The result? A potential 25% price hike that’s hitting tight budgets hard. But don’t panic – this isn’t the end of email marketing as you know it. With a clean email list, you can outsmart the hike and keep costs under control. Here’s how.
What the Klaviyo pricing update means for your business
Klaviyo’s recent pricing update has introduced a significant shift to its billing structure, leaving many e-commerce platforms scrambling to reevaluate their budgets.
The update affects Klaviyo’s pricing structure by now billing users based on the total number of active profiles in their Klaviyo account, rather than just the contacts actively engaged in email and SMS marketing campaigns. This change directly impacts small businesses and those relying heavily on personalized marketing campaigns, as the cost for maintaining large contact lists has risen dramatically.
For example, under the previous Klaviyo plans, a business grows on a paid plan at $400/month for 25,000 active profiles. Post-update, if that contact list isn’t optimized by cleaning inactive profiles, the monthly cost could jump by 25% to $500/month in the next billing cycle. For businesses using multiple marketing channels like SMS marketing services or running advanced segmentation with Klaviyo’s capabilities, this hike also increases the SMS costs if paired with a separate SMS plan or MMS campaigns.
While Klaviyo offers a free plan for beginners, this change reinforces the importance of maintaining a lean contact list to avoid unnecessary Klaviyo costs. Now more than ever, leveraging automation tools, cleaning inactive profiles, and investing in tools like AI-powered marketing tools can help effectively manage your digital marketing expenses and make the most of Klaviyo’s features.
In a nutshell
- What changed?
Klaviyo now bills based on total active profiles in your Klaviyo account, not just engaged contacts. - Who’s impacted?
Small businesses and brands with large contact lists or inconsistent customer engagement. - Pricing scenario:
Previous cost: $400/month for 25,000 active profiles.
New cost: $500/month (+25%) if your contact list isn’t optimized. - Why this matters:
Inactive profiles inflate Klaviyo costs, making personalized marketing campaigns and SMS messages more expensive. - Key affected features:
Email and SMS marketing campaigns.
Klaviyo reviews pricing and review requests. - Action to take now:
Clean your contact list to remove unengaged profiles.
Use automation tools like sunset flows to suppress inactive users. - Opportunities in the change:
Better data management through cleaned profiles.
Improved efficiency in marketing strategies and reduced waste in marketing channels.
The hidden costs of an unclean email list
An unclean email list isn’t just messy – it’s expensive.
With Klaviyo pricing plans now billing based on total number of contacts, holding onto inactive profiles is like tossing money out the window. Let’s break it down: if you have a 50,000-profile list and 30% of those are inactive, that’s 15,000 customer data entries you’re paying for unnecessarily.
At $2 per 1,000 profiles, that adds up to $300/month—or $3,600 a year—wasted on contacts who aren’t engaging with your email marketing platform or SMS campaigns.
But the costs don’t stop there. Dirty lists hurt your deliverability and sender reputation. When inactive profiles clog up your list, your advanced analytics show lower engagement rates, and email providers see your campaigns as spammy. That means fewer emails—and SMS and MMS campaigns—land in the inbox, leading to missed opportunities to share discount codes, gather display reviews, or boost conversions via sign-up forms.
Worse, an unclean list turns advanced tools like Klaviyo’s advanced reporting into just a data repository. The brilliance of integration capabilities and customer data platform features lies in their ability to target the right audience. Why waste those top-tier customer success managers or advanced tools on customer data that won’t convert?
The solution is simple: clean your list. By leveraging credit systems for email validation, refining Klaviyo branding through active segmentation, and ditching unengaged profiles, you’ll save big while optimizing your email support and SMS pricing. It’s time to stop paying for ghosts and start focusing on the subscribers who care. Let your email marketing platform and web forms work smarter, not harder. Now, that’s what makes Klaviyo worth the investment!
Why cleaning your list is your best defense
A bloated email list is like dragging dead weight – costly and counterproductive. Cleaning your list is not just a necessary step in optimizing Klaviyo pricing plans, but also a guaranteed way to save money and boost campaign performance.
Let’s look at the numbers.
