To build an email flow in Klaviyo, go to Flows, click Create flow and start from the library or from scratch. Name it, pick a trigger, add email actions with time delays between them, then set the messages live. Draft messages send to nobody, so the status step is the one that matters most.
A flow, in Klaviyo's own words, is a sequence of automated actions triggered by a behaviour or event. You'll also hear them called automations or drip campaigns. Once one is built and live, it runs for every new person who meets the trigger, which is why a good welcome series pays you back for months.
Pick the trigger before you open the builder
Everything in a flow hangs off what sets it in motion. Klaviyo's available triggers are list, segment, metric, date property, item-drop and low inventory, depending on your account and the data you've connected. A list trigger suits a welcome series. A metric trigger, such as an event from your shop, suits abandoned cart and post-purchase emails.
If you're unsure where to begin, Klaviyo recommends setting these live first, in this order: welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase and winback. It also suggests separate email and SMS welcome flows, because each welcome flow can only be entered once.
Seven moves from blank canvas to live flow
1. Open the flow library
Go to Flows in the main navigation and click Create flow. The library opens, and you can filter it by keyword, ecommerce integration and channel: SMS, email or both.
2. Choose a template or start from scratch, and name it
Pick a library template or build from scratch, enter a flow name and select a trigger if you're prompted. Klaviyo advises clear naming because the number of flows adds up quickly. Something like Welcome, newsletter list, email beats Flow 3.
3. Refine the trigger and filters
Narrow the trigger, for example by choosing the exact list for a list-triggered flow, then add any trigger or profile filters. Klaviyo checks those filters when someone enters and again before each component, so a person who stops qualifying drops out.
4. Add your first email
Drag an email action from the sidebar onto the canvas, or use the plus button at a node, then set it up in the settings sidebar. Actions come in three types: messages, data and logic. Emails are message actions, the ones that send.
5. Put a time delay between messages
Drag in the time delay component between emails. Without one, back-to-back components all happen at the same moment, so your second email lands with your first. Delays can be set in minutes, hours or days, and a delay with a set time of day counts calendar days rather than 24-hour days. A time delay also needs a live or manual action straight after it to work.
6. Preview, test and set each message's status
Preview and test every email, then move it out of draft. Klaviyo uses three statuses:
| Status | What it does |
|---|---|
| Draft | The default. Nobody is scheduled to receive it. |
| Manual | Active, but each message waits for you to review and send it. |
| Live | Sends automatically to everyone who reaches it. |
7. Turn the whole flow on
Click Review and turn on or Update status, select Live, keep Update status now selected and click Save. That last part is the step people skip.
Why a flow marked Live can still sit silent
Klaviyo's Help Center is specific here: selecting the Live status alone doesn't turn the configured actions on. You have to keep Update status now selected and click Save. There's a second trap. If you later switch a message from manual to live, anything already waiting in Needs Review stays there until you send it by hand. So check that queue whenever you change a status.
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Adding branches and personal details
Logic actions include multi-branch splits that route people down up to 20 paths based on conditions you set, which is handy once your basic series works. Event variables, such as the product someone left in their cart, only work in metric-triggered flows and need an integration installed. List, segment and date property flows have no event data to pull from, so stick to profile details there.
Other platforms that run email automations
Mailchimp's marketing automation page describes email and SMS automations for follow-ups, reminders and offers. Brevo's describes a drag-and-drop workflow editor with smart triggers across email and SMS. If you're still choosing, my head-to-head of Klaviyo and Mailchimp and my notes on a Klaviyo marketing strategy for small shops will help you decide.
The one bit of advice I'd give a first-time flow builder
Build the welcome series first, keep it to two or three emails with real delays between them, and don't trust the canvas until you've clicked Save with Update status now selected. Then join your own list as a test subscriber and watch the emails arrive. If they don't, the status is almost always the reason. My full review of Klaviyo covers where it fits a small business.
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Frequently asked questions
What can trigger a Klaviyo flow?
A list, segment, metric, date property, item-drop or low inventory, depending on your account and connected data.
Why is nobody receiving my flow emails?
Check the message status. Draft messages are skipped and manual ones wait for you to review and send them. Only live messages send automatically.
Do I need an integration to build a flow?
No. Even without a connected ecommerce store you still get a standard welcome series flow that triggers when new subscribers join a list. Event data in messages does need an integration.
How long should the delay between emails be?
Klaviyo's example is a delay of 24 hours or longer between the first and second welcome email. Delays can be minutes, hours or days.
How many paths can a split have?
Multi-branch splits route a flow into up to 20 paths based on conditions you set.
