What the integration does
Personalized images in Alterable (countdowns, dynamic images, products and the rest) fill in each reader's details through merge tags. When the email goes out from Klaviyo, those tags have to be written in Klaviyo's own syntax, such as {{ first_name }}, or Klaviyo has nothing to fill.
The integration writes them for you. It imports your Klaviyo profile properties as Alterable merge tags, each one already in Klaviyo's syntax. Put one in an image, send the email from Klaviyo, and every reader gets an image with their own details in it.
Picked for you this weekend
Janefirstname, your weekend picks are in
What it doesn't do matters just as much:
- It's one-way, Klaviyo to Alterable. Nothing is written to your Klaviyo account.
- It keeps property names, not people. Alterable never stores a profile's values. Email and phone number can't be imported at all, so a reader's contact details never end up in an image URL.
- An import is a one-time copy. If you add a property in Klaviyo later, import it again to get it. Tags you already imported don't change on their own.
Connect your Klaviyo account
You need an Alterable account. Create one if you don't have one yet (plans are on the pricing page).
Only the team owner can connect Klaviyo. If you're a team member, the Klaviyo card says “The team owner can connect it.” Send your owner this page. Once it's connected, you can import properties yourself.
Each Alterable team connects one Klaviyo account.
In Alterable, go to Settings → Teams and click the gear next to your team.
(opens the full-size screenshot)In the team settings menu, open Integrations. On the Klaviyo card, click Connect Klaviyo. Alterable takes you to Klaviyo.
(opens the full-size screenshot)Sign in to Klaviyo if it asks, and review the access Alterable is requesting. It's read-only, and it's two scopes:
Scopes Alterable requests Scope What Alterable uses it for accounts:readReads your Klaviyo account's name, so the card can show which account is connected. profiles:readFinds the names of your custom profile properties. Read-only. That's the whole list. Alterable doesn't ask to write anything.
Klaviyo lists the same two permissions on its own screen. Approve them and Klaviyo sends you back to Alterable. If you cancel instead, nothing changes.
Klaviyo sends you back to your team's Integrations page in Alterable, with the message “Klaviyo is connected.” The card shows the name of the Klaviyo account the team is connected to.
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Configure it
There's nothing to set up beyond connecting. Once Klaviyo shows as connected, you can import properties.
Import properties as merge tags
In any Alterable editor, click Manage Merge Tags. In the window that opens, click the arrow next to Create Merge Tag and choose Import from Klaviyo.
(opens the full-size screenshot)Search for the properties you want and tick them. The checkbox at the top of the list (Select all shown) ticks everything in the current search. Then click Import selected.
(opens the full-size screenshot)Each property becomes a merge tag in Klaviyo's syntax. Its placeholder value starts as the property's name, and you can edit it after importing.
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Properties you've already imported are marked Imported, so you can't add the same one twice. Added a property in Klaviyo while the window was open? Click Refresh to reload the list.
Which properties you can import
The list starts with Klaviyo's standard profile fields: First Name, Last Name, Organization, Job Title, City, Region, Country and Zip Code. Your custom properties follow.
Klaviyo doesn't keep a list of the custom properties an account uses, so Alterable looks at your most recently updated profiles and collects the property names it finds there. A property that none of those profiles has won't show up (see A property is missing from the list).
Email and phone number aren't in the list, and that's on purpose. Merge tags end up in image URLs, and a reader's email address or phone number has no business being in one.
How the tags are written
Alterable writes each tag the way Klaviyo's personalization reference does. A few examples:
- Standard fields use Klaviyo's own names:
{{ first_name }},{{ person.City }}. - A custom property gets dot notation:
{{ person.Plan }}. - A name with spaces or punctuation needs Klaviyo's lookup filter instead:
{{ person|lookup:'Favorite Store' }}.
Klaviyo fills the tags when it sends, so each reader's image is made for them.
Put the image in a Klaviyo email
Paste the Alterable embed code into an HTML block in Klaviyo's email editor. Our guides walk through the whole email: dynamic images in Klaviyo and countdown timers in Klaviyo.
Your tags are ready. Next, put them in an image.
Disconnect Klaviyo
Only the team owner can disconnect.
In Alterable, go to Settings → Teams, click the gear next to your team, and open Integrations.
On the Klaviyo card, click Disconnect, then confirm with Disconnect.
Alterable revokes its access at Klaviyo and deletes what it stored. Merge tags you already imported stay, and keep working in emails you send from Klaviyo. To import more later, connect again.
What happens to your data
When you connect, Alterable keeps the Klaviyo account's ID and name (to show which account is connected) and the access Klaviyo grants, encrypted. When someone opens the import, it reads the custom properties on your most recently updated profiles, keeps their names, and throws the values away. It never stores profile values, never reads email addresses or phone numbers for the import, and writes nothing to Klaviyo.
- When you disconnect, Alterable revokes its access at Klaviyo and deletes the stored connection for your team.
- If Klaviyo stops accepting the access, Alterable deletes the stored connection the next time someone opens the import.
- Either way, imported merge tags stay in your Alterable team. They're ordinary tags holding a Klaviyo tag and a placeholder value, so emails that use them keep working. Delete them like any other merge tag if you no longer want them.
How Alterable handles personal data in general is in our Privacy Policy.
Troubleshooting
“The team owner can connect it”
You're a team member, and only the owner can connect Klaviyo. The merge tags window names your owner: ask them to follow Connect your Klaviyo account. Once it's connected, the import works for you too.
I connected the wrong Klaviyo account
Disconnect, click Connect Klaviyo again, and sign in to the other account. Merge tags you already imported stay.
“Klaviyo no longer accepts this connection”
Klaviyo withdrew the access. That happens when the app is removed from your Klaviyo account, or when the connection goes unused for 90 days. The team owner connects it again from Integrations. Imported merge tags are unaffected.
“Klaviyo couldn't be connected” or “Klaviyo wasn't connected”
The first means the connection failed partway: try again, and contact us if it keeps failing. The second means the connection was cancelled on Klaviyo's screen, so nothing changed.
“Klaviyo didn't answer”
Klaviyo didn't respond in time. Wait a moment and open the import again.
A property is missing from the list
Custom properties come from your most recently updated profiles, so a property that only older profiles carry won't appear. Some never do: Klaviyo's own properties (the ones starting with $), properties that hold a list or a nested object, and names with an apostrophe in them, which no Klaviyo tag can hold. For a property that's only on older profiles, type the tag yourself with Create Merge Tag.
Help and policies
Stuck on a step? Paid plans include email support at support@alterable.com. On any plan, you can report a bug. Using Alterable is covered by our Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.