HomePodcastFrom Brutal CACs to Profitable LTV: Klaviyo VP Shows How Top Shopify Brands Build Lasting Relationships

From Brutal CACs to Profitable LTV: Klaviyo VP Shows How Top Shopify Brands Build Lasting Relationships

If you’re a DTC founder, chances are you’re losing sleep over the same three things that are crushing brands right now: ad costs that keep climbing, customers bouncing between channels like pinballs, and a marketing stack that feels more like digital duct tape than a growth engine.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. We’re all watching customers jump from email to SMS to WhatsApp to social—sometimes in the same shopping session—while we’re stuck trying to piece together what’s actually working from a dozen different dashboards.

Here’s the thing: most Shopify brands are burning cash on disconnected tools that can’t talk to each other. The result? You’re guessing instead of knowing, your customers are getting mixed messages, and you’re heading into Q4 with crossed fingers instead of a clear strategy.

But what if there was a better way? What if you could actually see the full customer journey, predict which channel each person prefers, and automate personalized experiences that feel less like marketing and more like helpful conversations?

That’s exactly what we’re diving into today with Jen Kessler, VP of Product at Klaviyo. Jen’s team has been busy solving these exact problems with some pretty impressive innovations—Channel Affinity AI, unified campaign building, and tools that major brands like Mattel are using to turn chaos into profitable relationships.

Whether you’re currently on Klaviyo and wondering what you’re missing, or you’re drowning in point solutions and ready for something better, this conversation will show you exactly how to evolve your approach without breaking what’s already working.

What You’ll Learn

✅ Why your customers are tuning you out—The real reason 54% of consumers ignore brand messages, and how to create connected experiences that actually feel personal (not pushy)

✅ The hidden cost of your “Frankenstack”—How juggling 6-18 different marketing tools is quietly draining your budget, confusing your team, and making you guess instead of know what’s working

✅ Channel Affinity AI decoded—Discover how Klaviyo’s AI figures out whether your customer prefers morning emails or evening SMS, then automatically routes messages for maximum engagement (no more message fatigue!)

✅ The game-changing Campaign Builder—See how to plan, launch, and track multi-channel campaigns from one simple canvas, with AI doing the heavy lifting on timing and channel selection

✅ Why “owning your data” matters now—Beyond privacy compliance, learn how first-party data becomes your secret weapon for retention and growth when iOS changes keep breaking ad targeting

✅ Your Q4 relationship-building playbook—Turn holiday traffic into year-round customers with specific tactics that work beyond the Black Friday buzz

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Episode Summary

Scaling a Shopify brand gets tougher every year, with rising acquisition costs, shrinking engagement, and tech stacks that just don’t talk to each other. In this episode, Steve sits down with Jen Kessler, VP of Product at Klaviyo, to dig into why even the savviest, fast-growing merchants struggle to see the big picture—or take fast, effective action—when their data lives in silos and their channels are each speaking a different language.

As Q4 looms, the pressure is on: disconnected dashboards and slow decision cycles can mean missed revenue, wasted spend, and customer relationships that never get past the first purchase.

Klaviyo’s answer? A truly unified platform. Jen shares how the new Klaviyo Omniverse gives brands one home for all their data, campaign orchestration, and reporting—making it possible to understand and act on every customer touchpoint in real time. Channel Affinity AI takes personalization to another level, letting you automatically connect with each customer on the right channel, at the right moment, every time.

The new Campaign Builder brings it all together, enabling marketers to design, launch, and measure coordinated, multi-channel campaigns from a single interface—with total transparency over results and revenue as they happen.

Jen spotlights brands like Mattel, Glossier, and Daily Harvest, as well as mid-market innovators, who are already seeing the impact: smarter segmentation, better retention, and real loyalty that lasts beyond the first sale. Whether you’re on a maze of disconnected tools or just scratching the surface with Klaviyo, this episode shows the clear, practical path to a more connected, profitable future—with no need to break what’s already working.

Strategic Takeaways

Stop guessing, start knowing—Transform from hours of dashboard hopping and data reconciliation into clear, instant visibility across every customer touchpoint and channel performance
Turn acquisition costs into relationship investments—Build systems that convert one-time holiday buyers into loyal, repeat customers who drive higher lifetime value and lower future acquisition needs
Scale personalization without complexity—Let AI handle the heavy lifting of channel selection and timing, freeing your team to focus on strategy and creative rather than manual campaign management
Evolve without breaking—Whether you’re drowning in point solutions or underutilizing current tools, there’s a clear path to unified marketing that preserves what’s working while unlocking exponential growth potential
Win the retention game before Q4 hits—Position your brand to capture not just Black Friday sales, but year-round relationships that sustain growth when ad costs spike and competition intensifies

Guest Spotlight

Jen Kessler
VP of Product, Klaviyo

Jen brings serious API-first innovation chops from her time building at Twilio and Segment—companies that know a thing or two about connecting data and scaling platforms. Now she’s leading product strategy at Klaviyo, where she’s helping over 170,000 businesses (including household names like Mattel, Glossier, and Daily Harvest) finally solve the omnichannel puzzle that’s been frustrating marketers for years.

What makes Jen’s perspective so valuable? She’s seen firsthand how disconnected tools kill growth potential, and she’s now architecting the solutions that turn fragmented customer data into profitable, lasting relationships. Whether you’re drowning in dashboards or just getting started with retention marketing, Jen’s insights on connected data, AI-powered orchestration, and relationship-building will change how you think about customer marketing—especially as we head into the most competitive Q4 in years.

Links & Resources

Thanks for Supporting the Pod!

Over the past eight seasons, I’ve been incredibly lucky to chat with some of the brightest founders in ecommerce building remarkable Shopify brands and partners shaping the app and marketing ecosystem. Honestly, every conversation has taught me something new, and I’m grateful for the chance to learn alongside you.

What matters most is that this podcast helps you solve real challenges and unlock new growth for your business. Your support, feedback, and stories have made this journey truly special. Thanks for tuning in, sharing your wins and losses, and being part of the eCommerce Fastlane community.

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