Dynamic content: one email, a different version for each reader
One email that's built differently for each person it's sent to: different products, blocks or offers. Clever when someone maintains it, a liability when nobody checks every version.
- 032Dynamic Content
- Content that changes automatically based on user data or behaviour. Dynamic content in emails allows for personalised elements, such as displaying different product recommendations based on the recipient's browsing or purchase history.
- Built from
- Profile data, segment membership, flow event data and product feeds
- In Klaviyo
- Show and hide logic on blocks, product blocks, and event data in flows
- Hidden cost
- Every version is another email somebody has to check
Three kinds of dynamic content in a shop's emails
In a shop's emails it comes in three kinds, and you've probably got one already.
- Blocks shown or hidden by who someone is: early access only VIPs see, a delivery note only overseas customers get
- Products picked for the person: things they viewed, or bestsellers from the range they buy
- The thing they just did: the actual items left in a basket, the product they browsed
The third kind should already be in every shop's flows. A cart reminder showing a generic banner instead of the basket is leaving out the best bit, and the abandoned cart flow is where to fix it first.
In Klaviyo, the first kind is show and hide logic on a block or section, built from profile data, or from event data in a flow triggered by an event. Klaviyo's own examples are loyalty tiers and past purchases.
Dynamic block or merge tag: which one you need
A merge tag swaps a word. Dynamic content swaps a section. If the sentence stays the same and only the name or product changes, it's a tag. If a different reader should see a different block, offer or set of products, it's dynamic content.
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Their name in the greeting | A merge tag |
| The product they left, named in a sentence | A merge tag |
| A block only VIPs see | Dynamic content |
| Products picked for each reader | Dynamic content |
The testing bill nobody budgets for
Every rule you add is another version of the email. Two rules can mean four versions, and somebody has to check every one before it sends. That's the bit the software demo skips.
- A fallback for people who match no rule, so nobody gets an empty gap
- A preview of each version, as a real profile that qualifies for it
- Rule names a stranger could read, so the next person can maintain them
- As few rules as the email needs, because each one multiplies the checking
Where dynamic content pays first
Start in your flows, where the data's freshest. The basket in the cart email, the viewed product in browse abandonment, a cross-sell picked from what they just bought. Built once, they earn their keep on every send for as long as the flow runs.
Campaigns come second. One block for VIPs, one for people who've never bought, and the same email around them. That's usually plenty, and it's a lot easier to check.
Related terms
FAQs
Is dynamic content the same as personalisation?
It's one way of doing it. Personalisation is the goal: an email that suits the person reading it. Dynamic content is a tool for getting there, alongside segmentation, merge tags and sending different emails to different groups. Sometimes the separate email is the easier answer.
Do I need a developer for dynamic content in Klaviyo?
Not for the basics. Show and hide rules, product blocks and basket contents in a cart flow are all built in the editor. You'll want someone who can read template code for anything more involved, and someone who'll check every version before it sends, which is the bigger job.
Does dynamic content slow an email down or hurt deliverability?
No. Klaviyo builds each person's version when it sends, so what lands in the inbox is an ordinary email. Live content is different: a countdown timer loads when the email's opened. The risk with dynamic content is a broken version, not a slow one.
Rather we explained it on your own account?
Bring your Klaviyo account to a growth consultation. We'll walk through what this means for your numbers, in plain English, and what we'd fix first.
Half an hour with Theo, our founder.
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