How to Reduce Unsubscribes with Klaviyo: Retention Tactics That Work

Growing your email list is only half the battle—the real challenge is keeping subscribers engaged so they don’t hit unsubscribe. High unsubscribe rates not only shrink your list but also hurt your email deliverability, reduce engagement, and weaken your revenue potential.

So why do people unsubscribe? The most common reasons include:

• Too many emails – Subscribers feel overwhelmed or spammed.
• Irrelevant content – They’re getting messages that don’t match their interests or buying behaviour.
• Lack of value – If emails aren’t helpful, engaging, or exclusive, subscribers won’t stick around.

But here’s the good news: Unsubscribes aren’t random—they’re preventable.

This is where Klaviyo’s advanced automation, segmentation, and AI-powered tools come in. Unlike other email platforms, Klaviyo gives you the ability to:

✔ Personalise every email with dynamic content and product recommendations.
✔ Send the right message at the right time using behaviour-based automation.
✔ Optimise email frequency so you’re not sending too many (or too few) emails.
✔ Re-engage inactive subscribers before they leave for good.

By leveraging these strategies, you can reduce unsubscribes, improve retention, and keep your email list full of engaged, high-value customers.

One of the biggest reasons subscribers hit the unsubscribe button is irrelevant content. Nobody wants to receive generic, one-size-fits-all email blasts. If a subscriber feels like an email isn’t meant for them, they’re more likely to disengage—or worse, opt out altogether.

📌 The Problem:

• Sending the same email to your entire list leads to low engagement and high unsubscribe rates.
• Customers have different levels of interest, purchasing behaviour, and engagement, yet many brands treat them the same.

📌 The Solution:

Klaviyo’s segmentation and personalisation tools ensure that every email feels tailored to the recipient. With dynamic content, conditional logic, and AI-driven recommendations, you can deliver hyper-relevant emails that keep subscribers engaged instead of unsubscribing.

Use Conditional Blocks: Show Different Content Based on Customer Type

Klaviyo’s Conditional Blocks allow you to create one email that dynamically adjusts content based on the recipient’s status, purchase history, or engagement level.

🔹 Example Use Cases:

• VIP Customers → Show an exclusive loyalty reward.
• First-Time Buyers → Introduce your brand with an educational email.
• Repeat Customers → Display related product recommendations based on past purchases.
• Inactive Subscribers → Offer a special re-engagement incentive.

✅ How to Set Up Conditional Blocks in Klaviyo:

1. When designing an email, add a Conditional Block.
2. Choose a rule (e.g., “Show this content only if the subscriber is a VIP”).
3. Add different blocks for different customer types.

This ensures each subscriber gets content that’s actually relevant to them—instead of a generic blast.

Behaviour-Based Targeting: Send Emails Based on User Actions

Klaviyo allows you to segment subscribers based on their real-time behaviour, ensuring they receive emails at the right moment.

🔹 Key Behaviour Triggers You Can Use:

• Purchase History: Reward frequent buyers with loyalty perks, while nudging new customers toward their first sale.
• Product Views: If a subscriber browsed a product but didn’t buy, follow up with a reminder or an incentive.
• Email Engagement Levels: Increase frequency for engaged subscribers while scaling back for inactive ones.

📌 Example:

• A customer viewed a skincare product but didn’t buy → Klaviyo sends a “Still Thinking About It?” email with a review or limited-time discount.
• A user hasn’t opened emails in 60 days → Move them to a re-engagement flow instead of regular campaigns.

AI-Powered Product Recommendations: Keep Emails Hyper-Relevant

Instead of guessing what subscribers want, Klaviyo’s AI-driven recommendations suggest products based on what similar customers have bought.

🔹 Ways to Use AI Product Recommendations:

• In post-purchase emails, suggest related items.
• In abandoned cart emails, remind users of what they left behind.
• In browse abandonment emails, showcase products they recently viewed.

📌 Example:

• A subscriber buys a coffee machine → The next email features filters, mugs, and coffee beans they might need.
• A customer hasn’t purchased in 3 months → The email highlights best-selling items in their past categories of interest.

Real-World Example of Effective Personalisation

🚀 Example:
Imagine you run an online beauty store. Instead of sending the same promotional email to every subscriber, you can use Klaviyo’s segmentation to personalise content:

✅ Scenario 1 – VIP Customer:
💌 Email Subject: “You’re a VIP! Here’s an exclusive reward just for you”.
📩 Content: 15% off next purchase + early access to new arrivals.

