The segments worth creating, and the ones wasting your time.
Most Klaviyo accounts build dozens of segments and actually send to only a handful. The question isn't how many you can build, it's which ones map to an email worth sending. Here are the segments that move revenue for ecommerce brands, and how to tell which ones your data actually supports.
Five segments do most of the work: engaged 90/180, recent vs. one-time buyers, high-value VIPs, lapsing-before-lapsed, and category affinity. Each maps to an email worth sending; a segment you never send to is clutter.
The segments that earn their place
Each one points to a specific email you should be sending. If one doesn't, cut it. Concentrating your volume on the engaged ones also protects your deliverability.
Engaged 90 / 180
Subscribers who opened or clicked recently. Your safest, highest-placing audience, and the one to send your extra volume to. The backbone of good deliverability.
Recent buyers vs. one-time buyers
Separating first purchasers from repeat customers unlocks post-purchase and replenishment sends that quietly compound into retention revenue.
High-value / VIP
Your top spenders by lifetime value. Worth their own cadence, early access, and a tone that treats them like the best customers they are.
Lapsing before lapsed
Customers cooling off but not gone. Reaching them before they go dark is far cheaper than a win-back after the fact.
Category or product affinity
Buyers of a specific category who are prime for the matching cross-sell. The difference between a generic blast and an email that feels picked for them.
Build fewer segments, and use every one
It's easy to build segments and hard to use them. The number that matters isn't how many you have, it's how many you send differentiated email to. Every segment should answer one question: what do I send these people that I wouldn't send everyone else? The ones that can't answer it aren't strategy, they're maintenance. Good segmentation is a short list you actually act on.
Which segments does your data support?
A best-practice list is a starting point, not an answer. The segments worth your time depend on your buyers, your catalog, and your history. The free Klaviyo audit reads your account and surfaces the segments your data actually supports that you're not using yet, each ranked by what it's worth, so segmentation becomes a revenue decision instead of a guessing game.
Is it safe to connect Klaviyo?
- Read-only. It can read your campaign and flow performance. It cannot send, edit, or delete anything in your account.
- No customer data stored. It works from your metrics, not your subscriber list. Names, emails, and phone numbers are never stored.
- Nothing ships without you. Built emails land as drafts for your review; nothing is pushed to Klaviyo on its own.
- Built by an operator. David Refaeli-Berman ran enterprise email at Chewy, Amazon, Overstock, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Questions
What segments should I create in Klaviyo?
Start with the few that map to a revenue action, not the dozens you could technically build. The core set for most ecommerce brands: an engaged segment (recent openers and clickers), recent buyers vs. one-time buyers, high-value or VIP customers, a lapsing-before-lapsed group, and category or product affinity. Each of those points to a specific email you should be sending. Segments you never send to are just clutter.
How many segments should I have?
Fewer than you think. The number that matters is how many segments you actually send differentiated email to. A handful of well-used segments beats forty that sit idle. Every segment should answer the question 'what do I send these people that I wouldn't send everyone else?' If it doesn't, it's not earning its place.
What's the difference between a segment and a list in Klaviyo?
A list is a static group people are added to (usually at signup). A segment is dynamic: it's a live definition (like 'opened in the last 90 days') that updates automatically as people qualify in and out. For targeting and deliverability, segments are what you want, because they always reflect current behavior.
How does EmailStrategist help with segments?
The free audit reads your Klaviyo data read-only and surfaces the segments your data supports that you're not using yet, ranked by what they're worth. Instead of a generic best-practice list, you get the specific segments that would move revenue for your store, each sized in dollars.
Stop guessing which segments matter.
A free audit shows the segments worth creating for your store, sized in dollars.
See my best segments free