Paying your Klaviyo agency thousands but seeing no growth? Here are 5 red flags your agency’s wasting your money, and what they should be doing instead.
You're paying your Klaviyo email marketing agency thousands every month. They send pretty reports, talk about "engagement metrics," and promise big results are "just around the corner."
But your revenue isn't growing. Your email performance is flat. And you're starting to wonder if you're being taken for a ride.
The tough pill to swallow: Most Klaviyo agencies are glorified template installers charging premium prices for basic work. They're coasting on Klaviyo's reputation while delivering mediocre results.
Here are 5 red flags that your agency is wasting your money:
If your agency leads every report with open rates and click-through rates, that’s smoke and mirrors.
Open rates don't pay your bills. Revenue does.
A 40% open rate means nothing if those opens aren't converting to sales. Your Klaviyo email marketing agency should be laser-focused on one metric: How much money did our emails generate this month?
Red flag: They celebrate a "successful" campaign because it got 35% opens, but can't tell you how much revenue it drove.
What they should be doing: Tracking revenue per email, customer lifetime value increases, and actual ROI on your email marketing spend.
Cookie-cutter agencies are everywhere, and they sure do love template flows. Welcome series, abandoned cart, browse abandonment…all using the same generic messaging they've copy-pasted for 50 other clients.
Your business isn't identical to everyone else's. Your audience has unique pain points, buying behaviors, and motivations. Generic flows ignore all of that.
Red flag: Your flows look suspiciously similar to other brands you've seen, or even worse, they refuse to show you examples of custom flows they've built.
What they should be doing: Creating custom flows based on your specific customer journey, product mix, and brand voice. Every flow should feel uniquely yours.
Lazy agencies set up your campaigns once and let them run forever. No testing. No optimisation. No improvements.
Or worse, they test silly stuff like subject line emojis while ignoring the big revenue drivers like send timing, segmentation, and offer structure.
Red flag: Your campaigns have looked identical for months, or they're testing surface-level elements while your core strategy remains unchanged.
What they should be doing: Continuously testing everything that impacts revenue: send times, audience segments, offer types, email frequency, and content approaches.
If your agency's idea of advanced segmentation is dividing your list into "engaged" and "unengaged" subscribers, get rid of them immediately.
That's not segmentation, that's basic list hygiene that Klaviyo does automatically.
Real segmentation considers purchase behavior, product preferences, customer lifecycle stage, spending patterns, and dozens of other factors that actually impact buying decisions.
Red flag: They can't explain how they're segmenting your VIP customers differently from first-time buyers, or their segments are based on generic engagement metrics.
What they should be doing: Creating behavioral segments based on actual customer data, such as; high spenders, product category preferences, purchase frequency, seasonal buyers, etc.
If your agency drowns you in technical jargon and fancy marketing words instead of explaining exactly how they're going to grow your revenue, they don't have a real strategy.
Good agencies can explain complex email marketing concepts in simple terms. They can walk you through their logic, show you examples, and make you feel confident about the approach.
Red flag: Every conversation feels like they're trying to impress you with industry terminology rather than delivering clear, actionable insights about your business.
What they should be doing: Speaking your language, focusing on business outcomes, and making you feel like a partner in the strategy, just a testimonial name on their website.
Your Klaviyo agency should be a revenue-generating force to be reckoned with, not an expensive report-writing service.
If you're seeing these red flags, it's time to have a serious conversation with your agency, or find a new one that actually cares about growing your business.
The big question to ask yourself is: Are you paying for real strategy and custom solutions, or are you just funding their template library and generic best practices?
Your email list is one of your most valuable assets. Don't let a mediocre agency waste its potential while burning through your budget.
Ready to take things up a gear? Get in touch with our team here.
Our mission at Frosted is to turn one-time buyers into lifelong customers. Retention is at the heart of sustainable growth. We help brands build lasting relationships, maximize revenue, and reduce reliance on paid ads – because keeping customers should be just as important as acquiring them.
Frosted Limited,
157 Compton Street,
Manchester,
M34 5DH
