it, even the best-crafted email will struggle to perform. Klaviyo allows endless segmentation possibilities, giving you the possibility to create targeted groups based on behaviours, preferences, and even predicted analytics. Effective segmentation ensures your campaigns reach the right people at the right time, so consider this your sign to stop sending in bulk to your entire list.

04: Overlooking design

In email marketing design is more than aesthetics: it’s about clarity, usability, and brand impact. A well-designed email follows the brand guides, but also focuses on the conversions. Ask yourself: is the main CTA prominent enough and is located above the fold? Moreover: always optimize for mobile and dark mode users and avoid sending image-only or text-only emails. And before you hit send, always check your email size to avoid clipping.

03: Skipping over account settings

Even with a user-friendly platform like Klaviyo, it’s easy to miss important details. Take time to customize your consent and preference pages to reflect your brand (you can find them under other → consent pages). Review important settings such as smart sending periods, conversion windows, and tracking options. Small adjustments here can make a big difference in overall performance.

02: Burying the main message in your subject line

Your subject line is what drives open rates, which affects both your deliverability and ROI. If it’s too long, the most important detail (like “15% off today”) might get cut off in inbox previews. That means subscribers won’t see the very thing that should capture their attention. Keep subject lines concise, put the key information in front, and make sure the value is clear at first glance.

01: Sending emails without permission

Consent isn’t optional, it’s both a legal requirement and the foundation of healthy email marketing. Always collect permission before sending marketing messages, and consider double opt-in to ensure compliance. Violating these rules damages deliverability, reputation, and can even result in penalties. Always check regulations (GDPR in Europe) and if you’re looking for an alternative solution, check out Dataships.io.