ROI of List Cleaning
If your 50,000-profile list has 30% inactive profiles, that’s 15,000 contacts you’re paying for unnecessarily. At $2 per 1,000 profiles, you’re wasting $300 per month or $3,600 annually. By cleaning those inactive profiles, you instantly reduce your monthly cost and free up space for more engaged subscribers.
Example Calculation with Bouncer
Cleaning your list with Bouncer costs $1,250 for 500,000 email verifications. For a typical mid-tier Klaviyo plan, removing 30% of your inactive profiles saves $300 per month, which adds up to $3,600 annually. Subtract the Bouncer investment, and you’re still saving $2,350 annually while enjoying better deliverability and customer engagement.
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Another Scenario
For a smaller business with 25,000 profiles, cleaning 30% (7,500 profiles) saves $150 per month or $1,800 annually. With Bouncer’s cost at $250 for 50,000 verifications, you save $1,550 annually after investing in list cleaning.
Beyond the Cost Savings
Cleaning your list also boosts deliverability and sender reputation, ensuring your emails and SMS campaigns actually reach your customers. Better metrics mean higher engagement, more conversions from discount codes, and improved ROI from both email and SMS and MMS campaigns. List cleaning isn’t just a defense—it’s a power move for smarter marketing.
Step-by-step guide to cleaning your email list
An optimized and clean email list is your best weapon against rising costs and wasted resources. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to transform your bloated contact database into a lean, high-performing asset.
1. Segment inactive profiles
Start by identifying inactive profiles—contacts who haven’t opened, clicked, or purchased in over six months. Using tools like Klaviyo’s data analysis, you can segment these users based on their activity (or lack thereof). For instance:
- Profiles with zero text messages engagement.
- No responses to email campaigns or discount codes.
- Customers who haven’t interacted with your website.
This segmentation helps you isolate contacts who are likely dead weight, which contributes to unnecessary billing under Klaviyo pricing plans or even platforms like Constant Contact or Mailchimp pricing tiers.
2. Suppress or delete inactive contacts
Once you’ve identified inactive profiles, it’s time to take action. Use Klaviyo’s features to suppress these contacts, ensuring they’re no longer included in campaigns. Alternatively, delete invalid email addresses to permanently remove them from your pricing details.
- Example: Deleting 15,000 inactive profiles from a 50,000-profile list can save $300/month (based on $2 per 1,000 profiles).
Suppressing contacts is particularly useful if you’re unsure whether they’re completely disengaged and want to keep them for potential reactivation later.
3. Automate with sunset flows
Set up a sunset flow in Klaviyo to automatically suppress disengaged profiles after a defined period.
- Example: If a contact hasn’t opened an email or redeemed any sms credits or sms mms credits for 90 days, add them to a suppressed list.
Automation not only saves time but ensures your list remains clean over time without manual intervention.
4. Verify email addresses with Bouncer
Using tools like Bouncer allows you to validate email addresses, ensuring only deliverable addresses remain.
- Cost example: Verifying 50,000 emails costs $250 at $0.005/email.
- Savings example: Removing invalid contacts can avoid a $300/month increase in Klaviyo pricing plans.
This is particularly important for avoiding the wasted expense of sending text messages or emails to non-existent addresses.
Tools and tactics to maximize savings
1. Bouncer: Your email verification powerhouse
Why pay for ghosts? Bouncer helps you validate your email list, ensuring you’re only paying for contacts that actually exist and engage. Here’s how the pricing stacks up:
- $1,250 for 500,000 email verifications.
- $400 for 100,000 verifications (just $0.004/email).
The ROI?
Let’s say you verify 100,000 emails and clean up 30% of your list. This saves up to $2,400/year in Klaviyo overage costs. That’s a 6x return on your Bouncer investment while streamlining your campaigns for maximum impact.
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2. Proactive email hygiene: Stay ahead of the curve
Maintaining a clean list isn’t a one-time task—it’s an ongoing strategy. Adopt these tactics to keep your list lean and costs low:
- Quarterly reviews: Regularly analyze your email lists and identify inactive profiles. This ensures you’re not carrying dead weight into the next quarter’s campaigns.
