Otherland grows revenue from Klaviyo flows 157% in first quarter with Klaviyo SMS

Otherland sells smooth-burning candles with layered scents—like their Rattan candle’s blend of sandalwood, golden amber, and warm musk. Each one is crafted from a custom coconut and soy wax blend, and thoughtfully designed—co-founder Abigail Cook Stone started out as an art buyer for Ralph Lauren, and her eye for design shows in each candle’s chic glass tumbler.

Learn how Klaviyo SMS added value to Otherland’s thriving email marketing program

Challenge

Automation plays a central role in Otherland’s marketing strategy. “It just lifts such a weight off our shoulders as a small team,” says Otherland’s brand manager Jenna Catalon Songer.

But when Songer first started in her role, core email automations had aged into “legacy flow” status. They needed creative updates and optimization.

The welcome flow, in particular, “has the biggest impact on our business” of all flows, Songer says—and with a facelift, she thought it could lift all-up owned marketing revenue.

But what would a facelift entail, exactly?

Songer kept hearing from peers in the DTC and startup ecosystem that adding SMS to email automations could drive great results, but SMS was a channel Otherland hadn’t launched. Yet.

Solution

In 2022, Otherland started with Klaviyo SMS.

Using the same platform for email and SMS made it easy to build hybrid flows, and in the spring, they added a “sprinkle” of SMS to their welcome flow and a few others.

“The ability to use both email and SMS in our automations has been really key,” says Songer. “We can make sure our customer’s journey is exactly how we want it.”

The ability to use both email and SMS in our automations has been really key. We can make sure our customer’s journey is exactly how we want it.

The performance lift was immediate, too: Otherland’s revenue from Klaviyo flows jumped 157% QoQ in Q3 of 2022, their first quarter with SMS in flows.

Strategy

Since then, the brand has doubled down on SMS, branching out into SMS-only campaigns and automations.

As a lean team, they haven’t allocated budget to SMS list growth. They’ve relied on organic sign-ups, and their list remains modest.

”Our SMS strategy so far has been a very low-lift,” Songer says.

Still, having a channel where they can contact loyalists directly has paid off. Their SMS campaigns drive an “astounding” quantity of orders, Songer says—not far from the returns on some emails, which send to a 20x+ bigger list.

Plus, now Otherland can create segments that span both channels. Say they want to reach out to:

• The segment of subscribers who prefer fresh scents according to Otherland’s scent quiz, the results of which port straight to each respondent’s Klaviyo profile via the Octane AI integration
• The segment of subscribers who frequently click on emails about the Matchpoint candle, but have yet to buy it

Now, Songer can message dual subscribers in those segments, who subscribe to both email and SMS—and she can do it on the channel where they engage most.

“I love Klaviyo segmentation, and how you can filter on so many variables and conditions at once,” says Songer “I can find the exact segment of subscribers I’m looking for.”

I love Klaviyo segmentation, and how you can filter on so many variables and conditions at once. I can find the exact segment of subscribers I’m looking for.