Chapter 10: Get the Most from your Best Customers

Your best customers or VIPs should get special treatment and acknowledgment. Start by creating a VIP segment, which you’ll use when sending campaign emails and as a flow trigger for your VIP segment. Once the segment is set, build flows that are triggered when someone becomes a VIP. Once becoming a VIP a customer will receive email recognition and perhaps a special discount or reward.

You can also use you VIP segment for social media ad targeting (either the audience itself, or use it to create a lookalike audience, which is an additional bonus. See more on this here.

Setting Up Your VIP Segment

1. The Simple VIP Segment

Build a VIP segment based on customers who have purchased 5+ times or whose lifetime revenue are 5x AOV within a specific timeframe. The time frame is important here so you aren’t reaching out to inactive VIPs. Time frames will vary depending on your business.

2. The Advanced VIP Segment

Use Klaviyo’s predictive analytics to build your VIP segment/flow trigger

• Create a segment with all customers who placed at least 1 order

• Export segment offline with predicted CLV property

• Rank your customers by CLV and identify top 10% based on predicted CLV

• Create VIP Segment: CLV is at least X number determined from your spreadsheet (top 10%)

VIP Campaign Emails

Use your VIP segment when spending campaigns around product launches, seasonal sales, and other important events with messaging and/or bonuses/discounts for these top customers. VIPs are great for sending surveys about new product ideas and you could even give them the special opportunity to vote for the next new product.

Setting up VIP Flows

Your VIP flow will be triggered when someone is adding to your VIP segment (either the simple version or the predictive analytics version).

NOTE: Smart Sending is turned on for the emails in this example, but I would recommend turning it OFF for your VIP flow

Start with an email that thanks them for being a valued customer and welcomes them to this unique group of top customers.

Plain text emails from the CEO/Owner can be great for this because they feel more personalized.

The second email in this flow could be a discount, gift or other offer to show your appreciation and continue to build customer loyalty.

If you’re hesitant to send a discount to your VIPs, here are a few other ideas:

• Free shipping
• Buy one GIFT one (buy one item, send a discount to a friend)
• Referrals (discount or gift for referring someone new to your brand)
• Spend X amount, get Y amount off your next purchase

The Inactive VIP Flow

If a VIP has no activity for a long time (what a long time is will depend on your specific business), send them a check-in email. Ask if everything’s okay or if you can help them with something. Try to entice them back with a special offer, gift, or bonus. A great option for this is a plain text email from the founder.