✅ Scenario 2 – First-Time Buyer:
💌 Email Subject: “Welcome! Here’s How to Get the Most Out of Your Purchase”.
📩 Content: A product usage guide + a follow-up discount for their next order.

✅ Scenario 3 – Browsed but Didn’t Buy:
💌 Email Subject: “Still Thinking About It? Here’s Why Our Customers Love This Product”.
📩 Content: Customer reviews + limited-time discount.

The more relevant and personalised your emails are, the more subscribers will stay engaged—instead of unsubscribing.

By leveraging Klaviyo’s dynamic segmentation, behaviour-based targeting, and AI-powered recommendations, you can ensure every subscriber receives content that matches their interests.

Next up, we’ll talk about how to optimise email frequency to avoid overwhelming subscribers.

📩 Continue reading: [Email Frequency Management – Find the Right Balance]

How a Klaviyo Specialist Helps You Scale Subscriber Growth & Retention

• Design and optimise signup forms with the right timing, messaging, and A/B testing
• Build automated welcome flows that nurture new subscribers into loyal customers
• Implement smart segmentation strategies that improve engagement and reduce churn
• Set up re-engagement flows to bring inactive subscribers back into the fold
• Ensure best practices for deliverability, list hygiene, and compliance

With a specialist managing list growth and retention, businesses can stop worrying about high unsubscribe rates or low engagement—and start converting more leads into repeat customers.

One of the biggest mistakes brands make with email marketing is not knowing how often to send emails.

If you send too many emails, subscribers feel overwhelmed and hit unsubscribe.
If you send too few emails, subscribers forget about you, and engagement drops.

So how do you find the sweet spot?

This is where Klaviyo’s Smart Sending & AI-powered Send Time Optimisation come in. These tools help ensure each subscriber gets the right number of emails—at the right time—without feeling spammed.

The Problem

🔹 Too many emails = Annoyed subscribers → Increased unsubscribes
🔹 Too few emails = Lost engagement → Fewer conversions
🔹 Sending emails at the wrong time = Lower open rates → Wasted opportunities

Many brands manually guess their email frequency, but Klaviyo allows you to automate and optimise this process for better engagement and retention.

The Solution: Klaviyo’s Smart Sending & Send Time Optimisation

Klaviyo has built-in frequency management tools that take the guesswork out of how often to send emails.

✅ 1. Enable Klaviyo’s Smart Sending to Prevent Over-Emailing

Smart Sending is one of Klaviyo’s most powerful retention features. It automatically prevents subscribers from receiving too many emails in a short period.

📌 How it works:

• If a subscriber has recently received an email, Klaviyo pauses additional emails within a set time frame.
• You can adjust this time frame (e.g., 16 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours) to match your strategy.
• Prevents multiple emails stacking up (e.g., promotional + automated flow emails hitting the inbox back-to-back).

✅ Example:

• A subscriber gets an abandoned cart email today → Klaviyo ensures they don’t get a promo email that same day.
• A weekly newsletter is scheduled → Klaviyo pauses any other automated emails for 24 hours so subscribers don’t feel spammed.

🔹 How to Enable Smart Sending in Klaviyo:

1. Go to your Campaign or Flow Settings.
2. Toggle Smart Sending ON.
3. Set the time limit (e.g., 24 hours) to control how frequently emails are sent.

💡 Why this works:

• Prevents excessive emails → reduces unsubscribes.
• Ensures emails don’t compete with each other → improves engagement.

Use Contact Frequency Segmentation for a Custom Email Schedule

Not all subscribers should receive emails at the same frequency. Engaged users want more, while inactive users need fewer emails.

🔹 Best practice: Segment subscribers based on their engagement levels:

📌 How to Segment Email Frequency in Klaviyo:

• Highly Engaged Subscribers (Opened 3+ emails in the last 30 days) → Send 2-3 emails per week.
• Moderately Engaged Subscribers (Opened 1 email in the last 60 days) → Send 1 email per week.
• Low-Engagement Subscribers (No opens in 60-90+ days) → Send only once per month or move to a re-engagement flow.

✅ Example:

• A high-value customer receives weekly product updates & VIP offers.
• A low-engagement subscriber receives only a monthly digest to avoid unsubscribes.

🔹 How to Set This Up in Klaviyo:

1. Go to Lists & Segments.
2. Create a segment based on open rates, click rates, and purchase history.
3. Adjust email frequency for each segment accordingly.

💡 Why this works:

• Keeps engaged subscribers active without overloading them.
• Prevents inactive users from unsubscribing due to excessive emails.

Use Klaviyo’s AI-Powered Send Time Optimisation

Klaviyo’s Send Time Optimisation uses machine learning to identify the best time to send emails to each subscriber.

