Get Started with Klaviyo SMS

Ready to get started with Klaviyo SMS? Get a jumpstart by confirming opt-in for your current customers. Read on to learn more.

If you have an active Klaviyo integration, then you can choose to also use the platform to send SMS marketing messages to those shoppers who have opted in to receive those messages.

Before you can get started with setting up this part of the integration, you will first need to:

Ensure you’ve enabled SMS in Klaviyo
Confirm you’ve activated their US sending number

Once you are live with SMS in Klaviyo, you can import your existing list of SMS subscribers from CommentSold. You will only need to complete this process once. Moving forward, Klaviyo will automatically confirm opt-in status for all subscribers.

Step 1: Create SMS List in Klaviyo

Select Audience in the side menu of your Klaviyo dashboard, then select List & segments.
Select Create List/Segment in the top-right corner of the page.
Select List.
On the Create List page, enter a name for your list in the Name field. We recommend SMS Subscribers.
Select Create List.

Step 2: Download Subscriber List in CommentSold

Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
Select More Integrations at the top of the page.
Locate the Klaviyo Customer SMS List section and select the list you just created in Klaviyo from the SMS List drop-down.
Select Save.
This will kick off an import process. Once it completes, select the Download this CSV link to download a list of current SMS subscribers in CommentSold.

**Important! If you are setting up Klaviyo SMS after 8/31/23, please read below:**

CommentSold will stop confirming opt-in for users who sign up for SMS notifications during registration after 8/31/23. Moving forward, Klaviyo will confirm opt-in by sending a confirmation text to the phone number the shopper provided. This is called double opt-in.

However, if you set up Klaviyo SMS after 8/31/23, then there will be a gap in this critical confirmation step. For example, if I set up Klaviyo SMS on 10/18/23, then all users who signed up for SMS notifications during registration between 8/31/23 and 10/18/23 would not have received a double opt-in confirmation text.

For this reason, you’ll want to select the checkbox beneath the SMS List drop-down to send a confirmation text to those new subscribers who signed up for SMS notification in the window of time after 8/31/23 and before you signed up for Klaviyo SMS (i.e., in our example before, 8/31/23-10/18/23).

If you do not select this checkbox, then you choose to decline this double opt-in step. As a result, you will be unable to send SMS messages to those users who signed up for SMS notifications after 8/31/23 and before you set up Klaviyo SMS.

Step 3: Upload Subscriber List in Klaviyo

Uploading your CommentSold SMS subscriber list to Klaviyo serves to confirm opt-in for those subscribers who opted into SMS prior to your enabling SMS for Klaviyo. If not done, you will not be able to send messages to any of those previously subscribed customers.

Select Audience in the side menu of your Klaviyo dashboard, then select List & segments.
Select the hyperlinked name of your SMS subscribers list.
Select Manage List in the top-right corner of the page, then select Import contacts.
Select Upload and then select your SMS subscriber CSV from your device.
On the mapping page, select the checkbox to the left of SMS Consent Timestamp.
In the SMS Consent Timestamp row, select SMS Consent Timestamp from the Klaviyo profile property drop-down.
Select Import.

Once you have uploaded your list of SMS subscribers from CommentSold, Klaviyo will verify those customers as “Subscribed.” This means you’ll be able to send SMS marketing messages those shoppers who opted into SMS prior to your enabling SMS for Klaviyo.

What Now?

Once you have set up Klaviyo SMS, Klaviyo will send a confirmation text to all new SMS subscribers to verify their opt-in and add them to your SMS subscriber list in Klaviyo. You will not need to repeat the steps outlined in this article.