- Automated suppression workflows: Use Klaviyo’s automation tools to set up sunset flows that automatically suppress disengaged users after a defined period. No more manual cleanups, just seamless hygiene.
3. Leverage advanced segmentation
Don’t treat your email list as a one-size-fits-all database. With advanced segmentation, you can target highly engaged users while excluding inactive ones. This reduces your costs while improving your campaign performance and engagement rates.
4. Reduce SMS and MMS campaign waste
Unverified phone numbers in SMS campaigns add unnecessary expenses. Before launching, validate mobile numbers alongside emails. This ensures your SMS credits go to the right recipients, maximizing the ROI of your text messages.
5. Use sign-up forms with double opt-ins
Prevent future list bloat by implementing double opt-ins for new subscribers. With double opt-in sign-up forms, you ensure only genuinely interested users join your list, reducing the likelihood of disengaged contacts.
How to turn the Klaviyo price hike into an opportunity
The recent Klaviyo pricing plans update may feel like a blow to your budget, but it’s also a chance to reevaluate and optimize your email strategy. One of the most impactful steps you can take is to embrace list hygiene. A clean list not only saves you money but also amplifies the performance of your email marketing campaigns.
Consider this: after removing inactive profiles, brands often see a 20% increase in engagement rates. This means more recipients opening emails, clicking links, and redeeming offers. Higher engagement translates to stronger deliverability, which improves your reputation with email providers and ensures your messages land where they belong—the inbox.
When paired with SMS campaigns or discount codes, these optimized efforts can drive tangible revenue growth.
Think of the price hike as a wake-up call to prioritize quality over quantity. By removing unengaged users, you’re not just cutting costs; you’re ensuring your marketing efforts focus on high-value contacts. Plus, a leaner list allows you to better leverage advanced analytics and segmentation tools, improving ROI across both email and SMS marketing campaigns.
Don’t let higher costs dictate your strategy—take control now. Invest in a tool like Bouncer to clean your list efficiently, avoid paying for disengaged contacts, and boost your results.
Use Bouncer to clean your list and save on email marketing before the price hike hits! This isn’t just damage control; it’s your chance to level up.
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FAQ
Is Klaviyo free to use?
Klaviyo offers a free plan for businesses with up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month. This plan is great for testing the platform’s basic features, but larger businesses will need to upgrade to a paid plan as their contact list and email needs grow.
Is Klaviyo worth the price?
For e-commerce businesses focused on personalized marketing campaigns and advanced analytics, Klaviyo is worth the investment. It offers robust features like automation tools, segmentation, and integrations with popular platforms. However, its value depends on how effectively you use its capabilities.
Is Klaviyo better than Mailchimp?
Klaviyo surpasses Mailchimp in advanced reporting, segmentation, and e-commerce integrations, making it ideal for businesses with sophisticated marketing needs. However, Mailchimp may be more cost-effective for smaller businesses with basic email marketing requirements.
What’s better than Klaviyo?
Alternatives like Constant Contact, GetResponse, and ActiveCampaign offer strong email marketing features. The best option depends on your business needs, budget, and preferred features.
Is Klaviyo good for a small business?
Klaviyo can be a good fit for small businesses focused on growth and detailed customer engagement. However, smaller budgets might find it expensive compared to alternatives.
Who competes with Klaviyo?
Major competitors include Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Drip, and Constant Contact. These platforms vary in features, pricing, and target audience.
Why is Klaviyo so popular?
Klaviyo is popular for its customer data platform capabilities, seamless e-commerce integrations, and advanced segmentation, making it a favorite for online retailers.
What is the best email marketing platform?
The best platform depends on your needs. Klaviyo is ideal for e-commerce, while Mailchimp is great for simplicity, and HubSpot excels in all-in-one marketing.
How many emails can Klaviyo send?
Klaviyo allows 10x the number of contacts in email sends per billing cycle. For example, a 25,000-contact plan includes 250,000 email sends.
Is Klaviyo easy to learn?
Klaviyo has a learning curve due to its robust features, but its user-friendly interface and extensive help resources make it accessible for most marketers.