📌 How it works:

• Klaviyo analyzes each subscriber’s past open behavior.
• It automatically sends emails at the exact time they are most likely to open them.
• This increases open rates and engagement without requiring manual testing.

✅ Example:

• If a subscriber usually opens emails at 8 AM, Klaviyo sends future emails at that time.
• If another subscriber engages at 6 PM, Klaviyo adjusts their emails accordingly.

🔹 How to Enable Send Time Optimisation in Klaviyo:

1. When setting up an email campaign, choose Send Time Optimisation.
2. Klaviyo will automatically select the best send time per recipient.

💡 Why this works:

• Improves open rates → Subscribers get emails when they’re most active.
• Reduces unsubscribes → Emails feel less intrusive when received at the right time.

Real-World Example of Frequency Optimisation

Example:
Imagine you run an online fitness store. Here’s how you can personalise email frequency to different subscribers:

✅ Scenario 1 – Highly Engaged Customer:
🔹 Email Frequency: 2-3x per week
💌 Email Subject: “Your Exclusive VIP Deal – 20% Off Protein Powder!”
📩 Content: Early access to new product launches & loyalty rewards.

✅ Scenario 2 – Moderately Engaged Customer:
🔹 Email Frequency: 1x per week
💌 Email Subject: “Find the Best Supplements for Your Fitness Goals”
📩 Content: Educational guide with product recommendations.

✅ Scenario 3 – Low-Engagement Customer:
🔹 Email Frequency: 1x per month
💌 Email Subject: “We Miss You! Here’s 10% Off to Get Back on Track”
📩 Content: Win-back email with a limited-time discount.

Finding the right email frequency is essential to reducing unsubscribes and increasing engagement.

By using Klaviyo’s Smart Sending, AI-powered Send Time Optimisation, and engagement-based segmentation, you can ensure that every subscriber receives emails at the perfect frequency—without feeling overwhelmed.

Not every subscriber officially unsubscribes when they lose interest in your emails. Many simply stop opening or clicking, which can be just as damaging.

Inactive subscribers lower your open rates, signal poor engagement to email providers, and hurt your deliverability—meaning your emails may start landing in spam even for engaged subscribers.

The good news? Many disengaged subscribers can be won back—if you reach them with the right strategy before they disappear for good.

The Problem

🔹 Many subscribers fade into inactivity instead of unsubscribing.
🔹 A shrinking open rate hurts email deliverability & sender reputation.
🔹 Without intervention, these subscribers are lost forever.

📌 The Solution: Re-Engage Inactive Users with Klaviyo’s Win-Back Flow

How to Set Up a Re-Engagement Flow in Klaviyo

Step 2: Send a “We Miss You” Email with a Compelling Offer

Step 3: If No Engagement → Reduce Email Frequency OR Remove Subscriber

Final Thoughts: Save Subscribers Before It’s Too Late

Improve Email Deliverability & List Hygiene

The Problem: Poor Email Hygiene Leads to Low Open Rates & More Spam Complaints

When an email list isn’t regularly cleaned, businesses run into these issues:

🔹 Low open rates → Email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) assume your content isn’t valuable, pushing your emails to the spam folder.
🔹 High spam complaints → Too many unwanted emails = Higher chances of being marked as spam.
🔹 Damaged sender reputation → Poor email engagement signals hurt future deliverability (making it harder for your emails to reach engaged subscribers).

Solution? Keep your list healthy and engaged using Klaviyo’s list cleaning & suppression tools.

📌 The Solution: Klaviyo’s List Cleaning & Suppression Features

Klaviyo makes it easy to maintain a high-performing email list with built-in tools that remove inactive subscribers, prevent spam complaints, and improve email deliverability.

✅ How to Keep Your List Healthy in Klaviyo

1️⃣ Regularly Remove Unengaged Subscribers

📌 Why?
Inactive subscribers drag down your email engagement rates and increase the chances of emails being flagged as spam.

📌 How to Identify Unengaged Subscribers in Klaviyo:

• Haven’t opened any email in the last 90+ days.
• Haven’t clicked any email links in the last 120+ days.
• Have received multiple emails but never engaged.

✅ How to Clean Your List in Klaviyo:

1. Create a segment of disengaged subscribers:
   
   • Go to Lists & Segments → Create Segment
   • Define conditions:
     
     • “Received at least 5 emails in the last 90 days”
     • AND “Has not opened or clicked an email in the last 90 days”
2. Suppress or delete inactive users:
   
   • If they haven’t engaged in 6+ months, move them to a suppression list to prevent future sends.
   • If you want a final attempt, add them to a re-engagement flow before removing them.

