Default Klaviyo account settings include pre-configured welcome emails and abandonment sequences. These flows template your brand voice into generic messaging—and they're designed for average performance, not your margins or customer lifetime value. Your abandoned cart sequence should reflect your average order value, not someone else's. Every flow uses the same timing and product recommendations regardless of your actual customer behavior. Audit every default flow in your Klaviyo setup. Customize the copy, timing, and product recommendations to match your data. This is where most brands hemorrhage revenue.
Default Klaviyo account settings include pre-set configurations that may not match how your brand actually handles unsubscribes. If your Klaviyo setup lets unsubscribes remove contacts from every single list, you're burning bridges with customers who might have stayed on board for a less-frequent newsletter or different content topics. The fix is straightforward: configure your preference center so subscribers can dial back email frequency or pick specific topics before they click unsubscribe entirely. You're not just being customer-friendly—you're preserving re-engagement paths that cost you nothing to maintain.
7. Ignore Age Gating for Alcohol Brands
SMS compliance isn't optional for alcohol brands — it's the gate that unlocks an entire revenue channel. Klaviyo offers an Age Gating solution specifically built for alcohol merchants to enable compliant SMS marketing. Running SMS campaigns without age verification puts your brand at legal risk and gets your number flagged. The fix is straightforward: implement Klaviyo's Age Gating flow before launching any alcohol-brand SMS campaign. Without proper age verification in your Klaviyo setup, you're not just risking compliance — you're leaving an entire revenue stream locked behind a door you never opened.
8. Overlook SMS Compliance Settings
Your SMS compliance settings live in a completely different section than your email settings during Klaviyo setup — and most brands never find them until deliverability tanks. SMS deliverability isn't just about consent language. CAF (Common Short Codes) and 10DLC carrier registration directly impact whether your messages reach phones or get filtered by carriers. Your compliance checklist needs three non-negotiable items: carrier registration verification, explicit consent capture at checkout, and synchronized suppression lists between SMS and email. Without these, you're either getting flagged by carriers or texting people who never opted in. Build the checklist before you send one marketing SMS.