💡 Best Practice: Run list cleaning every 3-6 months to maintain high deliverability.

2️⃣ Use Double Opt-In for New Signups

📌 Why?
Not every subscriber who signs up for your list is actually interested—some are bots, fake emails, or people who mistakenly entered their address.

By enabling double opt-in, you ensure that only real, engaged users join your list.

✅ How to Enable Double Opt-In in Klaviyo:

1. Go to Lists & Segments → Select your main list.
2. Click “Settings”, then enable Double Opt-In.
3. Klaviyo will send a confirmation email before adding new subscribers to your list.

💡 Why This Works:

• Filters out low-quality leads (bots, fake signups, or accidental entries).
• Ensures higher engagement rates (since subscribers actively confirm their interest).
• Reduces spam complaints (since only intentional subscribers get emails).

3️⃣ Monitor Spam Complaints & Adjust Email Content Accordingly

📌 Why?
If too many subscribers mark your emails as spam, email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) start sending all your emails to spam—even for engaged users.

📌 How to Monitor Spam Complaints in Klaviyo:

1. Go to Analytics → Deliverability Dashboard.
2. Check spam complaint rates—should be below 0.1% of total sends.
3. If complaints are high, adjust email content & frequency:
   
   • Reduce sales-heavy content and increase value-based emails.
   • Allow subscribers to customise their email preferences.

✅ Best Practices to Reduce Spam Complaints:
✔ Use clear subject lines → Avoid spammy language like “HURRY! Limited Time Offer”.
✔ Make unsubscribing easy → A difficult unsubscribe process increases complaints.
✔ Give subscribers control → Let them choose email frequency in a preference center.

📌 Example of a Good Unsubscribe Option:
Instead of saying “Unsubscribe Here”, say:
“Not interested in emails every week? Choose how often you’d like to hear from us!” → Link to a preferences page where they can opt for monthly updates instead of unsubscribing completely.

💡 Why This Works:

• Prevents spam complaints by letting users opt down instead of opting out.
• Keeps disengaged users subscribed at a lower frequency.

📌 Example: Automating List Hygiene in Klaviyo

🚀 Example:
A subscription box brand notices its open rates are dropping, and its emails are landing in spam for some customers.

Here’s how they use Klaviyo’s list hygiene strategy to fix it:

✅ Step 1: Clean Up the List

• Create a segment of subscribers inactive for 6+ months.
• Move them to a suppression list to improve deliverability.

✅ Step 2: Implement Double Opt-In for Future Signups

• Activate double opt-in to ensure only engaged users join the list.

✅ Step 3: Adjust Content & Preferences to Reduce Spam Complaints

• Add a preference center link so subscribers can choose email frequency instead of unsubscribing.
• Remove spam-trigger words from subject lines.

💡 Result:

• 20% improvement in open rates after removing unengaged subscribers.
• Fewer spam complaints, improving inbox placement for engaged users.

Final Thoughts: List Hygiene = Better Email Performance

A clean, engaged email list is the key to higher open rates, better deliverability, and more conversions.

By implementing:
✅ Regular list cleaning to remove inactive subscribers.
✅ Double opt-in to prevent fake or low-quality signups.
✅ Spam monitoring & preference centers to retain subscribers.

You’ll maintain a high-quality list that performs better—and keeps subscribers happy.

In the world of email marketing, list growth means nothing without retention. You could have tens of thousands of subscribers, but if they’re disengaged, unsubscribing, or marking your emails as spam, your marketing efforts (and ROI) will suffer.

That’s why reducing unsubscribes—and keeping your list healthy—is critical to long-term success with Klaviyo.

Thanks to Klaviyo’s advanced tools, you have everything you need to:
✅ Send hyper-personalised, relevant emails
✅ Automate your frequency management
✅ Re-engage at-risk subscribers before they disappear
✅ Maintain strong deliverability with regular list cleaning

Whether you’re just starting to build your email strategy or looking to tighten up a mature list, investing in smart retention tactics now will pay off in stronger engagement, higher revenue, and better inbox placement.

📩 Ready to Strengthen Your Email Retention Strategy?

Don’t wait until your open rates drop or unsubscribes spike—take control of your email performance now.

👉 Get a free Klaviyo Email Retention Checklist to review your current setup and spot areas to improve.
OR
👉 Book a free strategy session and we’ll walk through your Klaviyo account together to identify quick wins and long-term improvements.

📩 [Claim your free checklist or strategy session now!]